Is There Loyalty in Sports?
Unless you have been living under a rock the last week, two of the most-tenured superstars in the NBA left the organization that drafted them years ago. Kevin Durant made the divisive decision to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors, and Dwyane Wade left the Miami Heat for the Chicago Bulls. Durant spent nine years with the Thunder/Supersonics, and Wade spent 13 in South Beach. There’s basketball analysis to be had, but I find myself repeatedly asking the same question: “Is there loyalty in sports?”
Reggie Miller wrote that Kevin Durant traded a sacred legacy for cheap jewelry. He takes pride in his loyalty to the Indiana Pacers, where he spent 18 years. He takes pride in the fact that he didn’t bolt Indiana for a team that would put him in a better position to beat the Jordan Bulls, or the Isaiah Pistons, or the Ewing Knicks. He takes pride in the small-town mentality that encompasses Indianapolis, and made that pride part of his identity.
There is a saying, ‘To be the best, you have to beat the best’. If that holds true, Reggie Miller was never the best. And Kevin Durant never will be. But is it true? Who really cares? What matters more — the pursuit of ultimate success by means necessary? Or the dedication to one town so deep that despite years of failures or disagreements, one never wavers in their loyalty?
Dwyane Wade chose a 2-year, $47.5 million contract in Chicago over a 2-year, $40 million offer with the Heat. Factoring in state-income tax, that difference is almost negligible. Something happened that fractured that relationship that goes beyond this year’s monetary offer, and it’s fair to assume some of those reasons. Pat Riley pursued Hassan Whiteside and Durant before Wade, assuming Wade would do as he had done in the past, and work with the organization to assemble a contending team. Wade sacrificed $17 million during his time with the Heat, and with three championships and a Hall of Fame resume, one can’t blame him for wanting to recoup the money he’s given up. One also can’t blame him for feeling disrespected, like his impact on the Heat was not properly appreciated or aknowledged. With the Heat’s refusal to budge from their standing offer, and Wade’s hometown Bulls offering him a new opportunity, Wade shocked the world and left the only organization he’s ever known.
Dwyane Wade was the prodigal son of Miami. He brought them more titles than the Marlins or Dolphins. He brought them LeBron James and Chris Bosh. He was a high-flying, rim-running, shot-swatting pure athlete that invigorated South Florida and made Miami a basketball hotbed. In time, he became a calculating, savvy veteran who remains stunningly effective to this day. He was the Heat, and now that is no more.
Kevin Durant was the prodigal son of Oklahoma City. He donated $1 million the day of the 2013 tornadoes, opened a restaurant in town, played flag football with the locals, and spent significant time in lower-income communities and schools. Of the city, he once said, “You get knocked down, but you keep getting back up, keep fighting; it’s the perfect place for me. The grass isn’t always greener somewhere else.”
Durant led the Thunder through plenty of triumph; they won more games than anyone in five years, made four of six Conference Finals, and were a win away from toppling the greatest regular season team of all time. He also led them through varying levels of despair, some reaching crippling. There were devastating injuries to Durant, Ibaka and Westbrook that ruined potential title runs. Monty Williams lost his wife in a car accident this season, and Thunder part-owner Aubrey McClendon also passed in March.
So, with both of these remarkable departures, I wonder: is there loyalty in sports? Do Wade or Durant owe anything to their cities? What about the other way around? Are their pledges of loyalty in the past now traitorous lies? Simply pandering boasts meant to endear their communities and sell merchandise? Is Durant a villain for leaving to pursue what Miller called cheap jewelry? Do Riley and the Heat owe Wade for what he gave to Miami?
The answer is no. Maybe it’s cruel to say, but your favorite athlete doesn’t owe you a damn thing. In the case of Wade or Durant, they were drafted to these organizations, and spent more years with them than most. Sports are a business, and a large one at that. And how can you blame someone for conducting their business in their best interest?
