Acknowledgments
1. After Artest: The NBA and the Assault on Blackness
Introduction
Guiding Frameworks
Anti-Black Racism and the NBA
The NBA beyond Artest
This Book
2. “I went to a Basketball Game and a Vibe Awards Broke Out” or “Negroes Gone Wild”: The Palace Melee and the Racialized Culture War What Else?
Introduction
Opening Up the Wounds: Fan-Player Tensions and Divisions
Thugs and Criminals
Hip-Hop to Blame for Palace Brawl
3. A Crisis Inside and Outside America’s Arena: Age Restrictions and the Real Color of Money
Introduction
History of Age Restriction
An NBA Crisis: The Draft, and Children Playing in the Wrong Sand Box
Don’t Believe the Hype: Cautionary Tales and Sad Stories
Physically Weak, Mentally and Intellectually Weaker: Big Bodies and Small Brains/Hearts
It’s a Man’s Game
Put Down that Ball: Saving America’s (Black) Youth
Policing Hip-Hop
A Raceless Issue?
Race Matter
Young Athletes of Color: Model Minority Discourse as another Exception
A Note on the Defenders: The American Dream and Meritocracy
A Crisis Inside and Outside America’s Arena
Hypocrisy or the Consistency?
Conclusion
4. “No Bling Allowed”: The NBA’s Dress Code and the Politics of New Racism
Introduction
What’s Racism Got to Do with It: Player Opposition and a Culture of Denial
The Dress Code: Smart Business or Insufficient Change?
Smart Business
You Say Good Business, I Say Racism
Not Enough: Once a Gangsta, Always a Gangsta
Racism: Take 2
The Politics of Respectability and Self-Help
Dressing for the Part: Role models
The Dress Code and Questions of Authenticity
Beyond the Dress Code: The NBA and the Criminalization of Black Bodies
Conclusion
5. The Palace Brawl and the Colorblind Fantasy
Introduction
The Palace Brawl 2.0: Madison Square Garden Melee
The Culture Wars
The NBA’s Culture War
Five Years Later
Notes
Works Cited: Popular Discourse
Works Cited: Scholarly Discourse
Index
List of Titles in the SUNY Series on Sport, Culture, and Social Relations