Dirk Nowitzki's Narrative

There is an interesting debate piece by J.C. Kang and Bill Barnwell on how to interpret the story of Dirk Nowitzki's NBA Finals performance on Grantland.com: http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6642375/dirk-vs-heat


Nowitzki is the only Maverick having a compelling series, so it makes sense that he is garnering most of the media attention being directed toward the Mavs, but at the same time, it is necessary to recognize the role that race is playing in this situation which neither writer mentions. Kang writes that in the popular narrative which has taken over the series (note that Kang is not necessarily advocating this narrative, but is simply describing it), Nowitzki stands alone against "Team Villain," that is, the Heat, but especially the "Big Three" of Wade, James, and Bosh. How convenient that the lone hero is white and the "villains" are all African American. This is an obvious point that Kang and Barnwell have no excuse for not mentioning.


On a related note, Nowitski is a great player, perhaps one of the NBA's all-time greats by the time his career finishes, but the recent debate over whether he or Larry Bird is "the greatest white player of all time" is absolutely ridiculous because it is extremely racist. A basketball player is a basketball player no matter what their ethnicity; the only criteria for judging them should be their performance. To divide players into racialized categories is to reinforce the stereotype that blacks are better athletes because they are somehow genetically different from whites (which was one of the arguments used to justify slavery) and to argue that it is necessary for fans to have players that look just like them to root for. It is sad that the mainstream sports media has perpetuated these falsehoods.