Evenard M. Panes
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Sports InsiderAre NBA Refs Racist?
May 10th 2007 13:44
Today’s posting is an issue that is kind of old but has been on the backburner here in NBALOUD because there were more pressing playoff games to report on and uni studies to complete. However, we here at NBALOUD cannot ignore the issue any longer especially when this space has written extensively about this aspect of the Association in the past – race in the ‘L’.
An upcoming academic study published by the University of Pennsylvania authored by Justin Wolfers and Joseph Price, found that from the 1992 to 2004 NBA seasons White referees called fouls on Black players at a greater rate than their White counterparts. In contrast Black refs were just as likely to blow the whistle more times against White players in comparison to their Black brethren.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave!
The study from the University of Pennsylvania has found that when White referees were officiating a game, they were more than two to four percent more likely to call fouls on Black
players, and that teams with a greater share of White players having a bigger presence in games, were more likely to find that their teams had a better winning percentage. These numbers are interesting to say the least in what would amount to be a classic understatement from this writer.
In order to ascertain the results of their findings Wolfers and Price studied box scores during the period of the research to come up with their dissertation.
Obviously the league have denounced the study with authority, pointing out to their own research that suggests nothing of the sort, whilst arguing that in comparison to the other major sporting leagues in North American, the NBA is without peer in terms of the hiring of racial minorities in positions of power. Players in the league have denounced the findings with LeBron James amongst the critics calling the results as “stupid”. (Armour, AP, 2007)
Although the majority of the players queried dismissed the findings, the bigger picture is about how our perceptions of race subconsciously direct the manner we conduct our day to day interactions. Criticisms of the research argue the author’s miss the larger point – that the notion of race does indeed play a part in our society in a far reaching manner.
In that summation they would be correct in their conclusions and it shouldn’t take a study to confirm that race does have an influence in our world, and the NBA is not immune.
NBALOUD should state that in the many hours of consuming professional basketball this writer has never noticed any calls that seemed to have a prejudiced slant, but the macro view of this study doesn’t suggest that the NBA has a problem of racial bias. Rather, the league is a microcosm of the world and as a consequence reflects wider society in many ways that may be confronting to some.
For those who are missing their playoff fix here are the most recent top 10 plays from the postseason. Enjoy!
An upcoming academic study published by the University of Pennsylvania authored by Justin Wolfers and Joseph Price, found that from the 1992 to 2004 NBA seasons White referees called fouls on Black players at a greater rate than their White counterparts. In contrast Black refs were just as likely to blow the whistle more times against White players in comparison to their Black brethren.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave!
The study from the University of Pennsylvania has found that when White referees were officiating a game, they were more than two to four percent more likely to call fouls on Black
According to Kobe, White refs love him. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
In order to ascertain the results of their findings Wolfers and Price studied box scores during the period of the research to come up with their dissertation.
Obviously the league have denounced the study with authority, pointing out to their own research that suggests nothing of the sort, whilst arguing that in comparison to the other major sporting leagues in North American, the NBA is without peer in terms of the hiring of racial minorities in positions of power. Players in the league have denounced the findings with LeBron James amongst the critics calling the results as “stupid”. (Armour, AP, 2007)
Although the majority of the players queried dismissed the findings, the bigger picture is about how our perceptions of race subconsciously direct the manner we conduct our day to day interactions. Criticisms of the research argue the author’s miss the larger point – that the notion of race does indeed play a part in our society in a far reaching manner.
In that summation they would be correct in their conclusions and it shouldn’t take a study to confirm that race does have an influence in our world, and the NBA is not immune.
NBALOUD should state that in the many hours of consuming professional basketball this writer has never noticed any calls that seemed to have a prejudiced slant, but the macro view of this study doesn’t suggest that the NBA has a problem of racial bias. Rather, the league is a microcosm of the world and as a consequence reflects wider society in many ways that may be confronting to some.
For those who are missing their playoff fix here are the most recent top 10 plays from the postseason. Enjoy!
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