This poll is based on articles such as the one I link at the bottom, where the author decries a lack of black players in MLB and how those numbers either are improving or need to improve. Most sports writers take it as a given that there needs to be more black players on MLB teams, or as managers or in front offices. So this begs the question. In other leagues where blacks are if anything overrepresented, are more white players needed? Or in other words, does the NBA need more white players?
MLB making inroads to attract African Americans
Stop the race baiting and actually give this question a serious thought. The answer is obvious:
YES
The NBA has always had a talent disparity problem; more than half the championships in league history are owned by three teams. I believe the root cause of this can be summed up as a lack of talent problem. The scouting game for the NBA has historically been dominated by the AAU circuit. The AAU circuit itself, is dominated by big city super teams. A casual look at the overall roster of the NBA and you will quickly realize that cities such as Philadelphia, NYC, Chicago, DC, and Detriot are VASTLY overrepresented in the NBA. It is worth mentioning, that these major cities have African American populations which are out of proportion of the rest of the country. For many years, as far as scouts were concerned, if you weren't one of the best player on one of the few dozen best teams in the country, you weren't scouted.
Then there is also the problem of what those NBA scouts actually valued. If you've read the book Moneyball, then the connection is clear. Scouting in the NBA, much like scouting in the MLB was far too predicated on athletic measurables and not enough on the skill of playing the actual game. Look at the list of the biggest draft busts in NBA history and you see the exact same thing over and over again. Player X was a freak athlete with an incredible blend of size, strength, and speed; but never developed the basic skills necessary to play the game. These weren't players who merely failed to live up to expectations, scouts were repeatedly falling in love with players who had the skills of a sub-DLeague player. This point is even further highlighted by following the trajectory of Stephen Curry, an above average athlete who is literally lighting the league on fire with his combination of shooting, dribbling, body control, and smarts; long attributes scouts just assumed that could be "taught" to the athletic freaks once they hit the NBA. This again, can be brought back to the flawed AAU-centric system. Its a subject that has been covered multiple times, but I'll summarize it for you. The AAU revolves around a bunch of city teams whose primary focus is not to teach basic fundamental basketball skill. Especially at a young age, if you have the biggest, fastest, and highest jumping players you already have a near insurmountable advantage. So these AAU super teams that scouts pay the most attention to themselves are primarily concerning themselves with only pure athletic talent to dominate at their level rather then teaching players skills that will ultimately translate to the next level. And this is again, where I remind you that the AAU circuit revolves around big cities that are disproportionately AA.
Lately, this mind set has been shifting. The height of the AAU era of the 1990's and early 2000's was a period which not coincidentally marked an all time low in both interest in the NBA and quality of the game; and also a period of an enormous bust rate of high profile draft picks. This has caused scouts to naturally start looking outside of their old narrow focus and placed a greater emphasis on both the high school game and international scene. Also it seems like the proliferation of basketball camps and a change in mindset of youth coaches have led to players coming into the NBA with a much skill level. For much of the history of the NBA, you were lucky to get 1-2 in the entire draft who were good enough for a team to build around, now it seems like every year you get half a dozen or more. The 2015 draft had a player who is already border line All-star in Karl Anthony Towns, and several other players who have flashed definite All-Star potential in Russell, Porzingis, Hezonja, Turner, Winslow and Booker. 10 years ago, you'd be lucky to find this much talent in 3 drafts combined.
So should the NBA actively try to recruit whites? Thats a bunch of race baiting nonsense. Should the NBA diversify its scouting scope, which will ultimately lead to a more diversified league? You're damn right.
