Quote:
“I think colour definitely plays a factor in perception,” said Ho-Sang.
“People watch my games and are very critical. When I start dangling, my GM calls me a Harlem Globetrotter. Why am I a Harlem Globetrotter? Analogies get related to basketball all the time with me. I don’t play basketball. I’ve never played basketball. I’m a hockey player. Why are they doing that?
“When I do anything, I’m just another black kid with attitude. I think I get misunderstood because these guys want to figure me out without talking to me and try to come up with every single reason why there’s something wrong with me.
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I don't claim to know more than the other 12 teams that didn't bother to interview him, but honestly I didn't have much of an issue with what he said, he is passionate, maybe some teams believe he can continue to mature and change that ego to positive confidence. I haven't heard him anywhere else but the content seemed fine to me in that entire article until he brought this race issue up.
The only person being discriminatory is Ho-Sang. Okay sure his coach referenced him to a basketball player, but is that honestly how sensitive things have become that even that would be implied as being discriminatory? I'm ethnically Chinese, and when I was in Canada, people always reference me to well known Chinese people like Jackie Chan or Jet Li, there's nothing wrong with that. If you did the same reference to white people in North America, people wouldn't even blink an eye, but somehow this was warranted mention in a news article.
He has black skin cool, I don't believe that has anything to do with people seeing seeing his talent, proportionally speaking, much more black people play basketball than white people do. I don't think that the large majority had any reservations with drafting him earlier based on pure skill alone.
He's a dynamic player that is absolutely without question, but if he thinks the his skin has factored into why some NHL teams see he has some attitude problems, then I can see why some teams would steer clear from him.