Imagine you are in Wade’s position. You spent 13 years as the most valuable employee in an organization. Some more talented than you may have passed through its halls, but you remain, having sacrificed for the greater good. Your best years are behind you, but there are still good ones to come. It’s time to negotiate your last big contract, but first, your old boss needs to lock up the new talent to big money. Bigger money than you ever made. Then, he tells you to wait it out, since they might have a chance at landing the big fish, which could change your organization forever. But in your mind, the only reason that fish even cares about your organization is because of what you’ve done there for the last 13 years. You’re on vacation with your best friend, who left the organization, and who feels that it was you both who made that organization great, not the men who employed you. And while all this is happening, your boss doesn’t even call.
Now imagine you are in Durant’s position. You spent nine years as the most valuable employee in an organization. You fought countless times to reach the mountaintop, only to be spurned by a new obstacle at each turn. Be it injuries, a monumental trade, or historically great opponents, you could never find yourself at the top of the league. You’re 7-feet tall with foot problems in your past, and you possess one of the most unique skill-sets in the history of your field. You look at your peers who joined together to win championships. You look across the table, at your counterpart, who can leave the organization in a year’s time. You observe the marketplace: an unprecedented spike in salary dollars, and a historically great team that somehow has a need at your position with your skillset. You look at your highest peer, a man vilified for a television special announcing his new team, only to earn back the nation by winning championships. How can you see those things and choose loyalty, if loyalty earns you nothing at all?
The last few days have been difficult ones in Oklahoma City and South Florida. The emotions are raw and it will take time for the communities to recover from the loss of their respective sons. But their accomplishments will remain, and despite what you think of their decisions, they were not the first and will not be the last to leave the city that built them.
Dwyane Wade is the Heat all-time record holder in games, minutes played, points, assists, steals and second in blocks. He will be inducted into the Hall of Fame as a member of the Heat, and history will remember him as such.
One could argue Kevin Durant made the Oklahoma City Thunder. He was their first great player, and it’s reasonable to think he’ll be the best they’ll ever have. Lee Jenkins wrote that he used to gather the Thunder staffers after workouts (which they did together), stick his fist incomprehensibly high in the air, and shout “FAMILY”. He instilled a culture of humility, backed up by running hills and taking cooking classes with the community. He’ll never be forgotten as a member of the Thunder, and I’d bet he’ll never forget himself as a citizen of Oklahoma City.
Durant took a lot of heat from the media, the public and even his peers since deciding to join the Warriors. It’s ridiculous. Here’s a brief history of superstars that couldn’t win where they were, so they joined up with other superstars:
Wilt Chamberlain: Won the MVP in 1968, only to demand a trade to the Lakers who had Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. They had made the Finals five of the last seven years. They made five of the next six.
Earl Monroe: Left the Bullets for the 1972 Champion Knicks, who had Walt ‘Clyde’ Frazier and Willis Reed. Earl would be the seventh Hall of Famer on that team and win his first title the next year in 1973.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Left a Bucks team with Oscar Robertson to play in Los Angeles with Magic Johnson and James Worthy. Won five championships.
Clyde Drexler: Lost two Finals in Portland, and asked for a trade to Houston to play with Hakeem Olajuwon. Won a title in 1995.
Shaquille O’Neal: Left Orlando to win three titles with Kobe, then left Los Angeles to win a title with Dwyane Wade and Pat Riley.
Kevin Garnett: Left Minnesota to win a championship with Ray Allen and Paul Pierce in Boston.
LeBron James:
Kevin Durant: Durant made a choice, and in three years I’d wager it was the right one. He won’t be remembered as a traitor, a coward or a ring-chaser. He’ll be remembered as a champion, and the likely leading scorer on potentially the greatest team in the history of the sport. And in 2016, in a world where your legacy is solely defined by the number of championships you win, a world where Ewing, Malone and Barkley pale in comparison to O’Neal, Olajuwon and Duncan… it’s easy to understand why he could no longer stay in the place where he had tried and failed so many times.
