ESPN star Jalen Rose recently made some insane comments about NBA player Kevin Love.
Love is the only white player on the roster for the games in Tokyo, and the rest of the team is made up of black NBA stars. Well, that’s apparently a problem for the former NBA player and current ESPN star. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
Team USA’s 12-man roster for the Tokyo Olympics:
Kevin Durant
Damian Lillard
Bradley Beal
Jayson Tatum
Devin Booker
Zach LaVine
Kevin Love
Bam Adebayo
Draymond Green
Jrue Holiday
Khris Middleton
Jerami Grant— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 23, 2021
Rose said the following when talking about the Cavaliers star making the Olympic roster, according to Fox News:
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…I’m disappointed in Team USA for not having the courage to send an all-black team to the Olympics.
You can listen to his full comments below.
Despite being excited for Olympic hoops, @JalenRose is disappointed in Team USA’s token selection of Kevin Love. pic.twitter.com/VgKUeRicAB
— Jalen & Jacoby (@JalenandJacoby) June 24, 2021
These comments are straight insane, and there’s no other way to describe them. First and foremost, as pointed out by Outkick’s Bobby Burack, we sent an all-black team in 2016.
So, we damn sure don’t lack the courage to send only black players if they’re the best we can find to represent us on the national stage.
Jalen Rose: I’m disappointed they are afraid to send an all black team to the Olympics.https://t.co/HFiDEGYaLE pic.twitter.com/zTJGRLfBzE
— Bobby Burack (@burackbobby_) June 24, 2021
Secondly, and much more importantly, Rose’s comments are unhinged. Let’s do a little brain exercise here. Imagine the roles were reversed and a white ESPN pundit said an NFL team didn’t have the courage to have an all-white team and the lone black player was a result of “tokenism.”
He would be canceled before he finished speaking, he’d be fired and ESPN would go on a PR tour that would result in millions of dollars in consulting fees.
There is no scenario where the races could be reversed and people didn’t lose their jobs. That’s just a fact.
The reality of the situation is that the USA is going to win the gold and we sent the 12 best players willing to play.
Guess what? If LeBron James, Steph Curry, James Harden or a few other players wanted to play, then they’d be on the team and Love probably wouldn’t be.
Yet, they all chose to stay home and Love is on the team, and it’s not because of “tokenism.” It’s because he’s a craft big man with a soft shot.
I hate outrage culture and I hate cancel culture even more. Rose definitely shouldn’t lose his job or anything close to it for these comments. That’d be equally as stupid, but he should recognize the absurdity of his comments going forward.