Ben Brostoff’s Oct. 27 column “You, Me and Kyrie” demonstrates a horrible understanding of Duke-Durham relations, race relations and basketball. It’s amazing that at a school with an illustrious basketball history such as Duke’s, a student could write a column with such poor knowledge of the game. To boot, Brostoff has the audacity to speak with conviction. He absolutely believes that Larry Bird was only popular in Indiana and Massachusetts. I laughed out loud at that part.
Brostoff’s assertion that guards are more skilled than other players on the court is ludicrous. Wilt Chamberlain holds more records than even Michael Jordan. Big men like Hakeen Olajuwon, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan are incredibly skilled. Are guards more entertaining to watch? This depends on the individual, but I can assure you that it does not depend on race. Brostoff asserts that in order to be appealing to the fan base, African-American guards should be “athletic and aggressive.” This is tantamount to the people who argue that a black quarterback needs to be able to run the ball. It is racism, plain and simple.
Finally, the fact that the entire article has a slightly comedic tone to it makes it all the more atrocious. There is nothing funny about being racist. The only point of humor in the column was Brostoff’s knowledge of basketball. I believe he owes Duke employees, Duke basketball players and all of his readers an apology for such an offensive column.
Daniel Freedman
Trinity ’08
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