EthnicMajority

(Sports Illustrated) The WNBA joined the NBA in setting the benchmark for professional leagues when it received a combined "A" Wednesday for its diversity efforts. The grades were released in the annual report by the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport.

The combined "A" the league received for race and gender makeup marked the eighth time since 2001 the WNBA has scored that highly. The Racial and Gender Report Card released by the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport examines major sports league's diversity in management at league offices and at the team level, as well as for coaches and other support personnel.

The NBA also received a combined "A" grade in June. In their most recent reports both Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer were given a combined grade of "B-plus" and the NFL received a "B".

Richard Lapchick, the study's primary author, said that he is most impressed that the WNBA continues to have several female owners, which he believes is helping set the agenda for the league overall.

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(USA Today) The popularity of LeBron James has taken a big hit since he decided to leave Cleveland for Miami. But the African American community has stayed loyal to the NBA superstar.

SLAM magazine columnist Vincent Thomas writing for ESPN.com explains that the more James is disliked by others, the bond from the black community makes for a tighter circle.

…The more America shuns LeBron, the more Black America retreats to his corner. In fact, as America hates LeBron more and more, Black America’s collective hug embraces LeBron tighter and tighter. It’s called black protectionism.

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(NESN.com) Jeremy Lin is ready to make a name for himself on basketball’s biggest stage. That’s what he’s done at every other level, so why should the NBA be any different?

Lin will get a shot with the Golden State Warriors.

His journey from being unrecruited out of high school to going undrafted to making the Association with his self-proclaimed favorite team would be a great story, regardless. Add the fact that Lin is an Asian who graduated from Harvard, and it becomes something a little bigger.

His last name, Lin, tells us that he is of Asian descent. His first name, more importantly, tells us that he is not just Asian, but Asian-American. Asians in the NBA, though few in number, are nothing new. We all know about Houston Rockets center Yao Ming. There’s also Yi Jianlian, the sixth pick in the 2007 NBA draft, now with the Washington Wizards. And Sun Yue was drafted in ‘07 by the Lakers. However, what these players all have in common is that they are from China. They were born in China, played in China and then came to the NBA.

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(Asian Week) Harvard education. NBA skills. Jeremy Lin has both.

Lin, a 6′3”, 200-pound point guard, is training in anticipation of the NBA draft next Thursday, June 24. Lin, a Taiwanese American, would be rare in a league dominated by white and Black players.

“Jeremy loved soccer and basketball even before the age of 5. He would go to all of his older brother’s practices and just do the drills on the sideline by himself. When he was in the fourth grade, we realized that YMCA basketball was no longer challenging for him, so we started looking for higher level basketball leagues,” said Lin’s mother, Shirley.

Lin’s parents immigrated to the United States from Taiwan. They are both computer engineers. Lin’s father, Gie-Ming, is a huge basketball fan and shared this love with his three sons. When Jeremy began playing Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball, Shirley and Gie-Ming realized that Jeremy had a talent. Even with talent, Shirley doesn’t forget the hard work and effort that her son has put in since he was young in order to one day play in the NBA.

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(Slam) According to Richard Lapchick, the study’s author, the NBA continues to lead the way on diversity issues in sport. The study found that 36 percent of the professional positions at the NBA League Office are held by people of color and women hold 44 percent of the professional positions. Both are higher than any other men’s professional league.

Below are some of the highlights reported by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport:

· In the NBA, 82 percent of the players were people of color, remaining constant from last year’s totals. This ties the highest percentage of players of color since the ‘94-95 season. The percentage of African-American players also remained constant from last year’s report at 77 percent. The percentage of Latinos and Asians remained constant, at three and one percent, respectively. The percentage of international players stayed steady as well at 18 percent.

· Professional opportunities for people of color in the NBA League Offices – at 36 percent – increased from 35 percent for the ‘08-09 season. This is the highest percentage in the NBA’s history and the highest in the history of any professional sport.

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