Ignoring race in sports isn’t progress

Another View

Until our society becomes truly equitable, it is a big deal whenever a Black person, let alone two Blacks, do something significant in sports. Seeing Black coaches in high leadership positions has yet to reach commonplace status.

For the first time since 1975, both teams in the NBA Finals had Black head coaches. Both Dallas’ Jason Kidd and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver talked about its importance and symbolism when asked. 

However, when Yahoo/Sports Senior Reporter Vincent Goodwill asked Boston’s Joe Mazzulla if two Black coaches in the Finals meant anything to him, the Celtics coach sidestepped the question. Mazzulla instead asked the reporter, “I wonder how many of those have been Christian coaches.”   

“There was stunned silence in the room because it felt like an awkward answer,” recalled Goodwill in his post-press conference recap.

When I watched the entire press conference, I easily recall once when I asked something similar of a current Black college head coach (we will keep his identity secret). He told me that he doesn’t see color.

I shook my head in disbelief. I can only wonder if Goodwill had a similar reaction to Mazzulla, since as in my case both the coach and the reporter are Black. It also bothers me when someone Black says, “I am a [fill in the job title] who happens to be Black.” 

Goodwill also pointed out that Mazzulla at the very least could have publicly acknowledged the significance. “Ignoring race in these matters isn’t progress, because it can infer that seeing someone as Black means something negative,” surmised the veteran NBA reporter. “Colorblindness is impossible, and seeing someone’s Blackness or the Black experience as a positive could be the ultimate sign of progress.” 

“First of all, it’s unfortunate that he had an opportunity to go there and didn’t,” noted Pokey Chatman on Mazzulla’s sidestepping act to a Black reporter in a room full mostly with whites. Chatman is in her third season as Seattle Storm assistant coach and first as Storm assistant GM. She has over 20 years of coaching experience in college, the WNBA and EuroLeague. 

“I think it’s huge from the standpoint of the sport…the level that we’re representing to the players that have someone to look up to,” said Chatman. 

At current count there are three WNBA Black head coaches, two in the Big 10 WBB, and two Black Big 10 MBB coaches. There were 14 Black NBA head coaches at the start of the season, and five of them were fired either during the season or immediately afterwards. 

Chatman herself has been twice fired from WNBA jobs in Chicago, where she got the Sky to its first-ever playoff appearance in 2013 and the 2014 W Finals, and Indiana, where she led the Fever through its rebuilding process for three seasons. 

“We’ve got our most qualified people that we’re not trying to tap into,” said Chatman. “There’s qualified people, but those opportunities have been few and far between. And oftentimes people want to downplay that.

“It’s obviously something that wants to be addressed, needs to be celebrated,” she concluded. “And I’m fortunate to be in a place and a space where it is. And I hope it continues to grow. We’re not there yet, so let’s not pretend we are.”

Jerro hired at Wisconsin

Frozena Jerro has been hired as an assistant coach on Marisa Moseley’s Wisconsin women’s basketball staff. She has over two decades of collegiate coaching experience, both as an assistant coach and head coach. Jerro recently spent the past six seasons as an assistant coach at Cleveland State.