NBA best at achieving diversity

Jet, May 23, 2005

The National Basketball Association received an A in racial diversity from a recent university study, the top grade among America's professional sports leagues.

The NBA earned an overall grade of B-plus, the best in sports, according to a study by Richard Lapchick of the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport that focused on the 2003-04 season. In racial diversity the grade was an A, and in gender issues it received a B, which tied with Major League Soccer.

In the league offices, 43 percent of the professionals were women and 29 percent were minorities. An A was achieved if at least 24 percent of the positions were held by racial minorities, B if it was 12 percent and C if it had only 9 percent. For gender, an A was earned if 40 percent of the employees were women, a B for 35 percent, a C for 30 percent, a D for 25 percent and an F for anything below that.

The NBA also earned an A in racial diversity in Lapchick's previous report in 2003. Baseball received a B-plus that year, the NFL a B-minus, and the NHL a C.

The NBA has one Black owner, Robert Johnson, of the Charlotte Bobcats. Also, the league has three Black CEOs/presidents and five Black general managers. During the study, there were 12 Black coaches, although that number had decreased to 10 by the end of the regular season.

On the 30 team rosters, 76 percent of the players were Black--the lowest since the 1991-92 season-and 2 percent Latino and Asian. The number of White players increased to 22 percent, two percentage points higher than the 2001-02 season covered in the last report.

"(NBA Commissioner) David Stern set the tone by example and that's really an important thing to do," Lapchick said.