No player is bigger than the team.
I believe this.
Every member of a team deserves recognition for their
contribution. That’s what makes a team. When clubs market a single player
instead of promoting the team as a whole, this marginalises the efforts of the
rest of the team. And what happens when the “star” player gets injured, signs
with another club, or retires?
It is a short-sighted and shallow solution, and one that
indirectly detriments the team, and the game.
That said, while players and other fans profess loyalty to
their clubs, I do not.
I love my teams. I share their elation in victory, their
disappointment in defeat. I attend every home game, and try to travel to away
games. For games I can’t get to, I will sit in front of a computer graphic, constantly
refreshing my screen for the latest score.
But ultimately, the Team is a club, a franchise, an
association. They can be sold, go bankrupt, change management, change their
logo, or sign new naming rights sponsors.
It is the players
who have played each game, win or loss. They’ve trained, practised and
analysed; they’ve taken the hits, dived after balls and suffered the injuries.
Fans have gotten to know them, their nicknames, habits and superstitions. We’ve
seen what they do off the court, from juggling fulltime jobs to raising money
for charity. We’ve spoken to them as they patiently sign autographs for us.
It is the players who are owed loyalty, if not by their
fans, most certainly by their clubs.
Players deserve opportunities. Coaches no doubt want that
all-important dub, and play their well-worn line-ups, but to what cost? Keeping
some players on the bench for the entire season, only letting them on the court
for junk minutes? Their effort throughout the season is worth more than that.
Players are owed a duty of care. It’s unconscionable for the
“leadership group” of a club to put a player at risk by playing them while
injured. The Canberra Capitals pointed fingers overseas, at what they purported
was a club not acting in the interests of an injured player. Later that very
season, the Capitals sent their own player on a road-trip double after
suffering a concussion in the game prior.
Players should have support. Clubs have rules and policies,
which they need to uphold. If these are breached, clubs certainly need to act
accordingly. But their actions can affect outcomes, contracts, reputations, and
even careers. Clubs owe it to the players to, you know, not throw them under the bus.
Perhaps there are some clubs who, more than anything else, want
to win a championship, and play the game in a way to achieve that.
I don’t care what they say.
No game is more important its players.
