Weed & Racism; NBA Stories

A few days ago, the story came out about Mavericks' forward/guard Josh Howard admitting to marijuana use ... then he also said that most of the NBA smokes up as well ... a surprise to me? no, not really, but my reasoning is not the same answer that comes from society ... I didn't think much more of the topic, but then I got onto RealGM's forums, (I used to post on there, until I got fed up with the idiots that post, majority of which are Raptor fans, and most of them are people that have no f*ckin' clue on the game) ... there were people commenting on the issue, for instance (not exact quotes):

-"well that's black youth for you"
-"he's a black athlete, what do you expect?"

See now that struck a chord with me ... because of the blatant racism in some of the comments from a lot of the posters ... now, I say everyone has racism in them to some degree (as do I), and a certain "Prophet" says it's a matter of people actually believing these things about other races ... But regarding the weed issue, it's has absolutely nothing to do with race ... like it was said in one of my favourite movies The Wood, "weed is universal" ... sure, the character was high as sh*t when he was saying it, LMFAO, but it's true ... an ex-girlfriend of mine, who was in law school, told me a while ago, that on off-days, majority of her classmates, 85% white, mostly smoke weed ... now these are lawyers, or soon to be ... want more proof, a friend of mine in undergrad from first year, was dating a lawyer at the time, and at his house parties, right after dinner she said they always busted out the weed ... her boyfriend also told her that majority of his classmates in law school, also did it while in school and continue to do so, saying it's just part of the lifestlye ... now if I were to come out and say "all white lawyers smoke weed", I'd be considered a racist, now wouldn't I? ... But like I said, weed is universal ... maybe 50% of the Filipinos I was around back in the day smoked up ... but I'm sure if you look at all races, ie. Latino, Asian, Black and White, you'll find that they all do it ... thus, it's not a matter of race, it's about: what type of person you are, how you were raised, having access to it, having the means (ie. cash) ... NBA players and lawyers alike, are definitely not paying for stuff in food stamps, so the aforementioned fourth point (money) should not even be an issue ... I have to also go on record and admit that I've experimented with it a couple times in the past as well ... Not something I'm proud of now, I was at a point in my life where I wanted a different type of lifestyle, but then I realized hey "this isn't me", then I eventually came back to how I was raised, and a pothead is not the type of person I wanted to be ...

The racial attitudes about black athletes doesn't surprise me, there is racism coming from all levels ... I mean, look atop the NBA, commissioner David Stern ... He implemented the "dress code" a couple years back ... saying they didn't want their players looking like thugs and gangsters ... well, Washington Wizards player (I think he's still with the Wiz) Etan Thomas made a good point, "In old 70's movies, all the gangsters wore suits" ... I could rip on this racism issue for a 50-page dissertation, maybe more ... I mean, I have my own battle with racist people that's still ongoing ...

speaking of the NBA, on a lighter note, I'm sure you all have a pretty good idea on which players I like watching ... well after going through highlights on YouTube, I found more stuff on some of these players, I'm sure you guys may have seen these on TV "NBA Stories" ... well here are a few,

Chris Paul
-I'm posting part three, because it's truly a great story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnTOZ5v4fW0

Dwight Howard
-nice and refreshing to see a humble star
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVaJcq3Ywd0

Gilbert Arenas
-I had to include Arizona's greatest product
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc1psMeVrHQ

Lastly, if I were a GM of an NBA franchise, if I had both Chris Paul and Dwight Howard on my team, I would have the easiest job in the world ... All I would need to do is surround them with average players, and we'd be a championship contender for the next 10-12 years ... I guess that's just my fantasy GM talking, after seeing how dominant those two have been these playoffs, I'd like to see what kind of damage those two could do if teamed together ...

One,

- J -