HOUSTON– I’ve known– and loved Dawn Staley– ever since I met her when she was in high school at Dobbins in Philadelphia and was a camper at a Blue Star camp Mike Flynn and I ran at Rutgers University’s RAC in the late 80’s
She played the game with joy, was an All American at Virginia, a three-time Olympian who was the best point guard in the world and a great coach and ambassador of the game on a national and international scene.
What happened to her this week at the NCAA tournament in nearby Dallas is a sad commentary on racism and stereotypes that still exist in some parts of this sport.
That’s why she felt compelled to set the record straight about her team following a 77-73 loss to Iowa in the national semi-finals, suggesting they ‘exemplify how you need to approach basketball on the court and off the court.
“We’re not bar fighters. We’re not thugs. We’re not monkeys. We’re not street fighters,” Staley said. “I do think that that’s sometimes brought into the game, and it hurts.
Staley was referring to a comment by a Iowa coach Lisa Blauder who said someone described rebounding against South Carolina to her as “going into a bar fight.” She wasn’t the first coach to make comments about the Gamecocks’ style of play. UConn coach Geno
Auriemma criticized South Carolina’s physicality after the Huskies lost to them in February.
My question is this:” Would those coaches said that about a white coach or white players.
Look, I get it. Coaches use colorful language to make a point and they might not realize the impact it has on black coaches and players.
Staley then revealed something far worse when she said that national media members at an event Thursday made comments she implied were unfair or disrespectful. She said she intended to address them win or lose Friday.
“Some of the people in the media, when you’re gathering in public, you’re saying things about our team, and you are being heard, and it’s being brought back to me,” she said. “And these are the people who write nationally for our sport. So you cannot like our team and you cannot like me. But when you say things that you are saying in your home on the phone or texting out in public and you’re being heard, and you are a national writer for our sport– it just confirms what we already know. So, watch what you’re saying when you’re in public and you’re talking about my team in particular.”
She implored the room of media members not to judge her team by the color of their skin, but by the way they play the game.
“You’re got young lives– if you really knew them, if you really knew them, you would think differently,”’ Staley said. “You may not like how we play the game, you might not like it, that’s the way we play. That’s the way I coach.
“I’m not changing. We found success in it, and maybe some days like this, we end up on the losing side of the stick. But guess what?
We live to see another day. We live to see the comeback next year and try to do this again because I’m not changing.”
I thought we were past this, but I guess we’re not,
The game is changing. And there is no room in our business for coaches or writers who won’t evolve with it. It’s a game. Appreciate the greatness of a generational talent like Caitlin Clark. But respect everyone and we’ll all be better for it.
