According to SKR co-founder/technical director Chris Anderko, Bill Wennington, Bulls broadcaster/ex-marginal NBA player/good-natured Canadian, pondered (pandered?) before today’s Chicago Bulls-Memphis Grizzlier game, “Who would have Martin Luther King, Jr. had rooted for in today’s NBA?”
The question is either offensive or weird or interesting or all three. Let’s run with the third option.
I say part of what made MLK great was championing initially unpopular causes. And few causes are more unpopular than fandom of the Atlanta Hawks, a fan base that is notable for its lack of energy, ticket-buying, and third-grade NBA-fan sophistication level on standardized tests written by NBA VP Stu Jackson and Kaplan.
King would have also liked Memphis, due to the redemptive story of Zach Randolph.
He would not have liked the Lakers under any circumstance. He would have had a soft spot in his heart for Carmelo Anthony.