No Bloods Allowed

No Bloods Allowed; NBA suspends Pistons’ Killian Hayes 3 games, Magic’s Moe Wagner 2 games after brawl.

In the video of the above listed brawl, a tall “Euro” forward from Orlando and a shorter “African” guard for Detroit were racing for a loose ball in Detroit. It wasn’t the end of the game and the game was not close, but the two young players were playing hard. The result of the play lead to the brawl.

With the ball in no one’s possession, as the “African” reached for the ball, the “Euro” hip checked the “African” into his own bench. The “African” landed safely on a couple of unoccupied seats, but his shock was evident. He jumped up and punched the “Euro” in the back of his head, physically stunning the visiting “Euro” who collapsed in to the home team’s bench. Smelling trouble, the Magic players rushed the Detroit bench to protect their player. Thus…”the brawl.” All of this reminded me of a basketball game from my youth.

I was a pretty big kid. And sadly while I have grown “out” over the past 50 years, I have not grown “up.” So when I read this story about a bench clearing brawl from last night’s game in Detroit, I was reminded of a similar scene from my past.

My Junior High School had two boys basketball teams. The Junior Varsity was made up of 7^th and 8^th graders and the Varsity was almost exclusively 9^th graders…plus one, (me). I was almost 5’10, with a sturdy body and similar disposition. In other words, I had grown up in a competitive household and was unafraid to step up and “perform” with older and bigger kids.

As an 8^th grader, I started in the JV game, but would “dress” for the Varsity game. Both JV and Varsity teams were playing our archrival in our gym. The other Junior High would also feed into our High School…the same High School Kobie Bryant made famous. That said, games like this would be discussed for years. Trash talk between opposing players that would become team mates was pretty intense… as well as comical. But, just like the above conflict, race is never far from any conversation or conflict. This IS the United States and we DID have systemic racism for 365 years (265 years of slavery and 100 years of Jim Crow laws). Ignore it, deny it all you want, facts remain and as always, facts trump feelings, every time.

While we had two African-Americans on our JV team, the rest of our JV and a Varsity were all white. The visiting team…all “brothers.” So of course, the visiting squads fully expected to beat both our JV and our Varsity, because as cliché as it sounds, “brothers are better at ball” than you “Euros.” This may or may not be true, but back then it appeared to be true. But nothing is given in a competition, and victories have to be earned. That may just be MY VIEW, but I doubt I am the only one who feels this way. In other words, just because you are a “brother,” doesn’t me you beat me today. That said, I was called upon late in the JV game to “make a play.”

Down by three with time running out, I made a contested shot to narrow the deficit to one. With our gym going wild, the lead guard on the visiting squad was dribbling out the clock. He had a good handle and probably could have done so, but not today. I fouled him hard and knocked him to the ground at the feet of my coach. It was more of a football play than a basketball play, but I played football, too. Today such a play would have been called a “flagrant foul” where the fouled player shoots foul shots AND gets the possession. But this was the 70’s and we were not that “woke” yet.

I remember my fellow “Euros” on my bench. They were wide eyed and doubted very much if I would make such an aggressive move had the game been at the visiting team’s gym. I can tell you it would have made no difference to me. Winning is the only reason to play the game. I am not on the floor for the exercise, the fans, my parents, pride of the school, etc. I am not on the floor to impress the cheer leaders or female classmates. I am not an athlete to be “popular.” In my view, if you are not playing to win, you shouldn’t be on the floor or field…period.

The shock on my teammates face was also shared by the point guard I just knocked to the floor. He was also wide-eyed in wonder as to what had just happened. But before he could get angry, I picked him up and said, “you alright?” He smiled…and I noticed he was missing one of his front teeth. As someone who has my own dental issues, I smiled also and added…“one and one, don’t miss or we will win.” Sure, I was “getting in his head.” I wanted to win.

Now in retrospect, all of this may have gone down as it did because the point guard’s brother played on our team. He was taller and better than both of us, but perhaps prior to the game the brothers had discussed the “barbarian.” All that said, the point guard to his credit, gathered himself, made the first of two shots, missed the second …which gave us a chance to tie at the buzzer. We got the rebound, drove the length of the floor, took an open shot, missed and lost. My only regret is I did not take the last shot. Ego aside, I wasn’t the best shooter on the team. So we lost, but we lost “fair and square.”

The handshakes after the game were genuine and heartfelt. We knew competition between all of us, one day would result in the best players on the JV and Varsity at the High School. That proved to be true. Two years later, in my sophomore year, I was the point guard on the Junior Varsity. We played against the Varsity every day. The Varsity had two starters and the sixth man from my junior high and two starters from the rival junior high. The fifth started was a newly relocated ABC (A Better Chance) player from Washington, DC. That Varsity team won the district and was two games from the state title game, before losing to a large high school in upstate PA.

That play-off game was played in “their gym” and “their crowd.” It is safe to say, we were in NBA Pennsylvania, i.e. “No Bloods Allowed.” Getting off the bus was complete with verbal intimidation and implied terrorism aimed at our African players. Unknown to me, such threats from a “mad crowd of white people,” were a very, very serious matter. Parents and grandparents of our African players knew full well that an unhinged white mob could, would and has committed atrocities against Africans.

The “Euros” verbal abuse was very effective. With historic racism on full display, our players, both African and Euro… did miss free throw shots and we did lose the game. Happily, that varsity graduated just one player, and they made a similar play-off run the next year. That Varsity was ”hardened” by the previous year’s failure in No Bloods Allowed, Pennsylvania.

As previously stated in this space, after more than FOURTEEN GENERATIONS of systemic racism in our country, we are “free” of said racism for just TWO GENERATIONS. Will it be another TWELVE GENERATIONS before we are truly all “brothers and sisters?” I hope and pray we can “overcome” sooner, rather than later. As a country, as a people, we really have no choice. The Russians, the Chinese and other global rivals LOVE to read about our internal disputes. To them, we look weak. Are we?

BTW, the two African brothers from that Junior Varsity game in the 70’s, remain my friends today.

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