Former NBA Lottery Pick Calls For An End To Use Of N-Word

Shandel Richardson | Dec 29, 2024

Kenny Anderson will reportedly be introduced as Fisk's new basketball coach Monday. Anderson / USA TODAY

The word carries more weight in society than most, especially in the sporting world.

The N-word is one of the most discussed topics of all-time because it has different connotations depending on race. Former NBA All-Star Kenny Anderson has a solution.

Stop using it, period.

Anderson even made a T-shirt to get his message across. He posted it on his social media page Sunday.

It was captioned: "And oh yeah, stop using the word ni... and use my guy ! I have been using it for many years now."

And oh yeah, stop using the word ni... and use my guy ! I have been using it for many years now pic.twitter.com/7yFEMVTfoD

— Kenny Anderson (@chibbs_1) December 29, 2024

Anderson heard his share of the word when he was becoming a New York City legend. He later played two seasons at Georgia Tech before becoming the No. 2 pick of the New Jersey Nets in 1991.

Perhaps Anderson has a point. The word has done more harm than good. A disappearance is doubtful because it's so common in the black community. Even NBA players Kevin Garnett and Jeff Teague and others use it on their podcasts. It is mostly meant as a term of endearment but remains closely related to the racial epithet directed toward blacks.

It seems Anderson just wants to move on from the word in general.

STOUDAMIRE ALMOST JOINED ROCKETS IN LATE 90s

Former NBA player Damon Stoudamire thought he was headed to play with a trio of Hall of Famers.

In 1998, a trade was in motion to send him from the Toronto Raptors to the Houston Rockets. He would leaving the inexperienced Raptors to join Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler in Houston.

During a recent podcast appearance, Stoudamire detailed the potential move.

"I had got traded to the Houston Rockets. This thing was done," Stoudamire said. "They had took me out of shootaround. I'm like, `Man, I'm going down here. I'm a be playing with Clyde. I'm a be playing with Dream. I'm a be playing with Barkley. Man, they called me back and they say, `We not doing the deal. It's being better offers thrown out there.' So I'm like y'all want me to come to the game, come and play," Stoudamire said. "And then I was like, `Man, this is just straight up business. Now, I went out there, we played Sacramento. I had 36. It was a little bit of trust lost there."'

At the time, Stoudamire was a budding superstar. He averaged 19 points during the 1995-96 on the way to the Rookie of the Year award. He averaged nearly 20 points the next two seasons before growing unhappy with the Raptors.

He wound up being dealt to the Portland Trail Blazers that season, where his numbers took a hit because he played for a stacked team.

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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