Imagine you're pretty good at basketball. You play in pickup games a couple times a week, work on your shot often, and stay in shape to play. You never suited up for a college team, but most times you play, you're one of the best players on the court, if not the best.
Now imagine one of your friends starts a basketball team that's going to play in a rec league in your town. He signs you up first and lets you know it's your team. He's getting it together and setting everything up, but you'll be able to take as many shots as you want, set the tempo, and run the team on the court. You're the best player they have and they'll give you free reign to play like you want.
Then a week later, your friends texts you. One of his friends from college just moved to town, and he wants to play on the team. And get this--he actually played Division One ball for Wisconsin. He even started his senior year. With you and this new guy, who will call Wisconsin Wes, there's no way you won't win the rec league championship. You might even go undefeated. You shrug your shoulders and text your friend, "Cool. Can't wait to play with him."
You show up for the first game and from the start it's obvious that you and Wisconsin Wes will carry the load for the team. No one else comes close to the talent you two have. Your team wins in a route. You scored 25, had 5 assists, and 6 rebounds. You're pretty satisfied. But a quick look at the score book shows that Wes scored 32 along with 8 assists and 12 rebounds. And everyone is raving about his defense. And in the third quarter, he snapped at you when you didn't switch quickly enough on a pick.
But you won, and it's easy to see you're probably going to win the league. So you just roll with it. As the season progresses, you keep winning, but Wes takes over more and more. He's running the team you thought would be yours. He's the leading scorer, the center of attention, and the MVP. You're the second best player, and you show some flashes from time to time, especially when Wes is on the bench. In the end, though, all the love and adulation goes to Wes.
Your team makes the rec league final, and you run into the only other good team in the league--let's call them the Fighters. And you lose. But it's close, and you all decide to run it back for another season. You spent the off time working on your game and getting better. By the time the next season comes around, you're in the best shape of your life. And it shows. You score more points, play better defense, and play basketball at a whole new level. But Wes is still better, and everyone knows it. They all talk about him. You realize you're lucky to play with him, and that with both of you on the team you're pretty much guaranteed a shot at the championship. But you're starting to think you could do really well on a team without Wes.
Your team makes it to the rec league championship again, and guess what? You're facing the Fighters for a second time. And this year you win. After the game, the whole team goes to Applebee's and you eat a ton of appetizers and drink too many margaritas. You all decide to play in the rec league again. After all, you're a great team and it's fun. You reluctantly agree, even though you kind of want to play on your own team. You want to run your own team. You want to be the focal point of the offense. But you put that aside for now, because you like winning.
And the next season ends up the same way. Your team plays the Fighters yet again in the final. But this time you lose, and it wasn't close. (Mostly because the Fighters added one of the best players in the league from another team they beat in the semi-finals.) This season wasn't as fun. You and Wes had some tension, and the whole team just wasn't into it. It wasn't fun. But everyone wants to run it back one more time. They want to beat the Fighters.
So you've got some choices. You can come back to your team and be guaranteed a spot in the final. You'll probably face off against the Fighters for the fourth year in a row, and it'd be nice to beat those guys. You don't really like them. You and Wes make for a formidable duo, and no one can stop you except the Fighters. It's nice to win.
But you're kind of tired of Wes. The entire offense runs through him, and even though there are times you score more points, it's because he's decided to pass a little more that game or he's being double-teamed more than usual. Plus his friends are always hanging out with the team, and they're a little too involved. They had some input on last year's jerseys, even though they don't play. And Wes always gets to choose where the team eats after games.
And while you know playing with Wes has gotten you the championship three years in a row, you think a team with you and some other solid players could be successful. It'd be challenging to beat Wes's team, and the Fighters, but you think you could pull it off. Your new team wouldn't be dominant like your current team, but you could compete.
Plus you've been hearing some rumors that Wes might be moving to Los Angeles next year. You'd be running the team if he left, but some of the better players have said they might quit if Wes leaves. You'd be left with a bunch of scrubs.
You're not sure what to do. But Kyrie Irving knew exactly what choice to make.
Irving is almost certain to make the NBA Finals for the fourth consecutive year if he stays in Cleveland, but he wants to play elsewhere. It's easy to say he doesn't value winning, or has an ego some large he's willing to give up championship goals in order to get more shots and more attention. But put yourself in the situation above. It's not a lock that you'd stay to play with Wes. And it shouldn't be a lock that Kyrie would stay to play with LeBron.
I'm not defending Irving's trade request. If it was me, I'd put up with LeBron for one more year for a chance at one more ring. It's easy to become irrelevant in the NBA, even if you're a gifted, all-star caliber player. Ask DeMarcus Cousins. If you have a chance to be a part of something special, something historic, you shouldn't voluntarily give it up.
Maybe all Kyrie wants is a change of basketball scenery. I won't begrudge him that. These players have such short careers. It makes every season precious. It comes down to a matter of choice. What do you want your legacy to be? How much are you willing to risk?
Kyrie could go to another team and never make the playoffs again. That won't look good. But he's decided taking over his own franchise will enhance his legacy more than winning another with LeBron in Cleveland. That's what he's decided to risk. If it pays off, he ends of looking better. If it doesn't--well, he's a rich man's Steve Francis.
The NBA is a real place, and a real job. It's not NBA2K. These players are real people who make decisions about their careers, many of them similar to the ones we make in our own lives. Whenever they make these trade requests or sign with different teams, it's important to keep that in mind. Put yourself in their place, and think about more than just the basketball. Think about the chemistry, the legacies involved, and the human factors that would lead you to change jobs. Then you'll have an idea about why they made a trade request or signed somewhere else.
