First there was all that bruhaha over the LeBron James picture, with it's supposed "racist" overtones, and now this. Black players are in the minority on basketball teams?????? Not in 30 years, dude, and I don't even watch basketball. Yet I know who LeBron James is, just like I know who 50 cent is. I'm really sick of this! Next they'll be firing all the white refs and replacing them with black refs in an effort to stop the discrimination against the black basketball players, but no one will consider the same bias may occur in reverse. And is a bias in favor of someone really the same as discrimination? Or even bias AGAINST someone?

Ripley, this post is so poor it is almost not worth responding to...almost. You show your ignorance again here by not even being aware of the basic premise of the study: "Next they'll be firing all the white refs and replacing them with black refs in an effort to stop the discrimination against the black basketball players, but no one will consider the same bias may occur in reverse. "

The study shows that the bias does in fact occur in the reverse. It clearly shows that there is a small but noticable biase by white referees for white players and by black referees for black players. It doesn't try to make a judgement call on LeBron's picture or anything else. It simply provides hard date on something that is clearly happening. One may want to dig into the details of the study and find other variables that could account for the results but the results are no debatable. Is it too much to ask that you actually read articles before you attack them?

Yes, it seems you are a bit "sensitive" on this topic. Refs are humans, subject to the same subconcious bias that any of us possess. Having said that, in very typical Slate fashion, the author attempts to frame the studies in a way to illicit just such responses. The studies themselves seem well balanced and non-judgemental, but would make for very boring copy. The author spiced them up a bit, spinning them in a way to stir the societal pot. All the truths in the studies are listed to convey balance, but the author leeps to some not so logical possible conclusions, making the article fit into the "truthiness" category.

I don't think Ripley has read very many 'racist' articles, believe it or not!

which reminds me of a joke. Shouldn't the question the media have asked coach Jackson after the series have been, "do you think the Lakers would have been more competitive had Tom Donaghy been ref? (then followup): 'really: cause I heard he helped you guys out a lot in '02.'