The NBA Has A Sexism and Homophobia Problem – Zone Coverage
Last week, the San Antonio Spurs waived Josh Primo after picking up the sophomore guard’s third-year option a few days earlier. So there was a sense of shock when news dropped that he had been released. Shortly after, though, Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski reported that there were “multiple alleged instances of him exposing himself to women.”
It seems like this type of thing has been happening a lot in the league lately. Before the season, the Boston Celtics suspended Ime Udoka for a year for having an “improper consensual relationship with a female member of the team staff.” Miles Bridges recently pleaded “no contest” before facing trial for allegedly beating up his girlfriend in front of their children in July.
All of this played out with Robert Sarver’s situation as a backdrop. Sarver had a laundry list of complaints against him that run the gamut from saying the N-word multiple times to telling jokes about oral sex at the office. Yet, the NBA found in their investigation of the allegations that none of Sarver’s actions “were motivated by racial or gender-based animus.”
With so many examples of improper behavior, it’s clear that this isn’t just a matter of a few individuals. There is a major cultural issue in the NBA. Udoka is only three weeks into his suspension, and the Brooklyn Nets are reportedly poised to hire him as their head coach. This is a problem.
Although the Minnesota Timberwolves have been free from incidents of violence or inappropriate behavior toward women this season, I can’t help but think about how they fit into all of this. The Wolves tried to purge this from their organization in 2020 when they parted ways with Gersson Rosas, who was having an extra-marital affair in the office. But, due to the insidious nature of misogyny, it was only a matter of time before another issue reared its ugly head. I think back to the video Anthony Edwards posted on Instagram shortly before the season. In the video, he used homophobic language toward several anonymous individuals he was filming.
Lots of folks have written and talked about the implications of this video. But there is something deeper going on here. See, this isn’t just an Anthony Edwards issue. Sure, Edwards was the one who posted this video, but there is a bigger problem. I find it hard to believe that Edwards’ apparent feelings toward homosexuality are an outlier in the NBA. Having been in plenty of male-dominated spaces throughout my life, I would hazard a guess that NBA locker rooms are often riddled with homophobia and sexism.
Shortly after Edwards started receiving backlash for the video, there seemed to be a contingent of Wolves fans who, whether earnestly or not, were arguing on social media that what he said was just a joke and shouldn’t be taken too seriously. While I agree that Edwards shouldn’t be ostracized for his behavior, I find it necessary to really understand why jokes like this can significantly impact marginalized communities. When it becomes okay to joke about gay people, we create a culture that views queerness as less than. The same goes for women, Jewish people, Black people, etc.
I compare homophobia and sexism because they go hand in hand in many ways. Sexism, sexual assault, and homophobia are all tools of hyper-masculinity, which perpetuates the misogyny that the patriarchy in this country is built on. This is so dangerous because these tools can quickly become weapons when used by people with influence and power. When men abuse women or make fun of gay people, it is a practice of upholding the power that masculinity provides.
Where does this hyper-masculinity come from? The NBA is a man’s league. The men who compete in the league have most often grown up in an environment that promotes these hyper-masculine traits — strength, dominance, and unwavering self-confidence. The problem is that, historically, masculinity has come with a sense of ownership. Men in this country, particularly white men, have been the most powerful and influential group of people in America since the Europeans showed up. When men strive to fulfill these hyper-masculine roles, we are unconsciously parroting the gender dynamics that were laid before us by the first white people to arrive on this land.
As a league consisting of mostly Black men, the perpetuation of American hyper-masculinity is particularly problematic. Again, these norms were forged by early European settlers who we know were, by and large, atrocious people. Murder, genocide, and slavery were their specialty. There is a further layer of stratification of people when we analyze how these hyper-masculine stereotypes created by white people are leveraged against Black men as they are seen as violent and aggressive. Whether we like it or not, there is a hierarchy of power with white men at the top, followed by white women, Black men, and Black women.
But ultimately, gender is just a figment, and our reproductive organs have no bearing on our sexual preferences. When life is tied strictly to false notions of gender, anyone who doesn’t fall within the binary is excluded. When we fail to include people for who they are, we inherently view them as “less than.” The same thing happens when we allow hateful jokes.
Under Adam Silver, the NBA has trumpeted itself as a progressive leader in sports. From the league’s disavowing of Donald Sterling to the political action the NBA took in the wake of police violence over the past few years. And yet, when it comes to the acceptance and treatment of non-masculine individuals in and around the league, they are falling behind. The NBA has the power to influence American culture. Whether he likes it or not, whatever action or inaction Silver takes has a direct impact on American culture. It is imperative that Silver aggressively stamp out homophobia and sexism in the league as vehemently as he has attacked racism.