By: William Burns
Sports are becoming a large part of society and star players are becoming celebrities and they want to be treated as such. Professional athletes are weighing in on politics and other worldly matters like its their job. Is it their job though? Technically they are just employees of the team they are contracted to play for. But what happens if a player doesn’t want to play for a team that they are contracted to play for? Star professional athletes have begun to demand trades or contract renegotiations whenever they become dissatisfied.
The most recent instances of this is last week when Anthony Davis, an all-star player on the New Orleans Pelicans NBA team told the team that he did not want to sign a contract extension and requested that he be traded to another team before the trade deadline on Thursday, February 7. There have been trade rumors swirling around Davis’ name all season, but it was just recently that his agent went public with the information and intentions of Davis. Davis’ agent said that the star wants to go to a team that “can win consistently and have the chance to compete for a championship.” These actions caused Davis to get slapped with a fifty thousand dollar fine, chump change to a professional athlete, but he had his reasons. Davis and his agent wanted to make his intentions clear and out in the open for everyone. He wants to win, and he can not do that with New Orleans. Reportedly, the Pelicans have expressed the desire to keep Davis for the remainder of the season.
So, what should happen in a situation like this? After such a bold declaration to be traded their must be doubts as to whether or not he has the team’s best interests at heart. How could a coach trust a guy after what he said to play with passion and give it his all when the game is on the line? You couldn’t bench a player of that caliber for the remainder of the season either, because then the fans that like Davis will be upset. Still, it is risky for coaches to have these players on the court in big situations if they don’t want to win, as well.
Interestingly enough, Davis made a very clear message for the management of the New Orleans Pelicans. Since the Pelicans only have the rest of season of control over Davis, he will become a free agent and be able to sign with any team that provides him with a suitable contract. In this situation, the Pelicans, who are most likely going to miss the playoffs anyway, would get absolutely nothing from Davis staying with the team. From a business perspective, the Pelicans should be open to trading Davis and try to get some good young talent to build a team from. At this point in the season and being so far out of the playoffs, it would be best to get as much as you could in an Anthony Davis trade. That would be a good deal for the team.
This doesn’t happen very often, but it has become more common. Last NFL season Le’Veon Bell sat out an entire season because he wasn’t happy with decisions made by the team regarding his contract. He voluntarily gave up his salary because he didn’t get his way. This happens when players get drafted as well. Since the worse teams get higher draft picks, the players with the most promise and potential usually get drafted by bad teams. These players don’t want to waste their potential on a team they don’t like and just will not sign a contract with them unless they get traded. This happened even to the longtime quarterback of the New York Giants, Eli Manning, and legendary Los Angeles Lakers guard, Kobe Bryant. Manning announced that he would not play for the Chargers if they drafted him but nevertheless, he was drafted by the Chargers and wound up getting traded away quickly. A similar predicament for Bryant as well. He was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets and his agent announced that he would never sign with Charlotte. This resulted in him being quickly traded to the Lakers, where he went on to have a hall of fame career.
In these situations, it still remains possible for teams to get something out of the deal when a player doesn’t want to play with them. There will always be winners and losers in these deals and those instances are highlighted by Kobe, and Manning, both of whom led their teams to multiple titles. However, in situations similar to that of Anthony Davis, where he is still under contract for the remainder of the season, it can be tricky. If the team with the control doesn’t want to trade, then they are forced to have a liability on the court or have a major player on the bench. If the team were to give up and trade Davis, they could get a lot of talented young players.
