
The NBA's Locker-Room Nerds - jseliger
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704140104575057521488502914.html?mod=WSJ_hp_editorsPicks
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gr366
_"A spokesman for the Portland Trail Blazers says the handful of players on
the team who cozy up with novels didn't feel comfortable revealing
themselves."_

I'm imagining getting together some teenagers to do public service
announcements aimed at NBA stars, to let them know that they needn't be
ashamed of who they are.

It's interesting to see the divide between foreign born players and American
players, in terms of how they spend their free time. Also nice to see that Pau
Gasol is in fact reading 2666, which Phil Jackson hand-picked for him (in the
original Spanish, I imagine?)

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dhyasama
It's a sad state of affairs when reading makes you a nerd.

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sabon
"New Orleans Hornets center Emeka Okafor, whose parents both hail from
Nigeria, is one of the league's most accomplished fans of literature. He has
finished six books this season"

Wow. THAT'S a sad state of affairs. A few hundred players, hundreds of
millions of total income. Billions maybe? And "the most accomplished fan of
literature" have read 8 (eight!) books this season. Well, on the other side...
maybe it's better for US economy. Those people will be more willing to spend
their hundreds of millions on physical goods and thus give the econome a nice
push. But still... sad and disappointing.

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sabon
Oh, sorry. It's even better. It's SIX books.

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rdouble
That's about 2 a month. Not impressive to a bibliophile, but more than most
people.

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sabon
Almost 6 months have passed since the beginning of the season. So it's barely
more than 1 per month. Yes, it's still more than most people. But we're
talking about _most prolific_ NBA reader here, not the average one.

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rdouble
The season started in November.

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joe_bleau
Reminded me of the stories I used to read about US riders who joined pro
cycling teams in Europe. They invariably explained that in Europe, cycling was
a blue collar sport, akin to boxing here in the US. Cycling is much more of an
upper class activity in America. This discussion would then lead to interviews
where American riders would describe their Euro teammates tastes in literature
as either non-existent or at the juvenile comic book level.

It's probably not a fully symmetrical situation, since I doubt that basketball
is of a much higher social standing in Europe than it is here.

But I did find it interesting that the "outsiders" were called out as being
the intellectuals of the sport.

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thisduck
Sorry, but I can't resist:

Wow, look, filthy rich people read books. How awesome.

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hello_moto
What do you want them to do? bring guns to the arena? create chaos in Palace?
don street clothes and look like thugs?

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thisduck
Why is it of such fascination that people who can put a ball in a hoop can
also read philosophy and novels?

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dgordon
Because it's unusual, and don't pretend you don't know this. It's already
reasonably uncommon for any American to read books, and it's even rarer among
Americans in their 20s and 30s, also known as the ages of NBA players. Classic
novels and philosophy? Forget about it.

So these mostly foreign players stand out because they read.

