How much power should players have within locker rooms, front offices, and the media? How should coaches and players punish a player who had caused problems within the organization or media without disrupting team chemistry or relations with the players? If a star player refuses to play what do you do with them, sit them until their contract expires, trade them with their plummeting value and attitude issues, or attempt to resolve the issue by reaching an agreement?
http://www.nba.com/article/2017/01/26/chicago-bulls-jimmy-butler-dwyane-wade-accountability-effort-slump
I think players should have the freedom to discuss issues within their organizations, if they concern corruption, however, only to a degree, as to not disrupt team chemistry. If a player is causing problems within the team, then coaches should punish the player by taking away their game time. If a team member can't be loyal and passionate about their own team and teammates, then they don't deserve to play. Having an unwilling, and half-hearted player play through a game, will not help the team overall, as mentioned in the article. As Dwyane Wade says, "Everyone don't care enough. You got to care enough, man. It's got to mean that much to you to want to win." Even if the player is a star player, and they are refusing to play, then they obviously don't have the passion to play on the team, nor do they deserve to. This said, I believe it would best to trade the player as more of a statement on passion for the game, rather than a financial decision.
ReplyDeleteI think that players should have the majority of power in the locker room, no power in front offices and a very small role in the media. When talking about punishing a player their are many ways to go about it. A lot of the time (like with the Bulls) some players just don't want to put in the effort to win. To punish these players it is often a good idea to start by cutting down their playing time. If this does nothing to motivate them to try 100% then the team should be willing to try to trade the player away and get some sort of value out of him or her whether that be another player, or draft picks. As Dwayne Wade said, "“Everyone don't care enough. You got to care enough, man. It's got to mean that much to you to want to win. And it doesn't." This kind of behavior at a professional level is unacceptable. In any other occupation, if you don't care enough your boss will tell you to pack your things and to have the best of luck in your future job. The same should be done in sports. It is not fair to other players and the franchise to have to deal with incompetence. Of course it is hard to say that their is one specific way to deal with these kinds of issues as each case is different in their own right. However, it is important to note that this job should not be treated as any other and when a player or coach does not perform or care to try, they should let go of them. Finally the locker room is a "sanctuary" for players and coaches and not for any management. On the flip side it is not a players duty to intervene with any management work. While players can discuss being excited about the possibility of another player coming onboard or about the prospect of a possible trade and so on, they should not intervene with any of the actual decision making (the GM's are there for a reason).
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sebastian that players should have majority of the power in the locker room, none in the front offices, and some in the media. The players should have good enough chemistry that they can motivate and help each other in the locker rooms before and after games. Nobody knows what its like to play in the NBA more than a veteran NBA player like Butler or Wade, so these team captains should use their knowledge of the game to help newer players out after a tough loss like the one against Atlanta. In the front offices, however, players should not have any power. If players are given too much power in the front offices, they will start making selfish decisions that benefit only themselves. There's nothing wrong with giving the manager your opinion about the direction of the team, but the actual decision making should be in the hands of a more senior manager who can make a better decision for the team as a whole. Lastly, in the media players should play a significant role. The success of the team is almost completely based on the performance of the players, so they should be able to talk about how they feel about this / upcoming seasons. Even if the players complain that their teammates "...don't play hard all the time" or "play bad, [...and] miss shots", its important to be able to voice those concerns.
ReplyDeleteI think players should have all the power in the locker room, and a small role in the media and front offices. However, with varying levels of power it should be aimed at trying to better connect the team without disrupting team chemistry. The biggest problem Bulls players Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler faced were little effort and commitment put in my their teammates. It’s important for other team mates and coaches to address this problem and create a punishment because otherwise it will just continue on with “a locker room that is too nice” and that mindset won’t allow them to win games. The most efficient way to fix this would be cutting down playing time of those athletes, the same way a lot of Staples sports coaches choose playing time based on how hard the players work. With that said, depending on the degree of problem with the athlete a coach could decide if then a trade of the player would also be an option.
ReplyDeleteThe players should have power to speak their mind in the locker room. The problem was that Wade and Butler addressed the commitment problem before the coaches. I think that the coaches should have also discussed this problem and found a way to get them out of this slump. When you tell a player that he doesn't try when he is making a lot of money anyway isn't going to care that much that his team is losing. I think that if you cut players time that aren't performing like they usually do, that will lead bench players that want to play to prove themselves and it will make the starters step up their game so their spots isn't taken from them. With the Bulls situation, I think that the coaches need to be able to do more than what they are doing considering how much they have been losing. I think that benching starters would send a message about how you have to try to be able to have a starting position.
