The NBA realized that too many black guys were dominating the sport and they had to do something in order to keep drawing in the masses.
Do they though?
I don't think people care about the racial composition of the team, they just care "home team wins". The 1990's Chicago Bulls had like one white guy a season, and in the 90's everyone loved the Bulls (cuz they were winners).
People like teams that win (as long they aren't the team to hate cuz they always win). A few strange people in the midwest like teams that lose.
What mainstreamed the NBA was FIBA ruling that NBA players could play in the Olympics. Come the 1992 Barcelona games, the USA utterly demolished everyone; nobody held America under 100 points. I mean look at this lineup:
Laettner
Robinson
Ewing
Bird
Pippen
Jordan
Drexler
Malone
Stockton
Mullin
Barkley
Johnson
After the medal game the Croatians were stripping down and asking the Americans to autograph their shoes and jerseys.
Do they though?
I don't think people care about the racial composition of the team, they just care "home team wins". The 1990's Chicago Bulls had like one white guy a season, and in the 90's everyone loved the Bulls (cuz they were winners).
People like teams that win (as long they aren't the team to hate cuz they always win). A few strange people in the midwest like teams that lose.
They had to mainstream NBA players and that required the glamour and glitz of celebrities.
What mainstreamed the NBA was FIBA ruling that NBA players could play in the Olympics. Come the 1992 Barcelona games, the USA utterly demolished everyone; nobody held America under 100 points. I mean look at this lineup:
After the medal game the Croatians were stripping down and asking the Americans to autograph their shoes and jerseys.