Interesting read

[victorjets]

By Mike Wise

(...)

The backlash goes much deeper than the media. At least three players not playing in the Finals spoken to this week on condition their names not be used -- black players whose NBA jobs are being outsourced -- desperately wanted the Pistons to beat the Spurs. For no other reason than, as one of them candidly said, "We gotta put some of these guys back in their place."

It may be too late, especially after Ginobili became the first foreign player to complete a historic double -- winning a gold medal for his country and an NBA championship for his team. Ginobili led Argentina to victory in Athens and had one of the more impressive fourth quarters of a close-out game in the Finals. He scored 11 of his 23 points in the fourth, penetrating the heart of the league's most physically imposing defense in the final minutes to ice the game and the title. He made both three-point shots he attempted, including a 26-footer with 2 minutes 57 seconds left, a shot that pushed the Spurs' lead to 72-65.

At one juncture Thursday night, Ginobili began a hard dribble from the left wing and elevated a few feet from the basket in the middle of the key. By the time he reached the rim with the ball, defenders were closing in. He switched the ball in mid-air from his left hand, his shooting hand, to his right, dunking stylishly. More than 18,000 people in the arena stood and roared for several minutes afterward.

Rasheed Wallace was asked why Ginobili was so tough to guard earlier in the series. Wallace refused to give Ginobili his due, stopping just short of putting him down as a player while making it clear he did not think Ginobili was a special talent. Sean Elliott, the former NBA forward who now works as a radio and TV analyst for the Spurs, has seen this dismissive behavior before by NBA players when it comes to Ginobili. He believes it goes much further than merely professional jealousy.

"When you have a Dirk Nowitzki or Larry Bird-type players, big guys who play their positions well, there's not a lot of backlash," Elliott said. "But when you have a 6-6 white guy beating the black player at his own game, then it's a little different. Every series he's been in, guys have been slow to give him respect. It's an amazing phenomenon.

Added Elliott, "If he was an inner-city kid, if Manu Ginobili was from Chicago or New York, and he was bringing the game like he's bringing it now, all the players in the league would say, 'Manu is the truth.' Instead they say, 'He throws his arms, he flails.' Every series in the playoffs this year, it's been that way. Denver did not want to give him credit in the first round. Seattle, same thing. Now Detroit." (...)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/24/AR2005062401536.html?sub=AR