From my new column in Taki’s Magazine:
Steve Sailer
December 20, 2023What’s the most common first name for an African-American NBA player?
D’Qantivious?
Nah, it turns out that black pro basketball players are most commonly named Chris, followed by similarly middle-class names such as James, Marcus, Mike, and Eric.
According to data scientist Seth Stephens-Davidowitz’s new mini-book Who Makes the NBA? Data Driven Answers to Basketball’s Biggest Questions, black NBA players are only about half as likely as the general black male populace to have those bizarre black-only first names that sociologist Andrew Hacker noted tend to be the product of schoolgirl whimsy as teen mothers try to outcompete all their pregnant friends in creative naming.
That’s because the players who make it to the NBA and stay for a solid career tend to come from above-average family backgrounds:
Black NBA players are 32 percent less likely to be born to unmarried mothers and 36 percent less likely to be born to a teenage mother.
Why are 59 percent of African American NBA players legitimate? Because professional sports are extremely competitive these days, so, unless you are seven feet tall, it takes privileges of both nature and nurture to reach the big time. …
This short book contains much of interest for both basketball fans and those interested more generally in how the world works.
Read the whole thing there.
