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Normally during March, college basketball players are worried about boxing out. Now, thanks to an ESPN telecast last Friday they have to be worried about being boxed in.

Rob Parker, a Detroit Free Press sports columnist, and regular guest on ESPN’s ‘First and 10’ was asked the question of who would be a better NBA player, University of North Carolina junior forward Tyler Hansbrough or UCLA freshman forward Kevin Love. Parker’s response was neither would be successful, because white, big men never are.

NBADraft.net seems to disagree. They have Love slated as the No. 10 pick in the 2008 draft and Hansbrough as the No. 22 pick in the 2009 draft. They also list Ohio State commit and white center B.J. Mullens as the No. 3 overall pick in 2009.

Parker continued to dig himself in a hole, saying white America can no longer “hang their hat” on Larry Bird because he played so long ago and implied all white big men were doomed to the career of Christian Laettner, which happened to be 12.3 ppg and 6.7 rpg.

Fellow columnist Skip Bayless asked Parker what basis he had to compare dissimilar players like Laettner and Love, he stated because they are both white.

The assertions made by Parker are no different than the statement made by Don Imus and Rush Limbaugh that forced them from their jobs. Defining someone based on their skin color is a racial statement and as soon as you hinder their capabilities based on their race; you are making a racist statement.

A University of Central Florida study from the institute for Diversity and Ethics found 79 percent of NBA players are minorities, while 75 percent of those are black. Parker’s analysis places all white basketball players in a box will have a trickle down affect from the professional to the youth levels, further ostracizing white males from basketball.

Parker is not alone. In a 2007 ESPN telecast of a U of L basketball game, announcer and NBA Hall of Famer Len Elmore said U of L head coach Rick Pitino had just put Will Scott in for his defensive abilities. Anyone who follows U of L basketball knows Pitino has been very vocal about Scott’s lack of defensive presence limiting his playing time. Announcers see white and they pull out their ‘white dictionary of basketball stereotypes.’

White basketball players under 6-foot-4 are like John Stockton. They dribble and pass well, have a good shooting touch and are a “student of the game.” Anyone over 6-foot-4 is a fundamental overachieving hustler like the Laettners before them. Ask Charlotte Bobcats forward Adam Morrison and University of Arizona forward Chase Budinger how often their athletic ability has been underestimated.

Last weekends Elite 8 game featured two ‘white big men.’ While I don’t feel U of L’s David Padgett will succeed in the NBA. I don’t think his whiteness caused his knee injuries.

Hansbrough’s skin color didn’t make him score 28 points and tear down 13 rebounds in the win over U of L and his skin color won’t keep him from being a success in the NBA.