Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Respect for the Game is Hard to Find These Days
Chris Webber was offered a multimillion dollar deal to play basketball in Greece. He wants to stay in the NBA and keep playing. He has too much respect for the game to leave it just for the money. Chris feels that it’s “stupid in a way to turn down stupid money” if you just want to play in the NBA. More players should have this attitude towards the game. We see all these players who will demand a trade or not try as hard if they don’t get paid what they want. The guys who play basketball don’t realize how lucky they are. They should want to play and have fun doing it what “they love”. If it’s what they love they shouldn’t be demanding more money or complaining. They should go out and have fun. Webber thinks that he “can't just do it for the money”. (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3045522)Other players should think the way that Webber does. He has a chance to make millions of dollars to go play in Greece but feels that it’s not worth it because he’d rather play the game he loves here. The Cleveland Cavaliers were talking to Carlos Boozer when he still played for them and Boozer verbally agreed to resign with them but found a better deal in Utah so he decided to take back his agreement and play with them. Guys should have fun playing and be easygoing. I understand the fans aren’t in the position they are and their lifestyle changes, but players are always saying that they will remember when they came from and just play for the love of the game. Clearly there are players that think money means more than the game. If players had the same view on the game and as Webber, they could not only have respect of the game but fans would have more respect for the players.
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Kevin, I agree with the points you make about how professional sports is all about the money. Professional atheletes don't often realize how lucky they are to play the game they love and get paid millions for it. If more guys played for the love of the game instead of money, sports would be a lot better than they are today. Guys would be out there giving 110% not becasue they want to get paid but because they want to win. I have respect for guys like Webber who take pay cuts to keep playing or they just want to play for a winning team. If more guys were like C-Web the NBA might be more popular.
Your title says it all. In today's sports it is very hard to find players like Chris Webber who simply just play for the love and the respect of the game. Very rarely do you hear of a player who turns down a larger contract from another team to stick with the team he is on for less money.If more players had the same approach and attitude towards the game as Webber does than I believe there would be more dedicated fans, and the ratings of watching sports on televisoin would increase significantly. Take the NBA for instance, I have heard and talked to a lot of people who don't even wacth the NBA until playoff time. Reason for this is they feel that's the only time players don't worry about their multimillion dollar contracts and actually play hard. I have also heard people say that they don't become attached to any particular team anymore because the team could be different as far as the roster is concerend from one year to the next. This is normally due to the players leaving for more money and better contracts. So how can you blame them for not being loyal fans because for the most part it is true. When more professional athletes have the same mentality as Chris Webber, the more fans there will be and the more the pro games themselves will improve.
I myself would have to agree when you say that players should play for the love of the game, I know I would. You are also correct in saying that NBA stars don't really know how lucky they are, they should be thankful they are getting paid to play basketball. The thing of it all is that nobody we know has been offered millions of dollars to play basketball so it's really hard to say we wouldn't take the cash. You got to look at it from their perspective, you are playing for the Cavs and making lets say five million dollars, then the Jazz comes around and says they will give you ten million, I mean common what would you do. The fact of the is just because they love basketball doesn't mean they don't love money more, they are only human.
Kevin, I also agree that the players need to have more respect for the game. The league is money driven and players need to play like the slogan says "I love this game". In my opinion, the NBA has lost the luster that it had in the days of Jordan and the Chicago dynasty. Players today don't play defense and complain about every foul that is called on them. Players make outrageous salaries and the average players want to paid like the elite. General Managers are forced to dole out large sums of money to attain the services of these players and destroys the integrity of the game. I like how you talked about the Boozer situation because it hit close to home. Even though he did what any of us would have done I like players who show loyalty to a franchise. Lastly, I like to see players like C-Webb doing the right thing, but its ironic that the player who took money at Michigan would say something about money. Its nice to see how his views have changed over the years.
Well I do agree that respect is hard to find today since all the players now a days go for the money without hesitating, even sometimes they go for the best contract even if the team is a losing team. But with the whole Chris Webber situation, I don't think it was the respect for the game the ekept him from taking the big deal and heading to Europe, but it was the fact that he didn't want to go overseas. I mean, I'd take a lesser contract to stay in America. But yes, I would love to see players just playing for the love of the game and nothing else. FOrget about the money, you'll get your money so stop complaining and just play and decide where you want to play based on where you want to go, not who is going to give you the most money.
TNG I agree with you completely. I hate watching players go to really bad places just for the money. Like Lavin said these guys are pro athletes. How much better can you get. You get to play sports for your job. Every kid America wishes they could do that. It happens all the time in sports to. For example A Rod. Everyone new they were going to be bad but as long as he got his money he could care less. Another example is Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks. Joe was a key part of the suns but instead of staying and trying to win a title he went to the Hawks just for the money. It’s getting to be a joke with all of sports. The sad thing is that most athletes don't care as long as they can go to the bank and ask for a couple million dollars.
I disagree with you that its hard to find players who play to play not for the money. True there are the players who want to cash in, but usually these are talented players who just want to get what players at their level got before them. Chris Webber is at the end of his career and the reason he's not taking the money in Greece is because he has a shit load already. There are lots of veterans taking a pay cut. Steve Francis, PJ Brown, Dike Mutumbo, Chris Webber, James Posey, Grant Hill, and the list goes on. Respect for the game is not hard to find. It's hard to find in the youth of today.
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