Postracism Mythology: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s “Heroic” Banishment of Racism From the NBA

Abstract

On April 29, 2014, National Basketball Association (NBA) Commissioner Adam Silver delivered a press conference in which he fined the then-owner of the Los Angeles (L.A.) Clippers, Donald Sterling, 2.5 million dollars and banned him for life from any affiliation with the NBA due to racist comments that Sterling made to his then-girlfriend in a recorded phone conversation that was released to the public. This article examines how Silver, through his leadership performance and the global news and sports media reactions to his performance, rhetorically advanced postracism logics and hegemonic masculine ideals through mythological constructions of White masculinity. This rhetorical analysis and critique revealed that Silver’s press conference and the global news and sports media’s response to it obviate the racial and gender structures of NBA administrative positions that favor White masculinity while simultaneously advancing hegemonic ideals that function to marginalized those who do not occupy White masculine positionality.