In 1947 Jackie Robinson broke the color line in Major League Baseball, which at the time was the only Major sport in the country open to all races.   By 1948 the Chicago-based  Harlem Globetrotters, although not a member of the the BAA (the precursor to the NBA) were considered, along with the Minneapolis Lakers, the top basketball team on the planet.

Harlem Globetrotters

On February 19, 1948, the two teams met before a packed house at Chicago Stadium.  In the end the Globetrotters won on a last second shot 61 to 59. One year later (February 28th) the Trotters again defeated the World Champion Lakers 49 to 45.

 

During the summer of 1949, the National Basketball League and Basketball Association of America merged to form the National Basketball Association. Of greater significance, however, was the integration of the NBA, as the Boston Celtics drafted the first Black player  Chuck Cooper of Duquesne. This opened the league to athletes of all races.  Cooper, Red Aeurbach, Bob Cousy and Ed McCauley all made their debuts November 1, 1950.   That same season  the Trotter’s, Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton became  the first black player to sign a contract and Earl Lloyd became the first Black player to play in an NBA game (October 31, 1950 with the Washington Capitols).  By the following season, black players made up 3 % of the NBA population.

Throughout the 50’s , 60’s, 70’s and even  the 1980’s, White (American) players dominated rosters  throughout the League.  In fact, during the 50’s and for the better part of the 60’s, there was an unspoken rule that limited the number of blacks to a team. Even in the college game the number of white players has dropped considerably. From the 1920s until 1947, few Black players were allowed in major college programs. One notable exception was Jackie Robinson, a multi-sport star (1939–1941) at UCLA just before World War II.  My question is… where did all the white players go?

I believe the Dream Team I (“Dream Team… American Nightmare”) skewed the American basketball model.  Everyone wanted to be like Mike and Magic, but only in a highlight sort of way. As I mentioned in the article the “world” learned the nuts and bolts of how to play the game the right way from our stars.  Our kids learned to be and-1 players.  No longer was it about being good but now it was about looking good.  Know-how lost its position in the basketball world to  do-how- at least in the minds of our kids.

Could  Dr. Naismith fathom the above-the-rim acrobatics or street-ball creativity of the modern player? This era of the physical freak has morphed the game of basketball beyond physical recognition. It is becoming more and more difficult to compete on today’s athletic plane.  Culturally blacks- as a whole, have an advantage over whites athletically strictly based on our “embochure” or  how we attach and walk  on earth.  See “Foot Mechanics is Quite a feat” and “Every Step You Take“.   Whites or any other group who attach in this way also tend to be athletic. Conversely, Blacks  with poor structure also suffer athletically.  So its more about culture than about color.

In addition  to our athletic prowess, our cultural sense of rhythm  or “soul”, seems to give us an advantage in dancing  and other types of physical creativity. It’s not surprising that blacks fill the majority of the rosters spots in the NBA .  The American basketball model caters to our subcultural advantages.  However, the NBA is not all black.  There’s Dirk, Nash, Turkgulu, Drajic, Ginobli, Pau and a host of  other players  from outside the US.  Why do these players and their fellow countrymen  fair so well against our “Superfreaks”, especially during world play? Are they just superior to american whites? It’s an obvious answer… right? It comes down to Know-how vs. Do-how.  It’s not that our Do-how artists are without Know-how, I just think the default settings for overall “clean” play aren’t quite as consistent. With the temptation to operate inside of physical gifts, sometimes possessions just seem to get away.

The remedy for all concerned is “Virtual Play.”

Virtual Play is the martial arts of basketball. It is the fundamentals, centered on economy and strategy of movement. With Virtual Play you do not have to be the best athlete to be the best player. The only physical requirement is to be an average athlete – if that. With superior technique, you can control physical confrontations without dependency on raw force or speed. Virtual Play allows you to manipulate time and space to manage objects beyond your “normal” physical capacity… It is precision of technique and focused vision that allows you to slow the game speed down to make processing the action easier. Precision or “clean” technique eliminates unnecessary movements and other time-costs from your play. Focused vision (which provides early awareness of the immediate circumstance) speeds up anticipation and decision-making skills. This type of time efficiency allows you to operate ahead of the action without having to move fast physically. — The Virtual Game of Basketball”

Unfortunately, thus far, Do-how artists are not too receptive to this information.  From my experiences, many don’t seem to find it relevant to their success or failure in the game.  Most of the players I train “virtually” are white.  It’s not race or economics per se.  Anyone that knows me understands I am willing to train anyone and certain kids for free.  If they have a certain talent base and passion, I would never let lack of finance ruin our”romance.”  I love pushing people forward… period!  Virtual play is for everybody. However,  over the next several years, I predict virtual play will usher in the return of the white american player  to the highest levels of the sport.   At the same time the “marginal” (Do-How) black players will fall off the landscape in the D(Dumb?)League purgatory.

Eventually, Do-howers will embrace virtual play and the results will be staggering. With  virtual play as the law of the land, the NBA will become and forever remain a melting pot.  However, one of these days some superfreak (athlete) is going to be supervirtual as well and we’ll forget about Michael Jordan. Hmmmmn…. Imagine.

Tags: basketball fundamentals, basketball personal training, college basketball, Fundamentals, martial arts

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