'WHOOP' WHOOPS
NBA promoting vulgar goons is a dirty Trick
REMEMBER: After you “whoop that trick,” be sure to tell her you love her. But first help her back to her feet.
How can any intelligent, wellcomported sports fan not have reevaluated themself from skeptical to cynical? How will it be possible to return fans and customers to a place they’ve never been?
Last week in this space, I wrote that as a legit representative of the NBA Grizzlies’ fan base, ESPN proudly featured a live chat with Memphis-based rapper Juicy J.
He didn’t seem like a knowledgeable fan, thus it was difficult to not conclude his invite was based on his hatefilled, boast-filled self-love and violent challenges, vulgar lyrics, including the N-word referencing of black men and the unprintably profane sexual degradation of young women. In other words, the usual garbage.
Juicy J was just the latest ESPNblessed celebration of a rapper who promotes and sustains the most corrosive, criminal stereotypes of urban black America.
Another rapper, who has found favor on ESPN is the aptly named Young Thug, is not much different from Juicy J, as per the genre. Read for yourself. I suggest “Get the F--k Out of My Face” as your first stop.
Last week, ESPN-favored, Atlantabased Mr. Thug was arrested, again, this time charged with a pile of felonies from possession of a small arsenal of assault weapons, to drug distribution, to committing armed offenses and participating in gangsponsored street crimes.
Back to Memphis, where the Grizzlies’ public address system and oncourt cheerleaders, male and female, now lead a pep chant, “Whoop That Trick!” taken from a rap “song” mouthed by a fellow who delightfully calls himself Al Kapone.
“Whoop that trick,” according to the Urban Dictionary, is street slang for: “What you do when your girlfriend gets out of line. Basically giving her a pimp slap when she acts up.” Charming. One’s girlfriend is no better than “a trick” in need of a pimp slap.
So another sorrowful, backward stereotype that should be eradicated is celebrated. At a pro basketball game! Why? And why would black America choose to quietly indulge this anywhere? Why do the Al Sharptons continue to ignore it all, including the regular shootings and stabbings of rappers by rivals?
This past week, Warriors stars Steph Curry and Draymond Green, along with home fans Friday, joined in “Whoop That Trick.” They were heard and seen to love it. So where are the NBA’s and the Players Association’s commitments to social and racial activism in pursuit of positive change?
With the NBA last season financially, politically and conspicuously suckered by the soundsgood (dis)organizational Black Lives Matter con, what has commissioner Adam Silver done with this one? Thus far, nothing.
He should be demanding — ordering — its elimination from NBA games, in arenas and on national TV.
And if fools complain, Silver should be proud! Or do Silver, the NBA and the NBPA advocate domestic violence?
And this past week, The Post’s Josh Kosman and Brian Lewis reported that NBA ticket prices were up while attendance is down.
Thursday, another NFL arrest. Broncos wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, 2020 first-round pick from Alabama, was charged with tampering with evidence, under the Colorado legal heading “domestic violence enhancer,” his alleged victim the mother of his infant child — though the mother has requested the charges be dismissed.
All of our sports are being overwhelmed by acts of incivility, be it between players or players versus nearby “fans,” be it at Yankee Stadium or American Airlines Center in Dallas.
It now seems a weekly occurrence that pro tennis players throw a vulgar fit aimed at the crowd or a courtside official. Last week at the Italian Open, it was Canada’s Denis Shapovalov, who is ranked 16th in the world.
Rangers fans who populate The Garden then chant “a--hole!” at game officials or visiting players are fueled by an uncivil mob participation mentality. Or would they dare be alone among thousands in hollering crude chants?
You no longer cheer for your team, you mock and curse the visiting team. It’s tantamount to taking a group loyalty oath, not that they’d chant “a--hole!” at the family dinner table or while watching the game alone on TV. Or would they?
Why has bad grown worse? Are those in leadership positions — starting with commissioners — afraid to lead? Do they avoid the risk of condemnation from imbeciles? Or are they good with what’s going down — way down — on their watch?