I come from Indiana where it is little exaggeration to say that Basketball is the State religion.

....I worshiped at the altar. ('til I failed to make the varsity team in college)

Every class, every race, everybody who loves a good game comes out. I now live in a smaller town (12,000) and a good portion of the town shows up for high school hoops games......regular season!!

Oh.........was Oscar Robertson black?! Larry Bird the great white hope......hell no. It just isn't that way in Indiana.

I'd even say that basketball had no small influence on a State that was coping way better than the national average on race issues. Indiana.