That you can pivot (see what I did there) from music to business to sports so seamlessly and on target is just one reason your audience continues to grow. Right on, Ted. Right on.
I just think this view is misguided. If the owners - who make and are worth many times what any single player earns - can easily trade players, players should absolutely have the right to move to whatever situation is best for them. At bottom, players are employees. (Even if we like to pretend different.) And blaming employees for trying to put themselves in a better position - whether that means making more money, or playing with people they want to play with, or having a better chance of winning - demonizes the wrong group of people, I think.
Agree with you 100 percent on the labor stuff but I don’t think the point here is that LeBron shouldn’t have “the right” to change teams. And LeBron more than anyone can certainly go wherever he wants. I think the point is that he is obviously chasing championships, at the expense of other values.
I guess I don't see a problem with that? Because in practice being loyal to a certain team means being loyal above all to the ownership of that team. That's who signs your checks. I tend to see "loyalty to city" or "other players" or some other abstract ideal of athleticism as ways to pretend that the relationship of player to team isn't fundamentally economic. To ask players to give that viewpoint up because it's not what any of us might want from them just seems to get the priorities wrong.
Yes, when normies complain about our jobs not giving us what we want, whatever that might be, we're told we have no right to complain because that's the job, and if we don't like it, we should get another job. If your salary is stagnating, or you're not getting recognized for your contributions, or you're not growing professionally? Get a new job!
The idea that anyone who works for a living can make enough money, or be famous enough, or be a role model, and therefore move out of the category of "labor" and be held to owe something more to their employer (team owner), manager (coach), coworkers (other players), or customer base (fans) than the rest of us? Nope.
LeBron is not betraying anyone or anything by prioritizing being the GOAT in his field over the money he makes or loyalty to his employer or customer base. Those are his priorities. And he has every right to set his own priorities for his life and career.
Absolutely- add in the politics of race and how difficult it is to have any freedom as a player Gioia’s view is misguided at best and at worst would bake in power imbalances of the worst sort.
The outer world reflects the inner - spoiled celebrities manifest when people who don't hold loyalty in high esteem worship them, and create the monster. I remember watching Jordan back in the day, rarely did he ever act out like James. Thanks Ted for holding a line here.
As a non-athletic, bookish type person, I've never really been a sports fan. But in 2003 our hometown team, the Florida Marlins, had an owner who bought the best players he could get so we could, maybe, win a World Series. And I became a beginner fan as I nursed and took care of my new baby. We won. Yay! Then he sold off most of those players. So, in reality, it meant nothing. My attitude to sport went back to, "yeah, whatever." It's all about the cash. You are right Ted, those Benefits to athletes mean nothing anymore. The real losers, yet again, is the younger generation.
I never blame players for moving when they are forced out. I do blame teams that chase stars in free agency instead of building from within (starting with the draft). So if my values were put into action, there would be far fewer trades and more patient career development.
By the way, the great teams have always built from the draft—that's backed up by the history of the league. Just check out the NBA Finals MVP, who in the vast majority of cases was drafted by the team winning the championship that year. So I'm not just a dreamy-eyed idealist. Loyalty really is rewarded and produces results.
Depends on how you define “pushed out”, LeBron was no better than the 3rd option in LA…and it was clear they were ready to “move on” (this was is a new experience for him). There is no shame in being pushed out, Father Time is undefeated and most high profile people/Executives are pushed out…some politely, many, like at ESPN are told they are leaving. Regardless, I wish him well - 76er GM is from the Akron/Cleveland area and they’ve known each other since childhood.
If you want to blame any team for the lack of parity, blame the Warriors and CJ McCollum for introducing the second apron to team salaries. That move has led to the parity driven, dynasty lacking NBA that you see in the 2020s. LeBron joining the 76ers on a vet minimum is just a symptom, not the root
I think you are wrong - players are people first and foremost and should be able to make their own choices as to what’s best for them. Loyalty that creates a complete power imbalance is ridiculous and easily abused particularly when you also think about the politics of race and systems of keeping people in ‘their place.’ Minority youngsters should see LeBron and be proud.
