A black NBA player appeared to make a racial remark to a white NBA player after a heated confrontation during a game on Friday night while the players were wearing jerseys that had special social justice phrases printed on the back.
“LA Clippers forward Montrezl Harrell and Dallas Mavericks Slovenian star Luka Doncic got into a scuffle last night that ended with Harrell calling Doncic a ‘b***h a*s white boy,'” Outkick columnist Gary Sheffield Jr. wrote. “The solution here is simple, even if many won’t like it: the NBA has to suspend Montrezl Harrell and send a message that race-based derogatory comments like his on the basketball court won’t be tolerated. The NBA has already set this precedent with gay slurs on the court, why not with racial-based insults as well?”
“Montrezl Harrell’s comments have already spawned a million ‘If the races were reversed’ conversations on social media and there is no doubt that if Luka had referred to Montrezl Harrell as a ‘b**** a** black boy,’ that the social media condemnation would have rained down from the heavens on Luka,” Sheffield added. “In fact, Luka would probably be suspended for the remainder of the season. He would be crushed, a social pariah in all of sports.”
WATCH:
"B!tch a$$ white boy”
– Montrezl Harrell to Luka Doncic pic.twitter.com/tlzxIFOerz
— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) August 22, 2020
Former NBA player and current ESPN host Jay Williams slammed Harrell for the alleged comment, noting that if Doncic said something like that, it would be a big deal.
In a video posted to Twitter, Williams said:
I am no lip reader, but damn, Trez, damn, Montrez. I can only imagine if Luka Doncic had something like that to you, and it got caught on tape. I can only imagine during Black Lives Matter how much of a big deal that would have been, considering today’s climate and state. It would have been a massive story. Luka would have lost all credibility in this space; everybody would have been commenting on it. People would have asked LeBron about it, people would have asked [another player] about it. Everybody would have had some kind of statement about it, but it’s not that big of a story because Trez said it to a Caucasian person.
It should be a big story because it’s not acceptable, man. And look, I’m a hooper, I talk trash, I’ve cursed people out. We can get into the nuances of whether that’s right or wrong too, but what you said, when you’re involving race in it—and I’ve heard people say this back in the day during basketball scenarios and playing hoops in inner cities, I still didn’t find it acceptable then. I don’t find it acceptable now. Especially when cameras are on you 24/7. Get lost in your battle, man, but don’t get lost and say things like that. You don’t need to say things like that, Trez. Make your performance speak for itself; you can talk trash in different ways. You don’t need to say stuff like that. Now, I’m no lip reader, but I know what I saw come out of your mouth, man. We don’t need that in today’s game, especially with everything that we’re fighting for as it relates to equality. Even if you do get lost in your emotion, not acceptable. Not acceptable.
WATCH:
Regarding the @dallasmavs @LAClippers game last night & the words we all know that came out of Montrez Harrell’s mouth.. pic.twitter.com/pLfZ1ryfll
— Jay Williams (@RealJayWilliams) August 22, 2020