How the Media’s Coverage of International NBA Players is an Example of the Gaping Hole in DEI.

It’s no secret that efforts to implement and expand diversity, equity and inclusion across major corporations in North America have fizzled out as quickly as it became a key part of a “core values” across many companies. No matter if a company was doing all the seemingly “right things” at one point to drive DEI efforts, myself along with many people of color in my networks, did not expect much from corporations to be the leaders in creating lasting change. To be clear, I am not saying this with a hopeless and negative tone. I, along with so many, had hoped to see the true impacts of DEI and how exploring identities would lead to a more empowered and successful workforce and society. However, I quickly realized the DEI would only go to the most shallow level because the key component of driving true change was and always has been missing: understanding the experiences of historically marginalized people and how it impacts the way they’ve shown up in their lives and careers, their challenges and how their perseverance connects to the value they drive, and how their life stories resulted in their triumph. The main gap in this disconnect is because society, media, decision makers, whatever you want to call it, has lost the desire to truly understand the identities, influences, challenges and personal stories of those they are trying to create a place of belonging for. Corporations can spend millions on recruiting “diverse talent” because they “enhance the business with their diverse perspectives” or because “giving marginalized communities the opportunities they deserve which have been held back from them is the right thing to do to improve our society”, but until we understand the human first, true impact in all shapes and sizes cannot be accomplished.?

Corporations can spend millions on recruiting “diverse talent” because they “enhance the business with their diverse perspectives” or because “giving marginalized communities the opportunities they deserve which have been held back from them is the right thing to do to improve our society”, but until we understand the human first, true impact in all shapes and sizes cannot be accomplished.?

This reality has always been resounding for me and led me to develop Zaka . Zaka is a career advancement platform for first and second generation immigrants. A key component of how we serve immigrant professionals is through inspiration and motivation. Through our podcast ?and learning platform, we are intentional about highlighting top immigrant leaders across all industries. Not only to highlight their professional accomplishments, but largely focusing on their personal stories of how they got to where they are today and how their immigrant experience has influenced the way they show up in their careers. Why? Our founding team, who are all first and second generation immigrants, knows that you can only serve, motivate and impact people if you know their stories including their experiences (good and bad), unique challenges, successes, failures, and needs. Without this, we cannot accomplish our goal of motivating and providing inspiration to our members to help them succeed. They must see themselves and relate to the experiences of the leaders they admire and are trying to follow in the footsteps of. This is and always will be the nucleus of our values.?

If you listen to Zaka’s podcast, you’ll quickly notice the three resounding challenges that our guests (who are immigrant professionals and leaders) experience in the workplace: challenges with self-advocacy, assimilating to the definitions of “success” and “professionalism” in North American culture and the expectation around humility and not acknowledging your own success. The world of professional sports, the epitome of meritocracy,?is no different. To be in the NBA, you are in the top 0.1% of athletes across the world. Many of this top 0.1% are immigrant athletes, yet the stories behind how they got there, including their adversities and how they’ve overcome to get to where they are today are rarely highlighted in the media. For example, 4 of the top 10 players in the NBA did not grow up in America. The last 5 Most Valuable Player awards were won by international players, Giannis Antetokounmpo (two time winner), Nikola Jokic (two time winner) and Joel Embiid. A common tactic to drive engagement and viewership on social media and sports centered debate shows includes the question of “Who are the top ten players in the NBA?” Millions of answers pour in to this question but one thing is for sure, you won’t see a top 10 list without Giannis, Jokic, Embiid and Luka Don?i?. Yet, the coverage of these immigrant players from multibillion dollar media and tv outlets has been poor at best and never highlights the stories, experiences and immigrant backgrounds that have contributed to their tremendous success in North America, a foreign environment.?

This is a huge miss. As a young boy who grew up in Haiti until the mid 90's, I was rarely inspired by international players in the NBA. Not because they weren’t capable of being inspiring, rather, the narrative was always the same: players from Africa had raw talent and players from Europe were out of shape. For example, the two best players and defenders from that era were both African. The coverage of Hall of Famers, Hakeem Olajuwon and Dikembe Mutombo, were weak. All we knew about Hakeem is that he was Muslim and that he played soccer as a young boy in Africa. What we knew about Dikembe was that he was very charitable to his home country, the Congo, and he was very humble. Aside from this surface level information, sports fans and society as a whole knew nothing about the history of what contributed to the immense success of these two incredible players. As a young boy in Haiti who desired connection to the sport I loved to play and watch, the players and inspiration for a future where creating the life I desired was attainable, the lack of media coverage that captured the heart and soul of these immigrant players and their work towards becoming the 0.1% was a huge missed opportunity.?

All these years later, the same coverage is being applied to these international stars in the U.S. today. As a business, the league has adopted and promoted their enthusiasm and implementation of DEI, yet the approach of the league’s media partners are proving the exact opposite. Journalists lack the ability to tell compelling, honest, and inspirational stories of international players, coaches and those who are critical for making sports entertaining and profitable. It’s not like this issue is unnoticed. In fact, Mike Malone, the Head Coach of the current Western Conference Champion, the Denver Nuggets, has communicated frustration with the lack of coverage of his best player, Nikola Jokic. Nikola played a key role in sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers to go to the NBA finals, yet most NBA fans have not heard a positive and inspirational narrative about Nikola Jokic. The only narrative you’ll likely hear is the mystery behind how he could be such a great, dominant basketball player with his unprecedented athletic build. Instead of focusing on his physical appearance and diluting a positive narrative about his success in his career with comments about his build, the media has the power and opportunity to create inspiration, motivation and share the impact of Jokic’s story and why his background exemplifies the benefits of diversity, especially in something most Americans love: sports.?

