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Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Coates - Ta-Nehisi Coates is a senior editor for The Atlantic, where he writes about culture, politics, and social issues for TheAtlantic.com and the magazine. He is the author of the memoir The Beautiful Struggle. More

Born in 1975, the product of two beautiful parents. Raised in West Baltimore—not quite The Wire, but sometimes ill all the same. Studied at the Mecca for some years in the mid-’90s. Emerged with a purpose, if not a degree. Slowly migrated up the East Coast with a baby and my beloved, until I reached the shores of Harlem. Wrote some stuff along the way.

Confessions of a League Pass Addict

By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Feb 23 2012, 4:25 PM ET Comment



Son, I could do this all day. NBA League Pass is some kind of drug. I had to cut the thing off last night after the first quarter of the Clippers game, but I did it begrudgingly. I think I kind of like these Timberwolves. First of all, Kevin Love is a great name. It's even greater because he's white. I'm not sure why that is, but it feels true.

Coming back to the league after all of these years has been fascinating. It really does look like a whiter NBA. Someone tweeted me last night noting that the Lakers will sometimes have four white dudes on the court at the same time. Dude says he calls it their "Jim Crow" lineup.

I don't know. It feels in sync with my life. I loved Iverson, Mourning, Larry Johnson, and that whole 90s hip-hop generation of ballers. But it did bother me that the NBA was seen as a black league, and specifically as thug league. I think that had more to do with the politics of the time than with Iverson's corn-rows. Still, I'm an integrationist and a futurist. I believe in an NBA that looks like America. Circa 2150. 

Seriously, these dudes are rocking mohawks and neck-beards now. And prescription-less eye-glasses. The age of the right Caesar is over. Things done changed.


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