Kings Stauskas clarifies race-centered comments

Sacramento Kings rookie Nik Stauskas, who said Sunday night that the Toronto Raptors were attacking him because he was white, is surprised at reaction to his comments.

The former Michigan shooting guard drafted eighth overall in the NBA draft said he was not looking for sympathy Sunday when he said: “I understand that I’m a rookie and I’m white, so people are going to attack me at all times. Just coming out there in the game, I felt it right away.”

After another game with the Raptors on Tuesday, Stauskas tried to explain his perspective without backing away from the statement.

“I was very surprised,” Stauskas said in an interview with a Kings’ blog site, Cowbell Kingdom. “People kind of took it too far with what I was trying to say. I wasn’t trying to get anyone to feel sorry for me. I wasn’t trying to be controversial or anything like that. I was just trying to keep it real.”

“As a rookie in the NBA, you’re going to get attacked on the court, you see that tonight,” Stauskas continued. “People make a point to go at me. It has a lot to do with reputation and kind of stereotypes of what your game is. For me, I look at my reputation, people look at me and obviously, I’m not the best defender in the world, so people are going to make a point to go at me and try to attack me as much as they can. That’s really what I was trying to say.”

Stauskas said his feelings were based on experiences on the court and he does not apologize for treading on sensitive ground.

“I’ve said stuff like that before and I don’t take that back, because I’m not trying to offend anyone, I’m not trying to be controversial, I’m just saying that’s just really how I feel,” he said. “Some people may have a problem with it, some people may not, but if you’ve ever played the game of basketball, you understand that there’s certain stereotypes and certain reputations that certain players have and based on that, people are going to play a certain way against you.”