?According to Sports Illustrated Writer, Chris Mannix, the national media doesn’t spend airtime discussing the Nuggets because “frankly, the Nuggets aren’t very interesting. Like, Nikola Joki? is probably the best player in the game right now, but he’s not someone who does a lot of interviews outside the NBA-mandated stuff. You’re not gonna see a lot of profiles on Nikola Joki?. Jamal Murray – great player — not especially interesting”. I raise the question to Chris, “Are Joki? and Murray really uninteresting or has the media been uninterested about the authentic stories behind these players?” Game 4 of the NBA finals aired last night but ESPN and one of its highest paid analysts, Stephen A. Smith, is making headlines for saying, “I don’t understand that this big tub of lard that can’t jump onto a curb is unstoppable… I love Nikola Jokic. It’s just unbelievable to watch him…. He ain’t harder to guard than Steph Curry.”

The media partners are failing the NBA. Despite the NBA finals getting tremendous ratings,? they can’t seem to develop compelling stories or segments which includes the NBA’s best Head Coach,?Eric Spoesltra, a Filipino-American, NBA’s best player, Nikola Jokic who is Serbian, and breakout star Jamal Murray, a Jamaican-Canadian. This has, and continues to, reflect the gaping hole, disconnect and downright lack of intention between the tv producers and writers who are responsible for covering these great talents who have a story about how their immigrant background has influenced their success. Say what you want about the “Miami Heat Culture” but have you ever wondered why Erik Spoesltra isn’t raved about or highlighted with the same voracity as his mentor Pat Riley? Erik Spoestlra is the first Asian-American head coach in the history of the four major American leagues and the first Asian-American Head to win an NBA title. The Filipino-American Head Coach has been in the conference finals 7 times during his 15 year career as a head coach. Don’t take his humility as a weakness or a reason for not profiling him and advocating for his greatness. In a league that is evolving every year and as players get stronger, faster and jump higher, there is an argument to be made that he should be in the same category as legendary coaches including Phil Jackson, Red Auerbach and his mentor, Pat Riley.

This has, and continues to, reflect the gaping hole, disconnect and downright lack of intention between the tv producers and writers who are responsible for covering these great talents who have a story about how their immigrant background has influenced their success.

?Need more examples? Take Jamal Murray, who is currently the 2nd best player of the Denver Nuggets and grew up in Canada with his Jamaican father and Syrian mother. Jamal was the breakout star 3 years ago during the NBA playoffs, but there are limited stories being written about him and journey to success. It’s strange that one of the top 10 best point guards in the league is unknown to the basketball audience.

I challenge the media to make the effort to understand the personal journeys of these international players and the true contributors to their success. Instead of writing? them off as “uninteresting” because of the lack of opportunity to really share their stories, allow them to create connection, inspire, motivate and be the true example of why diversity matters in every organization, including sports. With the media rights being negotiated for next year, it’s believed that the NBA can sell the TV rights for more than $70 billion over 10 years. My call to action is for these media partners to hire more international journalists and analysts who can personally relate to the struggles and roads to triumph that these international players experience. You want “interesting?” Put the right people in place to create connection between international players and their audience by asking the right questions and shedding light into some of the intricacies that they are dealing with as immigrant professionals in the U.S.A. Help them advocate for themselves, move away from the immigrant teachings of “always be humble” and share the true stories of grit, tenacity and what it takes to succeed.

Help them advocate for themselves, move away from the immigrant teachings of “always be humble” and share the true stories of grit, tenacity and what it takes to succeed.

This gaping hole in the media coverage of a league that says they honor diversity is the truest example of why corporations will never drive true impact with DEI. Before the true value of DEI can be embraced, we must first understand the mind, heart and experiences of historically marginalized people through their stories. If you’re asking how, consider these ideas:

• Understand the personal experiences of underrepresented and historically marginalized employees before you offer resources to advance their careers. This shows intention versus checking off boxes on your DEI and Learning and Development checklist.?
• Hire consultants and internal teams that can understand and speak to the specific challenges of underrepresented employees.?
• Do not be so quick to dismiss ethnically diverse talent as “not a fit” or “not professional” without understanding the why behind how they choose to show up and what is deemed “acceptable” in the cultures and countries they come from.?
• Truly get to know the human behind the talent that drives success for your business, teams and clients and stop viewing them as simply employees.?

?Before the true value of DEI can be embraced, we must first understand the mind, heart and experiences of historically marginalized people through their stories.

As the Founder of Zaka, a community and learning platform for immigrant professionals, my commitment is to create an environment where global cultures are embraced and shared and where members can shift what American society has labeled as “inhibitors” for immigrant professionals to superpowers that will be the key driver behind developing and attaining successful careers in North America. My commitment is to always tell the untold stories of the world’s greatest, immigrant leaders, to create motivation and inspiration. Lastly, my commitment is to provide the education, networks, and blueprint for immigrant professionals to know how to succeed in their professional lives.?

Did my article inspire you to take the first step to create change and get to know the human behind the success story? Follow the Zaka podcast and follow Zaka on LinkedIn to learn more about what we’re creating. Here are some inspirational stories to get you started:

• Zaka Podcast featuring Doordash CMO, Kofi Amoo-Gottfried
• Zaka Podcast featuring Annie Jean-Baptiste, Author of “Building for Everyone” and Direct of Product Inclusion & Equity at Google
• Zaka Podcast featuring Agency Lead at LinkedIn, Afiya Addison