Jalen Rose hits out at Phil Jackson for claiming NBA has become too political
ESPN journalist Jalen Rose has not held back when criticizing Hall of Fame basketball coach Phil Jackson who said that the NBA had become too political.
Jackson's claim was that he was forced to stop watching the sport he is such a big part of because he did not agree with the organisers tapping into so many political messages.
"[The NBA] was trying to cater to an audience or trying to bring a certain audience to the game, and they didn't know it was turning other people off," Jackson said. "People want to see sports as non-political. Politics stays out of the game. It doesn't need to be there.
"They had things on [the backs of their jerseys] like 'Justice' and a funny thing happened," Jackson continued. "Like 'Justice went to the basket and Equal Opportunity knocked him down'... Some of my grandkids thought it was pretty funny to play up those names. I couldn't watch that."
Jalen Rose hits back at Phil Jackson
Rose decided to respond to these comments from Jackson with his own thoughts and whilst he stopped short of labelling Jackson as a racist, he didn't seem to be too far away.
"The same Phil Jackson that won championships with some of greatest black athletes in the history of the game ... made millions on their backs and off their sweat equity," Rose said.
"Y'all think it's funny when 'Justice' passes the ball to 'Equal Opportunity'? When somebody shows you who they are, believe them."
Jackson's comments are certainly a sentiment that many Americans across the country agree with, but the same can be said for Rose as well.
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