Chris Webber’s slavery analogy takes a fair argument too far
Throw a camera in front of someone’s face at frenzied Los Angeles International Airport. Pepper him or her with random questions they’re often ill-prepared to answer.
TMZ has a proven formula for coaxing headline-worthy soundbites out of unsuspecting celebrities, and Chris Webber became the latest victim Tuesday.
Asked about the National Labor Relations Board’s ruling that the Northwestern football team did not have the right to unionize, Webber told TMZ he vehemently disagreed with the decision. While explaining himself, he also made a regrettable analogy, citing another player who compared the plight of modern-day college athletes to slavery.
“I definitely think student-athletes have the right to make sure they can take care of each other,” Webber told TMZ. “Bill Russell told me any system that gets free labor is slavery, so I’m sure they have a right to unionize. I’m going to be interested in following college kids (and what they do after this decision).
“There’s not just one answer for it, there’s a lot of answers. Hopefully they work everything out, because college basketball could be great.”
It’s easy to understand the point Webber was trying to make, yet it’s also worth noting how over-the-top the comparison is.
Elite basketball prospects have the option of choosing between a free college education or going overseas to play professionally and test their value on the open market. It’s certainly a fair argument to suggest that schools are exploiting their most high-profile athletes or that athletes shouldn’t have to choose between their education and their ability to earn what their worth, yet that’s still a far cry from slavery.
How many slaves had the chance to take lavish all-expense-paid trips to Europe? Or lived in dorms with private chefs and sinks custom-made for people of their height? Or worked out in facilities as swanky and state-of-the-art as these?
The other problem is that Webber is simply the wrong guy to be delivering this message.
While the former Michigan star did not receive any of the money the university made selling his jerseys, he also was a central figure in the Ed Martin scandal, which resulted in severe sanctions for the Wolverines basketball program. Webber initially denied getting any payments from Martin but later admitted in federal court that he received $38,200 from the Michigan booster.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
