Team USA Player Says Europeans Smell Like Dead Donkeys

Filed under: Basketball, News, Politics

If I were an old man responsible for managing Team USA's public image, I would be cursing Twitter every day of the week. Apparently, giving young, bold athletes instant access to media was a cruel joke orchestrated by both fate and Mother Nature. At any rate, the latest athlete to embarrass himself with his Twitter account was Danny Granger. Making reference to the fact that deodorant is not as popular in Europe as it is in the United States, Granger said that Europeans smell like "dead donkeys." Here are his exact words:

"i'm dying over here ..how come nobody in europe wears deodorant? guess they didn't get the memo - smellin like dead donkey..no joke"

On his day job, Danny Granger plays for the Indianapolis Pacers. Apparently, he hasn't been given enough media training to know that this is not the kind of thing to say in public. It is also disrespectful to people from other cultures, and likely reflective of a man who hasn't been exposed to very much in his life. He's 27-years old, so one would hope that by now, he'd seen enough to know that people from different places are going to have different norms.

Granger's comment has infuriated people from Turkey. Additionally, Granger's comment fails to respect the sensitive nature of international competition. When you compete overseas, you are an ambassador for your nation, so these kinds of insults are uncalled for. I am sure NBA Commissioner David Stern is also wondering how Granger's remarks are going to affect the NBA's European fan base.

Note to Danny Granger: Keep your Twitter account quiet. Also, remember that while you are calling Europeans dead donkeys, they probably have a lot to say about black people. In fact, if a European player had said, "Black people smell like dead donkeys," we'd be absolutely furious.


Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.

 

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