Jay Bilas calls out Rand Paul for using racial 'overtones' in NIL comment

Jay Bilas called out senator Rand Paul for his recent comments about NIL. Bilas said Paul used racial “overtones” in his comments about the direction of college athletics amid name, image and likeness. The senator claimed many fans loved watching college athletes who weren’t paid. Bilas was upset at Paul after the latter made some generalizations.

“Many of us loved watching amateur athletes that weren’t paid,” Paul said. “Now everybody that plays basketball in college is gonna be driving a Bentley or a Rolls [Royce]. I mean, we’re gonna be seeing rap stars instead of basketball stars. I mean, this is crazy!”

Bilas then teed off on Paul.

“To be kind, it was racial undertones,” Bilas said of the Kentucky Senator on the Dan Le Batard Show. “It was overtones. And it was a pretty clear dog whistle. So I didn’t care for it. I’m surprised he hasn’t been called out on it more to date, just like Tommy Tuberville was with the ridiculous things he said recently.”

Bilas referred to Tuberville’s criticism of the government’s attempts to “get out the white extremists, the white nationalists,” from the military. When asked whether white nationalists should be allowed in the military, the Alabama Senator said, “Well, they call them that. I call them Americans.”

Players these days can be gifted cars, other merchandise, and deals, you name it. If they’re able to capitalize off of their own brands, perhaps they can get fancy cars, such as a Rolls Royce.

“Who cares what the players drive?” Bilas said. “Why do you care what the players drive? And all the people who are talking about, they don’t like money in college sports, they didn’t complain over the last 45, 50 years when revenues have gone through the roof and coach’s salaries have gone through the roof…it strikes me as crazy that so many free-market libertarians, they’re saying, ‘Oh but this one segment, no free market for you. Everybody else, we want the free market, but we don’t want it for you.’

“It’s almost immoral, it’s so ridiculous that it gets to being immoral that we want to restrict college athletes only and say, ‘well, they get a scholarship.’ But look at all the non-athletes that get scholarships…and they can make whatever money they want.”

Since NIL is still extremely young relative to college athletics, there will be critics. Perhaps there will be a time when it’s the norm and it aligns much closer to professional sports.