Basketball is my favorite sport, so of course I made an effort to play back in the dawgs. Where I got the most run was during my college years, in the school gym. And by that, I don't mean the gym where the basketball team actually played. I mean the student gym, where anyone, at least in theory, could get some run. And to be totally honest, when dudes from the actual basketball team did show up from time to time for a pickup game, I really wasn't good enough to participate.
But still, this is a school with a diverse population, so for the first time I got to regularly play with dudes from different races and even from different parts of the world. And that's one of the experiences that fashioned me into the NBA guru you read today. Because even then, you could see how players from various backgrounds and regions also had different styles.
Those days, the biggest stars in the NBA were A.I. and Jordan. So some of the homeys, like the black dudes, could dribble their asses off. I remember this one homey, when you're defending him would ask you to pick a number between 1 and 25. And depending on which number you picked he'd perform a different crossover. Then speaking of Jordan, I had this other homey would always be like 'the onus is on him' type shit and then start chucking up midrange jumpshots, lol.
But the white players, or let me say more specifically the white-American players, had a completely different style. For instance, I don't remember any of them having exceptional dribbling skills. Also, none of them were really like athletic. I didn't know any of the white players who would regularly show up to the gym personally. But now looking back, based on these dudes physiques and temperaments they were probably like recent alumni.
And they would win sometimes, not every time but just as much as any other core group. The only people who would play against them and be like 'yeah, we're gonna bust these whiteboys asses' was outsiders who didn't know them. But everyone who was familiar with them knew they were formidable. And to my remembrance, sometimes the only way to be beat them is to get questionably physical.
For instance, there was this tall white dude, like maybe 6'3". I'll never forget him, in part because he always had like this depressed look on his face. Win or lose, dude wouldn't smile. And once he got in one of his spots, he'll never miss a jump shot unless you made physical contact with him.
He was usually the tallest player in the game, but he wouldn't play in the post and wasn't really a rebounding threat. But once he catches the ball with his feet set and no one around him, it's like damn, you already know it's going in and just have to kick yourself (or whoever's defending him) for leaving him open.
And his presence was like the main reason the white dudes would sometimes win. They weren't physically intimidating or flashy, but what they did have was a system. They knew for instance that if the homey caught the ball in his spot open or defended by someone significantly shorter, than he was going to score, as unintimidating as he may have looked.
So at the beginning of last offseason when I said the Lakers should make the pursuit Tyler Herro their main priority, even more than chasing a big superstar (or anyone for that matter), I knew what I was talking about. When you're playing with the likes of PG Lebron, you need to have somebody that you know is going to make the shot if he's open. When the Cavs got JR Smith and Iman Shumpert in 2015, that's when you knew that they were like really contenders. But since shooters aren't just floating around like that these days, an aged squad like LAL needs to get the best of the best.
And now, there are a number of teams that may be just a good jump-shooting whiteboy away from the Larry O'Brien. I'm not talking about a good shooter in general as, to my understanding, some black players have better percentages. I'm talking about like that type of presence a white jump shooter brings - that stability, if you will.
Sometimes, even as recent as last playoffs, you'd see a team go out and get one of the best black shooters in the league, and like after being traded, dude loses his shot. Or his style may be like he's just chuckin up 3s whenever he gets the opportunity (you know, since everyone else on the team is practically doing the same thing). Or sometimes, he'll just get lost in the offense.
But it's different with white players. It's almost like when you have a quality white teammate, there's really only one of two things you can do. Either you can just ignore him (as, btw, the Lakers have a tendency of doing), or there's like something that subconsciously goes 'okay, we have this white guy on the team, so let's slow down a bit'. And yes, unless you have the Splash Brothers or an alpha who thrives in wild like Ja Morant on your team, keeping composure is usually a good thing.
CONCLUSION
So I could see a team like the Timberwolves or Pelicans benefiting from a sound, jump-shooting whiteboy. Those are the types of squads that, if healthy, will have more unhinged offensive firepower than others. So you also need someone who thrives in a more standard style, so that your offense doesn't end up looking like, well, the Lakers. And it shouldn't be a situation where there's so much chucking going on that the White player is also compelled to start doing so. Like I remember once watching JJ Reddick -as good of a shooter as he may be - try to play like Steph Curry once, and it wasn't pretty at all.
White shooters, like they usually need to have their feet set. And that kind of play, which is more intelligent (though less exciting) than run-and-gun is something that many coaches are failing to instill in their teams these days. So some of these out-of-control players could use a standard white teammate or two, though they're a rare commodity in today's NBA, i.e. ones that are actually of starting quality. The Heat are the only team right now that has two of them, which is another reason why I'm surprised they didn't make it to the Finals.
Now you have more European whites, some of whom have their own issues in terms of being able to settle down on the court. So even though they have their own chucks, the Bucks are one of the better examples of the potential a modern team can reach when you have athleticism tempered by cerebal play.
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