This incident is truly one for the books. Bryant Gumbel, the man who was ridiculed in the 80s and 90s for mirroring an “Uncle Tom” character while he stoically manned the Today Show on NBC, caused a stir last night when he spoke out against NBA commissioner David Stern during his HBO show “Real Sports.”
Gumbel attributed the stalled NBA negotiations to Stern and his hateful sentiment against players. “But his efforts were typical of a commissioner, who has always seemed eager to be viewed as some kind of modern plantation overseer treating NBA men as if they were his boys,” Gumbel said. “It’s part of Stern’s M.O. Like his past self-serving edicts on dress code or the questioning of officials, his moves are intended to do little more than show how he’s the one keeping the hired hands in their place.”
Has age made Gumbel more honest and transparent? He certainly has been more open about unleashing some racial commentary in recent years. In 2006, Gumbel made a hilarious comment about the winter Olypmics: “Try not to laugh when someone says these are the world’s greatest athletes, despite a paucity of blacks that makes the Winter Games look like a GOP convention,” he said.
The first two weeks of the NBA regular season have already been cancelled due to inability of the NBA players union and NBA owners to come to an agreement. The major discussion point is the disparity between the income of players and the profits of NBA owners.
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