Players and Money

[Josh Ozersky <josh_ozersky@yahoo.com>]

> because players come from such a competitive
> background, it is ridiculous to think they don't care where they fit
among
> the rest of the league as far as an individual player.  And what does
> professional sports offer in terms of ranking individuals that is more
> obvious than salaries.  

This is something I am always pointing out to my friends.  The players
are surrounded since high school with yes men, sycophants, paid
entourages, and assorted kiss ups.  Deep down, the only thing they
know that the only thing they can really trust when all is said and
done is how much "their owners" (a telling phrase if you're black, I
would think) are willing to put where their mouth is.  Other than
their team winning, that is the only way they can reassure themselves
of their worth.  Of course you can say, well, their team winning
should be enough, it was enough for havlicek blah blah blah, but
basketball is a team sport, and few players can singlehandedly lift
their teams farther than a playoff berth.  

while we're on the subject, Havlicek was robbed and taken advantage of
by the Celtics, and deserved much more money than he got (40,000
dollars as late as the seventies).  But then Havlicek wasn't raised by
one parent in a tiny apartment where he was seen by everyone he knew
as some kind of redeemer, either; or have to know that the people who
pose for pictures with him would cross the street if they saw him
coming the other way if he wasn't a player.  

The owners aren't to blame.  Basketball is a sport built around
individual superstars, on every level.  Bad teams have to pay their
young stars  (see my other post).  If you want to blame anybody for
the current situation, blame George Shinn, the guy who started it all
by giving Larry Johnson, of all people, an 80 million dollar contract
when such a thing was unheard of.   The league needs to clamp down and
make the big money a reward for veteran players, that's all.  The rest
is rust and stardust.

Josh







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