Jason Whitlock sparked massive controversy after claiming Black American players have lost their dominance over the NBA because of what he described as a ‘victimhood and entitlement mentality.’
On his podcast, Whitlock said:
“The reason why Black American players have lost their dominance of the NBA is because of the victimhood and entitlement mentality that they have adopted. When you look at Black players from around the globe, they don’t have that American entitlement and victimhood mentality.”
“Victor Wembanyama, Giannis Antetokounmpo, they’re still dominating. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander too. But this very entitled Black American player has fumbled the NBA. It’s as plain as day. It’s the entitled, feminized, victimhood mentality of Black America that has destroyed the Black man.”
The last eight NBA MVP awards have all gone to international players.
2019: Giannis Antetokounmpo
2020: Giannis Antetokounmpo
2021: Nikola Jokic
2022: Nikola Jokic
2023: Joel Embiid
2024: Nikola Jokic
2025: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
2026: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
The trend becomes even more staggering when looking deeper into MVP voting. It has now been eight straight years with an international MVP winner, six straight years where international players finished first and second in MVP voting, and five straight years where international stars occupied the top three spots completely.
The last American player to finish in the top two in MVP voting was LeBron James back in 2020. What makes the shift even crazier is how quickly the NBA changed historically.
From 1956 through 2019, only three international players won MVP awards across more than four decades. Those names were Hakeem Olajuwon in 1994, Steve Nash in 2005 and 2006, and Dirk Nowitzki in 2007.
Now, international stars completely control the league. And the scary part for American players is that the next generation is still coming.
Victor Wembanyama is only 22 years old and already looks like a future multi-time MVP. Luka Doncic is still just 27 and remains one of the most dominant offensive players alive. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is only 27 and already has back-to-back MVP awards. Nikola Jokic is 31 and still playing the best basketball of his career. Giannis Antetokounmpo is also 31 and remains one of the league’s most unstoppable forces.
The pipeline is not slowing down.
Meanwhile, the best American MVP hopes currently revolve around players like Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum, Cade Cunningham, and potentially Cooper Flagg years down the line.
But even those paths feel difficult. For Cade Cunningham to seriously enter MVP conversations, the Detroit Pistons would likely need to become the No. 1 seed in basketball while Cade simultaneously finishes among the top three scorers in the league. Right now, that feels unrealistic.
Edwards has superstar talent, but still has consistency questions. Tatum remains elite but often gets overshadowed statistically by international stars putting up historic numbers nightly.
That is why Whitlock’s comments created such a strong reaction. Because while many people will strongly disagree with the reasoning behind his argument, the international dominance of the NBA itself is no longer debatable.