Race has zero to do with the 75% Black NBA, except for the obvious lack of non-Black players. There are plenty of White USA and Euro players who belong there, but aren't.
Most certainly not, and I play hoops. Zero scouts at my high school, yet great players. Anyway, Ted is 100% right - hoops are a team sport. Look at Denny McClain, still beloved in the D after nearly 60 years! Of course, when you're dealing with multi-multi-millionaires, concepts such as "pay" and "power" take on a whole new meaning. If only we Jazz players had such leverage!
Sorry, wrong. Teams spend millions of dollars looking for an edge. If they found players who could help them, those players would get picked up. Generally if players aren't in the NBA, it's because 1) they're not good enough (despite how they look in other leagues) or 2) they're good enough, but their skillset doesn't match what the teams on the market are looking for.
That's not even close to being true. Team sports are as subjective as anything, and current players have a big say in who gets in. Golf, not being a team sport, is more talent based. Even I can try out for the US Open. What, precisely, do you know about scouting?
Agreed. Leaving the Lakers was the ultimate unselfish decision because with Bron’s salary, they’d never be able to grow the support players if he stayed there. Retiring with the Lakers would’ve been the shinier achievement.
I am an unabashed LeBron hater and have been ever since "The Decision." I don't care where a player decides to play. If he wanted to play for Miami, that was fine by me. And he hasn't moved around all that much by contemporary standards. That's just the way it is in modern sports. What I cannot abide is the sense of self-importance LeBron exudes. He is surely among the greats of pro basketball (though not the GOAT, if you ask me). Fine. Congratulations to him. But he does not walk on water, as much as he seems to think that he does. He has spent his career chasing championships and, as you note, has four rings to show for it. Compare that career to Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, Steph Curry, Kobe Bryant. I could go on. All of these players were, in my view, more exciting to watch and—with the possible exception of Chamberlain—seem like pleasanter people to be around.
"I’ve criticized LeBron for lacking loyalty. Sports insiders mock this view—but with tremendous hypocrisy. That’s because the whole profession of sports depends on the loyalty of fans. Without loyalty, every pro sports league in the world would soon collapse. So not only is loyalty an important value in team competitions, it’s actually a foundational principle that holds teams together and pays everybody’s salary along the way."
When thinking about the possibility of NBA fans checking out, this seems to run parallel to subscribers checking out on Netflix. Both involve entertainment companies making the experience secondary to profit. Both would involve people recognizing that.
But what do I know. I don't watch sports and I've never paid for Netflix.
I disagree. He’s in year 24 joining a team with a FMVP, former MVP and 2 all star caliber guards. Hes joining knowing he won’t be the best player on the 76ers. I commend him leaving the Lakers bc if he stayed it would’ve meant another year of delaying the build around Luka
Outlier? No. This is channeling my pro sports rant since he left Cleveland and a new era of player / self agent built super teams. In a 5 man sport it’s doable. BUT Michael was a Bull, Kobe a Laker and Magic / Bird built the modern NBA by staying in place. The brand is the man in the jersey but we don’t cheer for the Miami LeBrons.
I agree about players jumping around, but when the betting scandals hit a critical mass (and they certainly will), it will make complaints about players’ loyalty to a team seem quaint.
Pete Rose also had sex with a minor or several. Witnesses attested to 'providing him' with underage girls. (Aside from his sports betting and his horrible attitude). And Trump wants him in the Hall of Fame, or course he does. So this bad comparison rankled me. "I'm taking my talent to South Beach" can bring his talent to Philly. Fine with me. (Btw, I was at the 82-83 parade, the last time Philly won. I held a sign that said, "Darryl couldn't do it, but #2 saw to it.") It’s about putting together the best team.
Maybe I’m missing something. Basketball is a team sport. What’s wrong with learning and growing with a new team? High-performers pursue new challenges and new opportunities in every profession. Coaches and leadership are responsible for ensuring team continuity over time, not any one individual player.
That you can pivot (see what I did there) from music to business to sports so seamlessly and on target is just one reason your audience continues to grow. Right on, Ted. Right on.
