Civil rights leaders question Timberwolves racial makeup

USATODAY

Is it possible in 2012 to have a team that is too white or too black?

That question is being asked in Minnesota where the Timberwolves will have five black players on its 15-man roster.

"How did we get a roster that resembles the 1955 Lakers?" Tyrone Terrell, chairman of St. Paul's African American leadership council asked Jerry Zgoda and Dennis Brackin of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. "I think everything is a strategy. Nothing happens by happenstance."





Last season, African-Americans took 78% of the roster spots. So are the Timberwolves pandering to a fan-based that is white?

Team president David Kahn said that is "patently false" and points out that the team's reach for the best players have included stars from Russia, Spain and Puerto Rico.

The T-Wolves projected lineup (when everyone is healthy) has Brandon Roy as the only black player along with Nikola Pekovic, Ricky Rubio, Andrei Kirilenko and superstar Kevin Love.

"It's just basketball," Roy said. "I never really had to feel like I'm the only black guy out here. I've played on teams that maybe had all black guys and the feeling is just the same when I'm out there on the floor playing with these guys. The only problem we have is in the weight room, arguing over what music we're going to listen to."

But Ron Edwards, a local civil rights advocate said "I think, personally, that it was calculated. Is this an attempt to get fans back in the stands? Minnesota, after all, is a pretty white state."