ReplyDeleteI believe that in the locker rooms all players should have the ability to voice their opinions on how the team played and how the game went, but I believe that the role players of the team should have more speaking time with the team if they believe that it can help. With the media aspect of sports today, nobody is safe on the media no matter what they say. In the article obviously Dwayne Wade was throwing shade with his "mood" tweet, but really had he have posted another picture based on something else it could have totally be misunderstood by millions of fans, teammates, and others in the league. While I do think players should have social media and it can bring many benefits, today it seems to be hurting them more than helping them in many circumstances. For a coach to punish a player, I think that the player would have had to have caused serious problems within the team, not just poor playing or miscommunications over a few games. When a player causes problems within a team it can create very bad situations, but personally I do not think they should be immediately cut or traded, I think the player should have time to workout the issues and if from then on nothing works, then look to trading or releasing the player. In the event that star players don't want to play I believe that the organization should look further into what the star is saying and possibly try to fix the problem if possible. I don't think that it is really worth trading star players based on single or few game issues in such long seasons.
ReplyDeletePlayers in professional sports should have a relatively equal amount of power on their teams. The one exceptions to this is players talking to the media and front offices. Players should have little influence while talking to the media. In locker rooms and away from the public’s eye, there should be a relatively equal distribution of power. As on most teams, leaders have more power than others. This is a positive inequality of power, until team leadership is compromised and consequently disrupts team chemistry. Coaches could punish a player who has disrupted team cohesion by reducing their time on the field or court. This has potential work well on teams like the Bulls; as players suffer from a lack of effort and motivation.
ReplyDeleteI think that the majority of the power in the locker should go toward the players. The front office is for the select few players that they trust in the organization and the players should have little to no say in the media. The players that play at this high level, they play because it's their job. When one doesn't preform at the top of his or her game or doesn't put enough effort in to do it that is when a coach and fans might get mad. How should a coach punish players who disrupt team chemistry? There are many ways that this could be done. Most likely I would think that his other teammates would be there to push their teammates and hold them accountable so it wouldn't happen again. But if it kept happening, the coach should start cutting this players time until he learns his lesson. If this doesn't work and he is not a team player they would have to trade him or her. I would hope that they would not need to trade these players on the Bulls because they don't want to put the effort in. Teams always need those Dwayne Wade and Malcolm Butlers on their team to voice their opinion and bring them team back together and get back on the right track.
ReplyDeleteI think players should have majority in the locker room to be able to speak their minds. If they want to say something, they should be able to talk it out. Part of building chemistry is speaking your opinion (in a respectful manner), and getting the other players point of view. If a team is suppose to be a family there needs to be communication, whether the receiving end likes it or not, and thats gives them the opportunity to speak their mind as well. While speaking your mind is a good thing, if someone refuses to play well because they don't want to thats another problem. First the punishment should start by coaches cutting their play time. If that doesn't work, then they should have to go. If your play time is being cut and you don't fix your actions, then you don't want to play. Players shouldn't be using the media to blast other players and things like that. Dwayne Wade using it as a outlet to throw shade isn't right. Thats like taking your family problems and telling everyone about the other family member. That should be kept within the walls for you as a family to work out.
ReplyDeleteI confidently believe that players should have a significant influence within locker rooms, front offices and the media. Great teams are produced through players having their say. While the most highly regarded players should take the lead, it is important for the entire team to have their voice. Most of the time, when players discuss and have motivational speeches, things fall in the right place. There is a special bond between players that coaches simply don't have. Jimmy Butler and Dwayne Wade, the two leading players on the Bulls' roster, had a right to speak up. Although Dwayne's twitter post of Michelle Obama's face wasn't necessarily the right thing to do, it was his way of expressing concern. That may be an example of when coaches need to interfere and keep the players in line. Having a voice in the front office is also vital in developing a team. Players seek others that they like, and in many cases, they convince them to sign during free agency. When a player acts out, it is up to the coach and his beliefs to address it. Repercussions vary, but trading them simply isn't a good solution. Methods like serious discussions and benching are far more successful.
