It is commonly considered discrimination if women and minorities are under-represented in the workplace or in Hollywood, or wherever.

So I'm watching the NCAA basketball tournament and the NBA.

How do you explain the lack of white players? Sometimes there are none on the floor.

One theory I've heard is it is inexpensive when children start playing. If you have a ball and a hoop you can play a pick up game. That is not true for other sports.

While I am generally loath to get into this sort of discussion, it reminds me of an interview that I heard or read involving Arthur Ashe many years ago.

He felt that to perform at the highest levels in basketball, the kids need to practice and play with each other on a level that will almost always hurt their academic performance (with some exceptions). His impression was that midddle class parents (who were more likely to be white) would not allow the level of practice involved to interfere with their children's education. This practice involves intense play with their peers, most often without adults around.

He contrasted that with the "white” sports (tennis, golf, swimming, etc) where the parents are so heavily involved in the practices, scheduling, travel,etc.

He pointed out that for all sports the likelihood of success at the highest levels is slim to none. Economically successful parents know that education is more likely to allow their child to get a decent job and live a comfortable life.

He talked about how the successful basketball players get the press, but behind the scenes and out of the glare are all the kids who made tremendous sacrifices with hopes of becoming a star while hurting their long term economic prospects irreparably.

It's all a game, until it is not.

Well you might ask why there are no black Nobel Laureates in Physics, or why there are no black winners of the Fields Medal in Mathematics.

(Church Lady voice)

Could it be Saaaataan!?

White guys are all playing golf and curling and skiing, where there is minimal sweating and no running involved.

Tennis players seem to be predominantly European, except for the Williams sisters. Why is that?

Mass murderers are actually quite balanced racially. If anything, whites have an advantage, and Asians are not pulling their weight. Gender balance, however, is just totally lopsided.

And your point is what? That basketball is an affirmative action sport? Or that it needs to be? Or that it would be better if brooms were involved?

And what about lacrosse, the final frontier?

I happen to think that not all humans are the same.

But if you suggest differences, you are called racist or misogynist, or some kind of hater.

I don't think it is discrimination that results in the best sprinters being black.

We seem to get away with joking that "white men can't jump", or "white men can't dance", but in other areas, to point out differences is considered racist.

If we were consistent, we would be protesting the NBA and NCAA and the NFL and the Olympics until participation changed to reflect the population.

Ability should not determine participation, right?

Regarding the idea that whites don't do as well because they put less time in sports. May apply to some sports. But when you suggest that some minorities don't do as well in academics because they put in less time, it is considered bigotry.

Why is that?