As the NBA regular season concludes and the playoffs begin, the issue of stars sitting the final few regular season games has been heavily debated. LeBron James sat out the final week of the regular season to prepare for the playoffs, and many sportswriters and analysts cried foul on the Cavs’ decision to sit out the superstar. They claimed that the team was hurting the fans, and that the fans deserve refunds for their tickets because LeBron didn’t play. These people believe that LeBron “owes” it to the fans to play. Another sportswriter said that he would no longer vote for LeBron for MVP because of his decision to not play the final week of the season.
My take on this issue stems from the concept of markets. LeBron gets paid a lot of money because people pay to see him and the Cavs play. Athletes do not make money just because of their talent, but because the people put up the money to watch them play, and this has increased their salaries exponentially as NBA basketball has expanded. Compare this phenomenon to that of other professions. There might be a mailman or a waiter who is as talented at that profession as LeBron is at basketball. Why does LeBron get paid more then if he is no more talented at what he does than the mailman? The difference is the entertainment market. He is paid more because people find basketball entertaining and pay money to watch LeBron perform in his profession. People don’t pay to watch the mailman deliver the mail. Therefore, LeBron doesn’t “owe” the fans a performance. There is nothing in LeBron’s contract that forces LeBron to play, but instead people just expect him to play because they pay for the tickets. That is not the case, however; it is simply one of the unknowns when it comes to professional sporting events. Stars sitting is unfortunate for fans that paid money to watch that player play, but it is just the way sports are.
However, because fans pay money to watch LeBron play, and this money increases the NBA revenue which indirectly increases players’ salaries, the fans have a way to influence the “market” and convince LeBron to play in the final games of the regular season. There is a way for fans to force LeBron to play the final few games and not prevent paying fans from seeing him perform. Again, it is all about the markets. If fans understand that the Cavaliers will not play LeBron in the final few games before the playoffs, then they should simply not buy tickets for those final few regular season games. The outcome is very simple. If no one goes to these games, a message will be sent very quickly and effectively to the NBA and the Cleveland Cavaliers organization. These entities will realize that the fans pay to see the superstars, and that the fans will not accept anything less. If no one goes to these games, the team will get the hint very quickly and will be forced to play LeBron in future regular season games.
While I realize this process takes some time to take form (2-3 years most likely), there would be no better way to make a statement to the Cavaliers and the NBA. The lasting impact of this statement made by the fans would be felt for years to come. It would be a strong precedent that other franchises would refer back to when considering sitting their star player. Teams would be much more inclined to play their star players even down the stretch in the regular season because fans have shown that they do not accept anything less than a team’s best, and that the fans are not afraid to show their feelings by not buying tickets. For example, if Oklahoma City becomes an elite team in 5 years led by Kevin Durant, the Thunder may consider sitting Durant in the final 3 games of the season to rest him for the playoffs and to prevent injury. However, if by this point the Cavs fans have set the precedent that fans will not buy tickets if the stars are sitting in mid-April, the Thunder would be much less inclined to sit Durant, and the fans would benefit for years from this effort.
I am not naive, however, and I do realize that this process would be very difficult, if not impossible, to perform. Knowledge of the practice of sitting stars at the end of seasons and a unified effort across the entire home city to not buy tickets at the end of the season is needed in order to reverse this troubling trend of sitting stars. However, an effort like this by the fans IS necessary to make positive steps towards the goal of making these stars like LeBron play at the end of the regular season.
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