Storyline: Free agents make tough decisions. So let’s stop giving GMs, owners, VPs, and others in management a free pass when it comes to free agency. Nobody has the right to tell a player what’s best for his future!
This may come as a surprise to many of you but I actually was BORED during my vacation. It wasn’t until I watched the Clippers v. Mavericks game that I realized how much my work actually is the root of my happiness–at least the majority of the time. Sounds crazy right? To some, yes, but to those who are in the same line of work (researching topics and conducting interviews) it can be rewarding.
Courtesy: jammond.com
But as I watched the game and listened closely to the commentators, I became more and more enraged with what was being said. There’s one thing that I would like for OUR readers to understand about professional sports. Just as a GM, owner, Director of Operations, or VP has the right to trade away a player (for whatever reason), a player can choose to leave a team for whatever reason, too. It’s really an example of the old “What’s Good for the Goose is Good for the Gander.”
When a team feels its investment hasn’t panned out, they can trade away a player regardless of his numbers or impact on the community. It’s their right. And when a player becomes a free agent it’s that player’s turn to do what he feels is best for his financial future.
It isn’t about championships or continuing to build on a franchise’s legacy. Most of the time teams go after big names to put fans into the seats and to attract attention and endorsements to the franchise. Most of the time they don’t have a clue what might happen, which is why the Brooklyn Nets are in the position they find themselves.
Some GMs don’t have a high basketball IQ because they make basketball decisions based on ECONOMICS only. That’s TERRIBLE!! Perhaps Cleveland Cavaliers Owner, Dan Gilbert, said it best: “I don’t mind paying the luxury tax because, at the end of the day, we secured our core nucleus and we had to pay those players.”
Courtesy: USAToday
When DeAndre Jordan changed his mind–at the last minute–and decided to stay with the Clippers there was an uproar of negativity towards the guy. We’re talking about a player who’s never been in trouble off the court and is a model citizen–a role model for millions of kids who look up to him.
Do I think he got cold feet? ABSOLUTELY!! Who wouldn’t? He found himself going from a glorified role player to free agent “savior” in Dallas. That’s a lot of pressure. Jordan probably had a change of heart at the last minute. There’s nothing wrong with that. He didn’t make his decision in a malicious way. He probably experienced a little embarrassment with how long it took him to make that final decision.
But, once again, there’s nothing wrong with that. He took the high road during the off season when EVERYONE in Dallas was ridiculing him. He said absolutely nothing. He prepared for the upcoming season with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Courtesy: USAToday
With all of that being said, Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban is acting in an infantile way. He didn’t become a self-made BILLIONAIRE by acting that way! But look at his track record with the Mavs. Cuban has been running his mouth and racking up fines with the NBA ever since he purchased the Mavericks in January 2000. But this guy is a great businessman and he’s improved the Mavs tremendously, culminating with a NBA Championship in 2011.
I really expect a lot from Mark Cuban. He has owners throughout the league trying to duplicate his team’s success. He’s great for the NBA — when he’s not saying or provoking his players to say negative things about opposing players. He’s supposed to lead by example, but that isn’t the case when Mavs F Chandler Parsons feels he should make disparaging comments in the media about DeAndre Jordan. That’s not professional and it makes him look pathetic.
Free Agents make tough decisions and, many times, those decisions are made with family considerations and long-term future in mind. So let’s stop giving GMs, owners, VPs, and others in management a free pass when it comes to free agency. Nobody has the right to tell a player what’s best for HIS future!
Think about it. Would you like somebody telling you what to do?
