I visited the training facilities for the New Jersey Nets this week to speak to a group of black athletes from The Guiding Hand organization. These weren't professional players, but were just high school kids with their entire lives in front of them. During my trip to the Meadowlands Sports Complex, I thought about Jason Williams, a former Nets player who is now in prison. I also thought about Derrick Coleman, another Nets star who declared bankruptcy this past year. I thought about the perpetual repeat of the experience of the black athlete in America, where personal choices can undermine your ability to be successful both on and off the court.

While I was sitting on the sideline watching the kids play against one another, I read a story about three NBA players who were all suspended for separate incidents. Brandon Rush of the Indiana Pacers was suspended for violating the league's anti-drug policy. Tyreke Evans of the Sacramento Kings was suspended after pleading no contest in a charge of reckless driving. Kenny Hasbrouk of the Miami Heat was suspended for driving under the influence of alcohol.

The suspensions of Rush, Evans and Hasbrouk present a continuous theme of black athletes finding ways to ruin everything they've worked hard for. Many of us allow our boys to be rushed through school without learning how to read, and we think everything's ok as long as Pookie has a good jump shot. The kid then enters into a state of surreal psychological insulation, where it seems that he can do anything, at any time to anyone without being punished for his behavior. Then, he finds out very quickly that this is not the case.

These three NBA suspensions, in my mind, reiterate the message I'd just shared with the young guys on the court in New Jersey: If you don't make good personal decisions, you are putting your athletic career in serious jeopardy. There are more stories than I can count of athletes who had everything on the court, only to throw it all away with careless behavior. Poor money management decisions allow newly minted black millionaires in the NBA to turn themselves into made-for-TV riches to rags embarrassments. The lack of commitment to educational achievement of the black athlete is almost always the culprit, with a sucker born every minute.

I am not here to judge Tyreke Evans, Kenny Hasbrouk or Brandon Rush. Also, I am not interested in stereotyping every black male athlete in America. But I am certainly willing to confess that there is a toxic culture of ignorance and irresponsibility among the black male athlete in America, and that culture must be destroyed.


Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the Athlete Liberation and Academic Reform Movement (ALARM). To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.