America is too afraid to send an all-black basketball team to the Olympics, according to an ESPN analyst who lamented the addition of the team’s lone white member.
“I’m excited about the roster, and I assume, and I know, we’re going to win the gold. But I’m disappointed in something,” said ESPN sports analyst Jalen Rose during a segment on his show, Jalen & Jacoby, before criticizing five-time NBA All-Star Kevin Love, who is white, for having a place on the team.
Rose said Love is on the team because of “tokenism” and accused the U.S. team of being “scared.”
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“I got a word for it. … Kevin Love is on the team because of tokenism. Don’t be scared to make an all-black team representing the United States of America. I’m disappointed by that. Anybody that watched the league this year knows Kevin Love did not have a stellar season, was not the best player on his team, and did not necessarily deserve to be on this squad. And I’m not going to take him off the squad and not put somebody else on it. I’m going to tell you whose spot that should be.”
Instead, Rose argued Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton should have been selected over Love.
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“That should be a young man that was born in the Bahamas, that is a McDonald’s All-American, playing high school and college in Phoenix, Arizona. Deandre Ayton should have Kevin Love’s spot. And I’m disappointed in Team USA for not having the courage to send an all-black team to the Olympics,” the host said.
In the 2016 Olympics, Team USA had an all-black team, and they won a gold medal.
The last time Love played with the Olympic team, in 2012, he also won an Olympic gold medal.
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Tags: Olympics, NBA, ESPN, Basketball, News, Sports, Race and Diversity, Media
Original Author: Lawrence Richard
Original Location: ESPN analyst says US Olympic team ‘scared’ to send all-black basketball roster and added token white player