Teams like the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers are quietly called racist by many for having the audacity to draft white Americans.

Here are a couple comments on articles I've written in the past:

"the jazz would love to get him and he's white, so they never gonna pass dat up lol"

"Larry bird only drafts white dudes now days" (Larry Bird is of course the Pacers president of basketball operations).

Thing is, that reputation may not be warranted in either case.  In the last five years, each of those teams have drafted exactly one white American. 

The Pacers took Tyler Hansbrough in '09 and the Jazz took Gordon Hayward this past summer.  And until recently, neither of those guys got many minutes.

So, even if the reputation is untrue and unfair, I'll use those two teams as examples for this possibility.

And before you haul off and cry racist, hear me out.

Right now, neither team has enough white Americans to put a full lineup on the floor.  The Jazz have one, the Pacers have four.

That being the case, both teams would have to make a few moves in the offseason.

Assembling Utah's Roster

This organization is in a state of utter chaos.  In just over a month, they lost one of the greatest basketball coaches of all-time, and traded their franchise point guard.

Since Jerry Sloan retired in early February, the Jazz are 5-16 and have fallen completely out of the playoff picture.

With all the chaos, it wouldn't surprise anyone to see the typically conservative Jazz front office make some moves this summer.

Two players that could be on the trading block are Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson.  They both play power forward, and their games haven't complemented each other very well all year.

To make this work, I'm going to pluck a couple players from the Magic (a team that actually does play two white Americans but never gets called racist) for each situation.

If Orlando falters in the playoffs again, management may finally be ready to give up on the current formula (surround Dwight Howard with three-point shooters and hope they knock down shots).

They'll look to get tougher, more physical at a couple positions besides center.  Here is a three-team trade that could help them do that:

The team that is getting the real short end of the stick on this deal is Los Angeles.  Gilbert Arenas is on a terrible contract and the Clippers already have three combo guards.

Both Utah and Orlando would have to be willing to give Los Angeles some draft picks to soften the blow of taking on Arenas.

This could be a great change of pace and style for Orlando.  Jefferson would be the best frontcourt player Orlando's ever put next to Dwight Howard.

Those two would dominate on both ends of the floor, especially in terms of rebounding.

Devin Harris could start in the backcourt with Jameer Nelson (he has all the tools of a slashing two guard).

A lineup of Nelson, Harris, Hedo Turkoglu, Al Jefferson and Dwight Howard would be extremely versatile.  Plus, reserves like Chris Duhon and Quentin Richardson would still hit plenty of threes.

As for the Jazz, the trade I suggested would give them an interesting roster (to say the least).  But that trade doesn't complete the overhaul.  They'd have to draft Jimmer Fredette, too. 

I'm sure plenty of experts from ESPN and other national media outlets would question whether or not Utah general manager Kevin O'Connor is a racist without even trying to acknowledge the practicality of moves like these.

I'd be the first to admit that a lineup of Fredette, Redick, Hayward, Anderson and Kaman could be one of the worst defensive units in basketball.

But the offensive talents of these five players would make for a very fun and exciting brand of basketball.

They'd have fantastic shooters at positions one through four, and a legitimate post presence in former All-Star Chris Kaman.

I recently listed 10 reasons Jimmer can be a great pro.  So if you need more convincing on that front, feel free to take a gander.

Justin Edmonds/Getty Images

His backcourt mate would be J.J. Redick.  This is the first season of his career that he's averaged double-figures in scoring, but the late blooming of his production has nothing to do with his talent.

For his career, he's averaging 7.7 points and shooting 39 percent from three-point range in 19 minutes a game.  That works out to an average of around 15 points per 36 minutes.

Stan Van Gundy hid behind the always easy excuse of "white guard can't play defense" whenever someone tried to figure out why he didn't play Redick.

Eventually, he could no longer ignore Redick's talent, and J.J.'s become one of Orlando's most important reserves over the last couple years.

As a full-time starter, he could easily drop 15-16 points a game.

There isn't as much history with Hayward because he's a rookie, but he can definitely be a productive NBA player.

What he needs most is someone to encourage him to be more aggressive with his offense.  He's eclipsed 10 field goal attempts in a game just six times all year and his career high is 12 attempts.

When he does shoot, he's been pretty effective.  He's shooting 45 percent from the field and 43 percent from three-point range.

Plus, he showed us in college that he has great passing and ball handling ability for a 6'9" player.  He and Fredette would be great facilitators for whatever offense the Jazz would run.

It's very easy to make a case for Ryan Anderson being an NBA starter.  He's one of the most underrated players in the league.

For his career, he's averaging 16.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per 36 minutes.  And his range for a 6'10" power forward is fantastic.  He's shooting 39 percent from downtown this year.

Finally, there's Chris Kaman.  He was an All-Star just last season, and for his career he averages 14 points and 10 rebounds per 36 minutes.

His legitimacy as an NBA starter certainly isn't in question.

Would this team win 50 games? 40?  Maybe not.  But with the right coaching and scheme they could perform better than this year's squad (post-Sloan), and could develop into a contender over the next couple years.

Assembling Indiana's Roster

This makes considerably less sense for Indiana (even though they already have four white Americans on the roster).

Elsa/Getty Images

Besides developing them, there's no reason for Indiana to do anything with Darren Collison, Roy Hibbert or Danny Granger (even though there have been some rumors about Granger being moved).

But just to humor the topic, I'll put together a roster for the Pacers too. 

They could trade Danny Granger to the Magic for Ryan Anderson, J.J. Redick and Brandon Bass, then draft Ben Hansbrough (what a combo he and his brother Tyler would make).

Of course, even if they made those moves, there's no way I could justify starting Hansbrough over Collison or Jeff Foster over Hibbert..

If they did want to irk the basketball establishment, they could roll out a lineup of Ben Hansbrough, Mike Dunleavy, Ryan Anderson, Tyler Hansbrough and Jeff Foster.

What it Might Mean for the Game

If any team were to start even three or four white American players, there would be plenty of critics who'd be quick to call the organization racist.

But that's simply not fair.  Plenty of teams start five African Americans and no one calls them racist.  And saying that one race is inherently better at a sport than another perpetuates stereotypes that are hurting sports.

We need to get past stereotypes in all sports. 

Whenever a white American player (especially a guard) starts to make some noise he's instantly tagged "not athletic enough" and compared to scores of former white players who also struggled to overcome the stigma.

It's as unfair as people saying that African Americans can't be successful quarterbacks (see Michael Vick), or that white guys can't play running back (see Peyton Hillis).

The point of this article is not to pin white against black (there's already way too much of that).  The point is to encourage us to look beyond skin color.

My hope is that one day we won't have to hear the phrases "black quarterback" or "white baller". 

Athletes should be judged on their abilities and individual character, and nothing else.

If an NBA team had the audacity to start more than a couple white Americans, it would certainly get people talking about this issue.

And if they won a few games, it could go a long way toward busting the stereotype.

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