Questions about Jimmer Fredette are Race Based according to Lakers Radio Analyst
"I am exasperated with the idiots and the ignorance out there in our business..."
Former overall number one draft pick and current LA Lakers radio color commentator Mychal Thompson gets upset by criticisms of Jimmer Fredette's game.
Thompson tells the Mason and Ireland radio show in Los Angeles:
"Remember this happened to Kevin Love coming out of UCLA. Well, you know, he's this. He's that. Code words for, 'He's white and we don't think he can translate what he's doing in college to the NBA level and I am sick of it because it's the same thing or just as bad as people downplaying Cam Newton. The best player in college football. The best quarterback in college football and he's not going to be the number one pick for a team that is desperate for a quarterback? Go figure."
"I keep hearing that he's not athletic. I'm going, 'Are you kidding me?'"
"This guy dunks on people. No one goes around him off the dribble. He creates his own shot off the dribble. And he's not athletic? Code word for, 'He's white and we don't know if he can really play at the next level.'"
"What are these scouts not watching?
The radio hosts then try to compare his skills to Adam Morrison's (personal aside: that comparison is about as relevant as John Stockton vs. Adam Keefe.)
"Whatever scout says that, fire him on the spot. Are you kidding me? This kid reminds me, he's a version of Stephen Curry and Steve Nash and you're trying to tell me those skills don't translate to the NBA? Come on.
If GM's are stupid enough to let this kid fall in the 20's... the Lakers should jump, try to get what they can to move to get him."
Thompson's passion on the subject may derive from his own personal frustration with what he perceives to be prejudice:
"My son is biracial. I'm black. His mother is white. He's more his mother's color than I am and there's no doubt in my mind that he's suffering the same stereotype."
Klay Thompson is a junior shooting guard at Washington State.
