Doug Gottlieb: “Even if John Beilein used the word ‘thug’, we have this dog whistle for what we believe is racist commentary. We did it for Lamar Jackson when some said he should try out at wide receiver. Some people say it was ‘RACIST!’, but no, he’s just crazy fast… It’s good to expose racists but John Beilein is not a racist. A ‘thug’ is a ‘violent person, especially a criminal’, and I’d point out that every good basketball team has one. A lot of people said Matthew Dellavedova was a ‘thug’ and he’s Australian and white. It’s not like he’s got an all-black team, and they all get dressed up and they all look like gangsters – Nobody is doing or saying that. It's YOU or the media taking that next step mentally saying ‘HE MEANT BLACK PEOPLE WHEN HE SAID THUGS! ’… No. We have 50 years of history with John Beilein, and If at any point in his entire career was there ever anyone who thought he was a racist it would have come out, but it hasn’t and he’s not. This is a complete and total non-story.” (Full Audio Above)
Listen to Doug Gottlieb explain why he’s siding with Cleveland Cavaliers head John Beilein when it comes to the media outrage that shed light on Belien allegedly using the word ‘thug’ during Cavaliers' film study.
Beline was reportedly praising his team in a film study that was highlighting Cleveland’s defensive effort, saying they were no longer ‘playing like a bunch of thugs’. Belief would later clarify that he meant ‘slug’, about their lack of mobility.
Gottlieb says this is another non-story regarding faux racism, where the media tries to desperately run with racially charged topics about hatred in our society, when a story like this is completely innocuous, and simply being flamed by individuals who only want it to be true.
Check out the audio below as Gottlieb explains why Belief is not a racist, and how Belien has decades long of coaching experiences to have proven just that, and at the very least earned the benefit of the doubt.