I just think this view is misguided. If the owners - who make and are worth many times what any single player earns - can easily trade players, players should absolutely have the right to move to whatever situation is best for them. At bottom, players are employees. (Even if we like to pretend different.) And blaming employees for trying to put themselves in a better position - whether that means making more money, or playing with people they want to play with, or having a better chance of winning - demonizes the wrong group of people, I think.
Agree with you 100 percent on the labor stuff but I don’t think the point here is that LeBron shouldn’t have “the right” to change teams. And LeBron more than anyone can certainly go wherever he wants. I think the point is that he is obviously chasing championships, at the expense of other values.
I guess I don't see a problem with that? Because in practice being loyal to a certain team means being loyal above all to the ownership of that team. That's who signs your checks. I tend to see "loyalty to city" or "other players" or some other abstract ideal of athleticism as ways to pretend that the relationship of player to team isn't fundamentally economic. To ask players to give that viewpoint up because it's not what any of us might want from them just seems to get the priorities wrong.
Yes, when normies complain about our jobs not giving us what we want, whatever that might be, we're told we have no right to complain because that's the job, and if we don't like it, we should get another job. If your salary is stagnating, or you're not getting recognized for your contributions, or you're not growing professionally? Get a new job!
The idea that anyone who works for a living can make enough money, or be famous enough, or be a role model, and therefore move out of the category of "labor" and be held to owe something more to their employer (team owner), manager (coach), coworkers (other players), or customer base (fans) than the rest of us? Nope.
LeBron is not betraying anyone or anything by prioritizing being the GOAT in his field over the money he makes or loyalty to his employer or customer base. Those are his priorities. And he has every right to set his own priorities for his life and career.
Absolutely- add in the politics of race and how difficult it is to have any freedom as a player Gioia’s view is misguided at best and at worst would bake in power imbalances of the worst sort.
He said it's not for money and of course it isn't. And he's a free agent, not an employee. Look up Curt Flood.
The outer world reflects the inner - spoiled celebrities manifest when people who don't hold loyalty in high esteem worship them, and create the monster. I remember watching Jordan back in the day, rarely did he ever act out like James. Thanks Ted for holding a line here.
As a non-athletic, bookish type person, I've never really been a sports fan. But in 2003 our hometown team, the Florida Marlins, had an owner who bought the best players he could get so we could, maybe, win a World Series. And I became a beginner fan as I nursed and took care of my new baby. We won. Yay! Then he sold off most of those players. So, in reality, it meant nothing. My attitude to sport went back to, "yeah, whatever." It's all about the cash. You are right Ted, those Benefits to athletes mean nothing anymore. The real losers, yet again, is the younger generation.
Do you feel this way when players get traded multiple times like pieces of meat. Don't you think people have the right to change jobs
I never blame players for moving when they are forced out. I do blame teams that chase stars in free agency instead of building from within (starting with the draft). So if my values were put into action, there would be far fewer trades and more patient career development.
By the way, the great teams have always built from the draft—that's backed up by the history of the league. Just check out the NBA Finals MVP, who in the vast majority of cases was drafted by the team winning the championship that year. So I'm not just a dreamy-eyed idealist. Loyalty really is rewarded and produces results.
Depends on how you define “pushed out”, LeBron was no better than the 3rd option in LA…and it was clear they were ready to “move on” (this was is a new experience for him). There is no shame in being pushed out, Father Time is undefeated and most high profile people/Executives are pushed out…some politely, many, like at ESPN are told they are leaving. Regardless, I wish him well - 76er GM is from the Akron/Cleveland area and they’ve known each other since childhood.
If you want to blame any team for the lack of parity, blame the Warriors and CJ McCollum for introducing the second apron to team salaries. That move has led to the parity driven, dynasty lacking NBA that you see in the 2020s. LeBron joining the 76ers on a vet minimum is just a symptom, not the root
I'm in the unenviable position of now having to root for a player that I can't stand. Now he's a Sixer.
So don't root for him. Root for the rest of the team. Yeah, I'm in Philly.
I think you are wrong - players are people first and foremost and should be able to make their own choices as to what’s best for them. Loyalty that creates a complete power imbalance is ridiculous and easily abused particularly when you also think about the politics of race and systems of keeping people in ‘their place.’ Minority youngsters should see LeBron and be proud.
