Making History: Al Attles and the 1975 Warriors

by Fantasy Junkie on Sep 17, 2008 9:00 AM PDT

I was digging around YouTube last night and found some interesting videos on theW Warriors. I had considered sharing a "remember what Monta used to be like" video but thought better of it. Instead, let's take a trip down memory lane. Or in the case for some of us, take a trip to a time before we were born (how many of you ol' dinosaurs remember the Warriors championship?). Many of us know that the Warriors won the 1974-1975 season championship with Al Attles as the head coach. But not many of us know this coaching matchup made history:

"The 1975 NBA Finals between the Washington Bullets and the Golden State Warriors featured the first matchup of 2 black head coaches in a professional sports championship"

Al Attles at the end of the video:

"For as far as we've come, we haven't come as far as we think we've come, but we have to continue to work on it."

You tend to hear about the hiring of minority coaches in the NFL due to their policy of interviewing a certain number of minority coaches before making a hire. It's an effort to promote diversity amongst head coaches, but teams have been able to easily circumvent that. It's far from a perfect system and I don't know what the answers are. So while sports leagues in modern day attempt to diversify the coaching ranks, the Warriors not only hired a minority coach but won a championship and also helped pave the way for more minorities to get opportunities at head coaching positions.

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Damn that was a good video. Post another one FJ!

Sorry, the comment section was getting a little lonely. Maybe if I put a poll up…

by Fantasy Junkie on Sep 17, 2008 2:46 PM PDT reply actions

Damn that was a good video

Thanks for the link. I remember that 1975 season very well, the mother of all "we believe’s ".
All the east bay teams were hot in those days, A’s Raiders, and Warriors, Players like Reggie Jackson, Kenny Stabler,and Rick Barry!

Till I get free
I live my life in the Walmart
Cholesterol chasin me

by Skeptic con Urquell on Sep 17, 2008 8:59 PM PDT up reply actions

Too bad I wasn't alive for another 18 years.

by StSaints408 on Sep 17, 2008 9:57 PM PDT reply actions

Not trying to down their accomplishments

or anything like that, was a great video, but

Why is Franklin Mieuli not our owner! That dude looks Slammin! He owns Chris Cohan.

Tony.psd = Da Man
http://nbaokc.blogspot.com/
Check Out My New Blog! (Don't Worry, The Warriors are Still #1)

by Zorgon on Sep 18, 2008 4:04 AM PDT reply actions

So, how many years (or decades) will it be for another championship? Not just for the Warriors but for the Bay. Seems like everything is garbage these days, As, Giants, Niners, Raiders, Warriors…

WARRIORS BASKETBALL!!! Patiently waiting for a title...I may be waiting for a long time...

by JustSomeName on Sep 18, 2008 12:08 PM PDT reply actions

Go Sharks!

The only Bay Area playoff team.

by Fantasy Junkie on Sep 18, 2008 1:56 PM PDT up reply actions

Sharks?

What are they? Volleyball??

Till I get free
I live my life in the Walmart
Cholesterol chasin me

by Skeptic con Urquell on Sep 18, 2008 9:37 PM PDT up reply actions

LOL!

I can’t follow hockey at all, but it’s fun to watch though.

by J2daZ on Sep 18, 2008 9:48 PM PDT up reply actions

What? Depoliticizing the historical significance was a good thing?

I mean we’re talking 7 short years after MLK was gunned down…

We’re talking about a team out of Oakland where the Black Panthers were born just a few years before…

Barry is totally wrong… The fact that there were two African American men in their position matters a hell of a lot more then if the coaches were “green” as Barry so eloquently put it. The oppression that had to be fought in order to get to the place in history where two African American men can be accepted by main stream American culture is significant. Not because being accepted by main stream culture is some kind of accomplishment but the fact that the oppressive & racist powers that be were beginning to lose their grip over otherwise conservative institutions is significant.

Depoliticizing the event is a very dangerous game. A whole legacy of people fighting oppression gets left out of the picture if the history gets framed that way. I was sorry to see Al Attles not acknowledge the historical signifigance of the event. Granted, maybe he’s just a humble man but if you play the game of, “oh it didn’t really matter” then you’re allowing racism to continue on without being called out for what it is & the legacy that still feeds it.

And you allow the arena of professional sports to pretend to be apolitical….

"To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you're not, pretend you are." - Muhammad Ali

by Dubs Wise on Sep 19, 2008 6:53 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs

The fact that there were two African American men in their position matters a hell of a lot more then if the coaches were "green" as Barry so eloquently put it.

I think what Barry and Attles were saying was that they were already beyond the point where race mattered. They had moved on to playing the sport they loved as best they could.
I’m sure both men understood the historical significance of the games but their shared personal quest was more specific.

Till I get free
I live my life in the Walmart
Cholesterol chasin me

by Skeptic con Urquell on Sep 19, 2008 11:45 PM PDT reply actions

I think what Barry and Attles were saying was that they were already beyond the point where race mattered.

Respectfully, i totally disagree…

My point is that if you put this event within the historical context of the African American struggle for human rights then it’s symbolism matters a hell of a lot more then Barry or even Attles “personal quests” as athletes.

As the article you’ve linked to below clearly shows racism is still very alive. If we fail to tell our history in a way that’s honest to it’s political significance and instead focus on personal anecdotes then we fail to confront the deep seated racism that still exists today.

"To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you're not, pretend you are." - Muhammad Ali

by Dubs Wise on Sep 23, 2008 9:09 PM PDT up reply actions