Bruce Pearl, the head basketball coach at Auburn University, recently disparaged Vice President Kamala Harris by reposting a dishonest social media post claiming she is in favor of eliminating private health insurance. And it wasn’t the first time Pearl was on this type of time.
His X/Twitter feed is replete with support for former President Donald Trump and opposition to all things “woke…” whatever he thinks that overused moniker means. The coach absolutely has a right to express himself however he chooses.
However, why do so many Black athletes continue to allow white coaches to use Black talent to build generational wealth while disparaging Black leaders and opposing policies Black Americans support?
Pearl is not alone. The list of white coaches who made millions off Black athletic talent while simultaneously opposing policies Black Americans back is long. There was Lou Holtz, former football coach at Notre Dame University, and Tommy Tuberville, former football coach at Auburn and now a U.S. senator from Alabama. Both are enthusiastic Trumpers.
Strip their teams of every player who has a sister who looks like Harris, and they’d have no conference or national championships and none of the millions they believe their coaching brilliance alone “earned” them.
Of the 18 young men listed on Auburn’s 2023-24 basketball roster, 14 are Black. I wonder how they feel about their 63-year old white coach — who makes $5.4 million per year — calling the nation’s first Black vice president a socialist and opposing policies aimed at combating discrimination and inequality. I also wonder how Pearl would fare coaching a team composed of fellow Trump supporters. I’m not sure if J.D. Vance can hoop, but I hear Barron Trump is 6-9.
Black athletes are supposed to “shut up and dribble,” as television talk show host Laura Ingraham once ordered of LeBron James when he dared to discuss politics and racism. There is no matching admonition for white coaches or for white professional team owners.
James knows what Pearl knows – that there is power in the platform they have because of their prominence.
The day may soon be arriving when more Black, athletically gifted 17- and 18-year olds realize they have powerful platforms, too. White coaches badly want — no, desperately need — to recruit them so they can build winning teams and make money. That’s not a bad deal for young Black athletes, who can get a college scholarship along with name, image and likeness money and an opportunity to go pro someday.
But a deal is an agreement between parties. Why should a Black basketball player agree to be coached by the likes of Pearl? There are other coaches out there, ones who haven’t repeatedly violated NCAA rules and who aren’t backing bigots.
Here’s guessing Pearl would suddenly become very enamored with Harris and her policies if he knew trashing her would hurt him where it counts most — on the recruiting trail and, eventually, in his banking account.
