Jalen Rose Called Out For Team USA Basketball Comment
LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 25: Jalen Rose attends The Jeep Wrangler Celebrity Customs Reveal Event at Optimist Studios on September 25, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for Jeep)
This has been quite an interesting week for ESPN"s basketball analysts. First, we had the Jay Williams fiasco. Now, Jalen Rose is taking some blowback.
On "Jalen and Jacoby" today, Rose was asked by his co-host about the recent unveiling of the Team USA roster for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Rose took exception to the inclusion of Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love.
Citing the favoritism Rose says Christian Laettner received to make the "Dream Team" ahead of Shaquille O'Neal and Alonzo Mourning back in 1992, the former NBA standout said Love was selected to this year's roster because he is white and Team USA is reluctant to send an all-Black team to compete next month.
"Kevin Love is on the team because of tokenism," Rose said around the 16:30 mark. "Don’t be scared to make an all-Black team representing the United States of America. I’m disappointed by that. Anybody that watched the league this year knows Kevin Love did not have a stellar season, was not the best player on his team and did not necessarily deserve to be on this squad."
Rose went on to say that Love's spot should have gone to Deandre Ayton, who is in the middle of a tremendous playoff run with the Phoenix Suns.
Now, the second part of Rose's remarks about Love is accurate. The five-time All-Star did not have a good season, posting just 12.2 points per game, his lowest average since his rookie season, and a career-low 7.4 rebounds per game.
But as far as Team USA not wanting to send an all-Black roster to the Olympics, this isn't something that has been an issue in the recent past. Four of the last five Olympic rosters have been all-Black, with the 2012 team the lone exception. Love was also the only white member of that squad.
Rose is not the only person out there who feels this way about Love. But as we said above, the issue with his argument is, Team USA hasn't really been making it a habit to include token white dudes on its Olympic rosters recently.
Considering Love has Olympic experience and is still a pretty accurate outside shooter--36.5 percent from three-point range this season--those are more likely reasons why he made the team.