Race has zero to do with the 75% Black NBA, except for the obvious lack of non-Black players. There are plenty of White USA and Euro players who belong there, but aren't.
I think you’ve missed the point perhaps.
Most certainly not, and I play hoops. Zero scouts at my high school, yet great players. Anyway, Ted is 100% right - hoops are a team sport. Look at Denny McClain, still beloved in the D after nearly 60 years! Of course, when you're dealing with multi-multi-millionaires, concepts such as "pay" and "power" take on a whole new meaning. If only we Jazz players had such leverage!
Play hoops or not there still seems to be a lack of understanding of bigger issues here.
Sorry, wrong. Teams spend millions of dollars looking for an edge. If they found players who could help them, those players would get picked up. Generally if players aren't in the NBA, it's because 1) they're not good enough (despite how they look in other leagues) or 2) they're good enough, but their skillset doesn't match what the teams on the market are looking for.
That's not even close to being true. Team sports are as subjective as anything, and current players have a big say in who gets in. Golf, not being a team sport, is more talent based. Even I can try out for the US Open. What, precisely, do you know about scouting?
Agreed. Leaving the Lakers was the ultimate unselfish decision because with Bron’s salary, they’d never be able to grow the support players if he stayed there. Retiring with the Lakers would’ve been the shinier achievement.
I am an unabashed LeBron hater and have been ever since "The Decision." I don't care where a player decides to play. If he wanted to play for Miami, that was fine by me. And he hasn't moved around all that much by contemporary standards. That's just the way it is in modern sports. What I cannot abide is the sense of self-importance LeBron exudes. He is surely among the greats of pro basketball (though not the GOAT, if you ask me). Fine. Congratulations to him. But he does not walk on water, as much as he seems to think that he does. He has spent his career chasing championships and, as you note, has four rings to show for it. Compare that career to Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, Steph Curry, Kobe Bryant. I could go on. All of these players were, in my view, more exciting to watch and—with the possible exception of Chamberlain—seem like pleasanter people to be around.
"I’ve criticized LeBron for lacking loyalty. Sports insiders mock this view—but with tremendous hypocrisy. That’s because the whole profession of sports depends on the loyalty of fans. Without loyalty, every pro sports league in the world would soon collapse. So not only is loyalty an important value in team competitions, it’s actually a foundational principle that holds teams together and pays everybody’s salary along the way."
When thinking about the possibility of NBA fans checking out, this seems to run parallel to subscribers checking out on Netflix. Both involve entertainment companies making the experience secondary to profit. Both would involve people recognizing that.
But what do I know. I don't watch sports and I've never paid for Netflix.
I disagree. He’s in year 24 joining a team with a FMVP, former MVP and 2 all star caliber guards. Hes joining knowing he won’t be the best player on the 76ers. I commend him leaving the Lakers bc if he stayed it would’ve meant another year of delaying the build around Luka
Really, do 99% of the people in the world care about this guy?
Outlier? No. This is channeling my pro sports rant since he left Cleveland and a new era of player / self agent built super teams. In a 5 man sport it’s doable. BUT Michael was a Bull, Kobe a Laker and Magic / Bird built the modern NBA by staying in place. The brand is the man in the jersey but we don’t cheer for the Miami LeBrons.
I agree about players jumping around, but when the betting scandals hit a critical mass (and they certainly will), it will make complaints about players’ loyalty to a team seem quaint.
Pete Rose also had sex with a minor or several. Witnesses attested to 'providing him' with underage girls. (Aside from his sports betting and his horrible attitude). And Trump wants him in the Hall of Fame, or course he does. So this bad comparison rankled me. "I'm taking my talent to South Beach" can bring his talent to Philly. Fine with me. (Btw, I was at the 82-83 parade, the last time Philly won. I held a sign that said, "Darryl couldn't do it, but #2 saw to it.") It’s about putting together the best team.
Maybe I’m missing something. Basketball is a team sport. What’s wrong with learning and growing with a new team? High-performers pursue new challenges and new opportunities in every profession. Coaches and leadership are responsible for ensuring team continuity over time, not any one individual player.