Unveiling of racism in the NBA leaves an ugly impression in the spectrum of sports

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There is no doubt that racism is a subject that will manage to find its way in nearly every little crosshair of social activity. However, it still stings pretty bad when it is found in the forefront or headline of professional sports.

Although trash talking amongst players are quite susceptible in leading to the range of unwarranted racial boundaries, it is hard to swallow the fact that some players have been playing for owners that may still be discriminating against their own athletes and fans by the color of their skin and their ethnic backgrounds.

We would like to think that in the spectrum of sports, there is a special place on the field or court where individuals could let their skills and attributes do the talking, but in reality, men in the front office, the same men who dictate the course of the entire team, may be making conscious decisions based on other motives.

I think that there is enough evidence to say that any avid sports fan has heard at least a hint or fraction of a racial comment during the course of a game but it is cringe worthy, serving as almost a slap to the face, when these racial comments are coming from the lips of those who are in command of the franchises.

I am not going to go on with this entry and say that racism could be abruptly solved and that we could simply put good notions and morals in the minds of those who are flooded with the wrong ideas because I simply cannot. I am not going to say that selling a team is going to, all of a sudden, resolve all issues and restore the same type of hope in professional sports that people once had, because I simply cannot.

It will take time for people to realize the importance of equality and the unjust in racism on their own. I do not think that you can aggressively drill notions into people's heads, they have to discover it themselves. However, when racism is found in one of the biggest professional sports leagues, it has the potential of creating a nasty backlash that may make skeptics out of people; it could change the whole perception of the NBA and leadership in it.

What is also certain is the fact that players are probably going to face their owners with much more caution and uncertainty then they may have ever felt before.

One can simply refer to the huge stir and shockwave that swept the NBA when the whole Donald Sterling situation had blown up. Big stars on and off the Clippers organization, including Chris Paul and LeBron James, were even considering a boycott of NBA contests if Sterling did not sell the team by the start of the upcoming season.

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Now with the recent situation with Bruce Levenson of the Atlanta Hawks, one can only image how many more of these cases are going to pop up. Levenson is set to sell the team after self-reporting his racially charged e-mail pertaining to the hopes of increasing revenue based off of particular ticket sales to fans of certain racial groups. Some have speculated that Levenson's entire ordeal is simply a business ploy that will allow him to sell the team for a higher price but officials are still looking into the situation.

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With the recent media exposure received by Sterling and Levenson, the league has been plagued with an ugly enigma that will probably take some time to shake off. Racism is a serious issue that many are not so quick to forget as it is clearly leaving a bad taste in the NBA, one that they need to get rid of promptly.