Some things are harder to figure out. The ridiculous notion that Carron J. Phillips makes in his Deadspin article on Tuesday (2-22-2022) is not.
1 – Phillips rightly points out that Juwan Howard also got into a “fiery” exchange with former Maryland coach Mark Turgeon in last year’s Big Ten Tournament but is being disingenuous in relating Howard’s punishment for his latest behavior to Black men in leadership positions not getting as much leeway as their white counterparts. Most men in leadership positions do not punch competitors on national television. This action does not fit the same narrative of a person of color not having as much room for error in their job performance.
2 – Creighton, Wichita State, and Gonzaga have nothing to do with this incident. There is no way this should be looped in with Greg McDermott’s racist behavior, Gregg Marshall’s senseless actions, or Mark Few driving under the influence, but feel free to debate why only one of the three is out of a job!
3 – While black assistant coaches were fined, jailed, suspended and fired during recent FBI investigations into college basketball, Rick Pitino and Sean Miller did lose their jobs, and Will Wade should have been dismissed as well. This too is unrelated to a coach throwing a punch at another team’s assistant.
4 – To say punishments are absurd, but not accurately explain the context of what lead to the punishments leaves out the real story. We should expect more from our leaders. No matter their race or ethnic background. We can’t say a suspension is just in one sentence, then play the race card to end the paragraph.