Women have made great advances over the years. However, one of the areas that is lacking in progress for women ­­is professional sports.

The NBA has paid tribute to its Hispanic players and fans since 2006 with Noche Latina, where teams from the largest Hispanic communities participate by hosting Latin themed events, as well as “changing” their team name to a more Spanish sounding one.

Good-natured teasing and ribbing is expected between sports teams as they compete, but when racism is used to attack or belittle an opponent it is socially and morally unacceptable.

With the NBA kicking off its 65th season on Tuesday, the time has come to assess what is new around the league, as well as who will make a push for championship contention.

Tuesday night marked the beginning of the March Madness of intramural basketball at the University of La Verne.