Now imagine one of your friends starts a basketball team that's going to play in a rec league in your town. He signs you up first and lets you know it's your team. He's getting it together and setting everything up, but you'll be able to take as many shots as you want, set the tempo, and run the team on the court. You're the best player they have and they'll give you free reign to play like you want.
Then a week later, your friends texts you. One of his friends from college just moved to town, and he wants to play on the team. And get this--he actually played Division One ball for Wisconsin. He even started his senior year. With you and this new guy, who will call Wisconsin Wes, there's no way you won't win the rec league championship. You might even go undefeated. You shrug your shoulders and text your friend, "Cool. Can't wait to play with him."
You show up for the first game and from the start it's obvious that you and Wisconsin Wes will carry the load for the team. No one else comes close to the talent you two have. Your team wins in a route. You scored 25, had 5 assists, and 6 rebounds. You're pretty satisfied. But a quick look at the score book shows that Wes scored 32 along with 8 assists and 12 rebounds. And everyone is raving about his defense. And in the third quarter, he snapped at you when you didn't switch quickly enough on a pick.
But you won, and it's easy to see you're probably going to win the league. So you just roll with it. As the season progresses, you keep winning, but Wes takes over more and more. He's running the team you thought would be yours. He's the leading scorer, the center of attention, and the MVP. You're the second best player, and you show some flashes from time to time, especially when Wes is on the bench. In the end, though, all the love and adulation goes to Wes.
Your team makes the rec league final, and you run into the only other good team in the league--let's call them the Fighters. And you lose. But it's close, and you all decide to run it back for another season. You spent the off time working on your game and getting better. By the time the next season comes around, you're in the best shape of your life. And it shows. You score more points, play better defense, and play basketball at a whole new level. But Wes is still better, and everyone knows it. They all talk about him. You realize you're lucky to play with him, and that with both of you on the team you're pretty much guaranteed a shot at the championship. But you're starting to think you could do really well on a team without Wes.
Your team makes it to the rec league championship again, and guess what? You're facing the Fighters for a second time. And this year you win. After the game, the whole team goes to Applebee's and you eat a ton of appetizers and drink too many margaritas. You all decide to play in the rec league again. After all, you're a great team and it's fun. You reluctantly agree, even though you kind of want to play on your own team. You want to run your own team. You want to be the focal point of the offense. But you put that aside for now, because you like winning.
And the next season ends up the same way. Your team plays the Fighters yet again in the final. But this time you lose, and it wasn't close. (Mostly because the Fighters added one of the best players in the league from another team they beat in the semi-finals.) This season wasn't as fun. You and Wes had some tension, and the whole team just wasn't into it. It wasn't fun. But everyone wants to run it back one more time. They want to beat the Fighters.
So you've got some choices. You can come back to your team and be guaranteed a spot in the final. You'll probably face off against the Fighters for the fourth year in a row, and it'd be nice to beat those guys. You don't really like them. You and Wes make for a formidable duo, and no one can stop you except the Fighters. It's nice to win.
But you're kind of tired of Wes. The entire offense runs through him, and even though there are times you score more points, it's because he's decided to pass a little more that game or he's being double-teamed more than usual. Plus his friends are always hanging out with the team, and they're a little too involved. They had some input on last year's jerseys, even though they don't play. And Wes always gets to choose where the team eats after games.
And while you know playing with Wes has gotten you the championship three years in a row, you think a team with you and some other solid players could be successful. It'd be challenging to beat Wes's team, and the Fighters, but you think you could pull it off. Your new team wouldn't be dominant like your current team, but you could compete.
Plus you've been hearing some rumors that Wes might be moving to Los Angeles next year. You'd be running the team if he left, but some of the better players have said they might quit if Wes leaves. You'd be left with a bunch of scrubs.
You're not sure what to do. But Kyrie Irving knew exactly what choice to make.
Irving is almost certain to make the NBA Finals for the fourth consecutive year if he stays in Cleveland, but he wants to play elsewhere. It's easy to say he doesn't value winning, or has an ego some large he's willing to give up championship goals in order to get more shots and more attention. But put yourself in the situation above. It's not a lock that you'd stay to play with Wes. And it shouldn't be a lock that Kyrie would stay to play with LeBron.
I'm not defending Irving's trade request. If it was me, I'd put up with LeBron for one more year for a chance at one more ring. It's easy to become irrelevant in the NBA, even if you're a gifted, all-star caliber player. Ask DeMarcus Cousins. If you have a chance to be a part of something special, something historic, you shouldn't voluntarily give it up.
Maybe all Kyrie wants is a change of basketball scenery. I won't begrudge him that. These players have such short careers. It makes every season precious. It comes down to a matter of choice. What do you want your legacy to be? How much are you willing to risk?
Kyrie could go to another team and never make the playoffs again. That won't look good. But he's decided taking over his own franchise will enhance his legacy more than winning another with LeBron in Cleveland. That's what he's decided to risk. If it pays off, he ends of looking better. If it doesn't--well, he's a rich man's Steve Francis.
The NBA is a real place, and a real job. It's not NBA2K. These players are real people who make decisions about their careers, many of them similar to the ones we make in our own lives. Whenever they make these trade requests or sign with different teams, it's important to keep that in mind. Put yourself in their place, and think about more than just the basketball. Think about the chemistry, the legacies involved, and the human factors that would lead you to change jobs. Then you'll have an idea about why they made a trade request or signed somewhere else.
Comments
Post a Comment