The Augusta Chronicle in Georgia is reporting on a press release from Martin Luther King Jr. Day this week in which the All-American Basketball Alliance, an independent start-up basketball league that claims 12 teams set to launch in June. In the press release, the league announced that it will only include

“..players that are natural born United States citizens with both parents of Caucasian race are eligible to play in the league”.

Quote from the Augusta Chronicle:

Don “Moose” Lewis, the commissioner of the AABA, said the reasoning behind the league’s roster restrictions is not racism.

“There’s nothing hatred about what we’re doing,” he said. “I don’t hate anyone of color. But people of white, American-born citizens are in the minority now. Here’s a league for white players to play fundamental basketball, which they like.” [Augusta Chronicle]

In defense of the league, they are a private entity, and can do whatever they want in this sure-to-fail business venture, but morally it sends the wrong message to kids. The Mayor of Augusta has already denounced the project, and I’m sure ESPN will be all over this interviewing coaches and players around the country by tomorrow.

At today’s Cornell basketball pep rally, though, when asked how they felt about the possibility of their players getting drafted into the AABA, students seemed enthusiastic when asked to raise their hand if they supported the league.

You can’t blame them. No one ever gets to the NBA from Cornell. They feel left out.

About the Author: Charles Drengberg

Charles Co-Founded FTRsports in 2009 as something fun to do with his spare time. He’s now insanely addicted to making it the greatest sports blog ever, which isn’t hard because most sports blogs suck.

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