NBA Coach Van Gundy says whites ‘are the ones who are racist’

Van Gundy made the comments on ESPN's "The Undedeated", Saying "We’re the ones that are racist," referring to white people. He added "It’s a white person’s problem that affects people of color, and so we’re the ones who have to change. … Certainly you want to promote Black voices, right? But if they’re the only ones speaking out, a lot of people just push it aside. There needs to be people saying, ‘No, wait a minute. This is wrong, and we need to correct these things.’"

He then went on to say "I’m a poster boy for white privilege, I’ve led a privileged life, so I only know about these issues, and these problems, and these inequities from people I’ve been associated with, work with, know, care about. I don’t carry the issue. But just because something doesn’t happen to you, if it’s happening to people you know, if it’s happening to people you care about, you care about the issue."

This is not the first time that Van Gundy has shared his divisive views on race, in August he blasted an op ed criticizing the NBA for making its games political and for having connections with communist China.

Van Gundy responded to the article by claiming that America was a genocidal country. In a tweet, he said that "We committed genocide against Native Americans. We have enslaved, lynched, segregated and incarcerated blacks over 400 years. Women couldn’t vote for 140 years. Using abuses elsewhere to try to distract from our own poor record on human rights is dishonest."

David Griffin, Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations, praised Van Gundy for his comments. Adding "In an era like we’re living in, being someone who has a positive track record in the area of social justice was important, because it matters to players. His reputation in that space really spoke for itself. And I think when you look at everything that he has done, his action, not what he says, but the things he invests his time, energy and money in, I’m really proud that he is our coach. I think players respect him as a man for those things, and that matters enormously."

Van Gundy also said "You alienate a lot of people when you talk about white privilege because a lot of people out there who, I get it, they don’t feel privileged. They don’t have money. They’re working their ass off just to get by, and they’re like, ‘What the hell are you talking about? There’s no such thing as white... I’m not privileged."

"You may not have an easy life, but you’re not oppressed simply because of the color of your skin. That’s the difference. I’m not going to get pulled over driving around at night, I’m not, just because of the color of my skin. I’m not going to get a DWB (Driving While Black), I’m not. That’s white privilege."

He also went on to bash the American Dream, hinting its only benefited white people. "I’ve had people say to me, ‘When my dad built his business, he started from nothing,’ And I said, ‘Yeah, but there were no laws, or societal norms working against him. He got a chance to pull himself up by the bootstrap, so to speak. Other people didn’t. They’re going to segregated schools."

He added that this was the part that people miss. "We’re not saying that there’s not a lot of people out there who’ve had to work their ass off to get where they are, and so when you tell them it’s white privilege, I get it. They’re going, ‘Whoa. Wait a minute. I worked my butt off for everything I had.’ Of course you did, nobody is taking that away from you. What we’re saying is some people aren’t even allowed that opportunity to work their ass off to get to where they are, and if they are, it’s only come about really recently."

When Van Gundy was asked what attracted him to New Orleans, he said that is was diversity. "The political part of it did excite us because we’ve lived in a fairly conservative area in Florida. … And just the diversity of the entire city. Political diversity, racial diversity, LGBTQ diversity."

The NBA displayed political BLM and leftist messages throughout its summer season, but then announced it would stop doing so due to record low ratings.