Lately, we have had another rash of disgruntled professional athletes not getting their way, and either holding out, crying they don’t get paid, are not consulted enough, or possibly just taking a stand. In the last week, or two, we have had Kyrie Irving, James Harden, and Deshaun Watson go off the rails so to speak, and it begs the question, who is in the right here? When is it going too far. When is enough enough?
James Harden and Kyrie Irving, I can come to expect this. They are loose cannons, me first athletes, along with Jimmy Butler, that in some instances can set back organizations years and years. But this was somewhat of a surprise coming from Deshaun Watson. Harden, at times, is a top 5 NBA player. He can score and facilitate the basketball with the best of them. There has never been a shot that he doesn’t like, and lately, not a cheeseburger either. Defense has never been his strong point. But what he did was unacceptable, holding Houston hostage. They ultimately had no choice but to trade him. He signed this contract, but bellyached how he was miserable and no longer able to function and perform in Houston, so he got traded. Irving, always one to act me first, one to skip out when the getting is good, is now up to his same old act. This is coming from a person that thinks the world is flat. Ok. Gotcha, Kyrie. Who knows if he is going to be back in Brooklyn. If he is indeed going to retire, or quit, and give up the millions and millions of dollars that comes with it, then so be it. And For those Jimmy Butler fans in Miami, just wait until the going gets tough for him. Ask Chicago, and Minnesota, oh and Philadelphia. He put up the front that he was a team player in South Beach last year, but that’s easy when you win. Don’t hold your breath.
Now we come to Deshaun Watson. Now some may say, this is a totally different situation. They say he is in a totally different organization that is borderline inept. He wanted input on who the GM would be. Didn’t get it. He wanted to have a say in who they interviewed. They weren’t going to interview Bienemy from KC until he raised a ruckus. I guess my confusion is, who is running the team. Is it Deshaun or is it the McNair family.
I have always been amazed at how in professional sports, the inmates are now more increasingly allowed to call the shots. Watson had nobody put a gun to his head when he signed that $150-160 million contract which he is owed through 2025. He seemed pretty happy back then! Only professional athletes, and soon to be college athletes can get away with that, demand a trade or an extension, and get away with it. I am not one to feel sorry for him. The experiment with their previous regime didn’t work, and now they start over. At my job, or in 99% of the jobs out there, I am certain it doesn’t work that way. We just negotiated a new contract with my workplace. If we bitch, or take to task ownership, or holdout, we get fired, with no sympathy from the media, or other people.
I am sorry, Deshaun. i do not feel sorry for you. From all accounts, you are a fine citizen, and upstanding, the whole bit. But you signed that contract with The Houston Texans. you had the no trade clause put in. Hold out, set the organization back ten years. The one that set you and your family and your family’s family and your family’s family’s family up for life. Just don’t expect to get paid.
The inmates are running the asylum in The NBA, thats what everyone wanted. Management is greedy. That was the battlecry. Pity the hundred millionaire athlete. I guess I am in the minority. You all cannot win the Superbowl, but you can damn sure get rich trying!
Good luck Deshaun, just don’t look for any sympathy from me!
