by Brandon Carmichael

Created on: May 14, 2009   Last Updated: May 19, 2009

From NWA to 2Pac to 50 cent, rappers and the entire hip-hop culture has branded itself has being rebellious and anti-societal. This vision of going against the grain has been labeled by the mainstream media, record labels, and rappers themselves as living the "thug life". These portrayals of what a thug is, has influenced society to believe that young, aggressive, tattooed, black men are what thugs look like. And, just in case you haven't seen a NBA game lately, that majority of the player's fit the previous description. So, if NBA players look like the stereotypical thugs, then there must be some legitimacy to the thought that the players have a thug mentality that leads to brawls, right? I would disagree with this assumption. Thugs are defined as criminals that hurt others by use of violence. By this definition there are others that fit this description: Al-Qaeda, Neo Nazis, The Mob; all these groups are REAL thugs, and I would contend that any sensible person would say that the individuals involved in these groups are worse than Ron Artest or Allen Iverson.

A factor that has lead to the stereotyping of NBA players as thugs is the connection of rap and basketball. The inner cities of America are not only where college recruiters venture to find the best basketball talent, it is also where the record labels look to find the newest rap talent. David Stern's attempt at lessening this connection (and that was absolutely what he was trying to do) was futile. Hip-Hop and basketball has been and always will be interlocked with movies like He Got Game and the emergence of street ball with the AND1 mixtapes. Rap music and basketball are in a marriage that is here to stay, unlike half of the others in America.

The next logical inference would be: "If they didn't look like thugs then no one would think they were thugs." But to ask these young men, who many of them were in high school a couple years ago, to not immerse themselves in their culture of choice like other young people is unreasonable. For every culture there are trends, styles, and attitudes that are specific to that culture. Skateboarders wear Tony Hawk's shoes, wear their pants to loose, and have a nonchalant attitude. In the culture of country music they wear Wrangler Jeans, cowboy hats and boots, and many talk with fake southern accents. So, why then, do basketball players not have the right to adorn themselves in the Hip-Hop culture without being called thugs? How many millionaires, who drive Bentley's from their suburban home, wearing an Armani suit, are thugs? Only rappers and basketball players?

The statement I'm making here is this: when hockey players fight, they are "tough"; when football players fight, their "warriors"; when baseball players brawl, tension is just high; but when basketball players tussle they're thugs. Maybe the competition level is intense and emotions run high, thus leading to fights, like any other sport. Don't let stereotypes cloud your understanding of emotions and competition. Whenever there are people involved in competition, there will be confrontations and potentially fights no matter what their culture or appearance.

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