On HBO's "Real Sports" program Tuesday night, host Bryant Gumbel made some odd remarks that implied that David Stern was treating NBA players as though he were a modern day plantation owner. Gumbel went on to insinuate that Stern enjoys his status as a "plantation owner".
"Stern's version of what has been going on behind closed doors has of course been disputed, but his efforts were typical of a commissioner who has always seemed eager to be viewed as some kind of modern plantation overseer, treating NBA men as if they were his boys. It's part of Stern's M.O., like his past self-serving edicts on dress code and the questioning of officials. His moves were intended to do little more than show how he's the one keeping the hired hands in their place."
The comments do not represent the first time that Gumbel has made radical, racially insensitive comments. Back in 2006 during the Winter Olympics, Gumbel laughed off the idea that the games represented the best athletes in the world, because so few of them were African American.
"Try not to laugh when someone says these are the world’s greatest athletes, despite a paucity of blacks that makes the Winter Games look like a GOP convention."