ReplyDeleteI believe that players should have a big influence within the locker rooms. These players should be able to speak their minds and have privacy with their teammates. Under no circumstance should a player record teammates speaking in the locker room like antonio brown did. Players say that the locker room is a sacred place, and they hope it will stay that way. The NFL board should fine players who break these rules, and coaches should give their players a big punishment. If a athlete has off the field issues that threatens the chemistry of the team, their is a problem with that and they shall receive some type of punishment. I propose a one game suspension the team will give the player so they learn how to prevent their actions in the future. When Grayson allen had the tripping incident, Coach K suspended him indefinitely until he stopped, and learned from his mistakes. If a star player refuses to play because of a contract lockout the team should take these matters seriously. If he is a valuable player meet the contract requirements that will work for both the front office and the player. If he is not valuable to the team winning, but has value for another team, trade the player. But if he meets neither of those 2 options let him sit out and refuse to play.
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ReplyDeleteI think that NBA players should be able to voice their opinions more frequently because their opinions matter both to them and to their team. However, sometimes a player's comments can go too far, in which case, the team should try and reason with that player before taking any further action against them. If a player makes comments to the media or speaks out in a negative way, I think that the team should punish them in some way. However, it depends on what that player said, and how hurtful it was to the team as a whole. In the case of Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade, I think that they went a bit too far with the comments they made, and tried too hard to be leaders of the team, rather than be team players. While the Bulls might not be the best team in basketball, every team experiences heartbreaking losses, and taking it out on the team in the way they did is unacceptable and pretty rude. Being up front about something is one thing, but rudely hinting at that problem on social media is a totally different scenario that is a punishable offense.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is very important to have team chemistry and have a strong connection with teammates that will allow them all to have to same passion to thrive out on the court. I do agree that D-Wade and Jimmy Butler should be mad and should have a way to tell everyone that they are mad that they scored a total of 73 of their 114 points and that no one else cared if they won or lost. Also, I think that the players should have a team meeting right after the game to talk about the issues instead of going into a press conference and blaming the other teammates. The players should not be punished for calling out their teammate rather their teammates should be willing to prove them wrong next game. If a star player is not willing to play, I would suggest to trade them because a team cannot win with one star player and the star player would either just become very selfish on the court and can ruin the franchise. The other day, Carmelo Anthony was booed at his own home court and was witnessed waving his hand back at the crowd. Even though these players are good, they should realize that they are being paid to win a game and that they are not here just to put on a show.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everybody that said that they should be able to influence front office decisions, locker room dynamics and how they interact with the media. I would actually like to focus in on the media aspect of this prompt. I have been seeing a huge increase in media influencing fans and players more and more over the past couple years. They find tiny stories and make the entire country care about them just because they can. Some players just want to play competitive basketball and get out of the arena. Not have to make time to answer questions they don't want to answer.
ReplyDeleteYour best players are your leaders in the locker room. If they have no power in the locker locker room, than there is no direction for the team. There needs to be a voice on the team that can influence the players. Players should not have so much power that they are telling their teammates what to do. They should have a voice and be able to influence their teammates, but not by disrespecting them. In terms of the media, the players should have a lot of power their. If they don't want to be interviewed that's fine. If they wanna say something let them say it. It's not that complicated. In terms of the front office, the players shouldn't necessarily have a ton of power their. If a player is unhappy with his situation he can ask for a change or a trade, but he shouldn't be causing problems as that distracts players from their game. Players should not punish players. Coaches are the ones who should punish the players. They do this by benching them, scratching them, and many other things. If the player is still causing problems then get him out of the organization. There's no good reason to have a player with a negative voice around the team. If the player is going to play, then it might be smarter to resolve the issue. When a player is called out, he needs to know that the answer is not to call someone else out, but to work harder and show your value to the team. When players refuse to play they should be pushed as far from the organization as possible until a solution is found as it is toxic to the team and the players.
ReplyDeleteThe balance of power among players, coaches, and the front offices is an interesting conversation, because it seems every situation there can be a different answer to that question. In the case of the Chicago Bulls, there is something to be said for players policing themselves within the confines of their own locker room. The term that is thrown around often is the idea of "veteran leadership"—the guys who have sustained longevity in the league can help be the glue that keeps a team together. Dwayne Wade has three NBA Championships on his belt, and there is something to be said about his opinions inside the locker room. There are times in which teams need to be challenging—yes, Wade's criticisms may be harsh, but they're not unwarranted considering the Bulls' current level of play. Outside of the locker room the blame falls on the front office, because ultimately they are the ones responsible for the team they have assembled. If Chicago's season falls off the rails due to a lack of team chemistry or abysmal on-court play, it will be no one's fault but the people in charge of putting the team together. Again, every situation is different—whether its call-outs in the media from players, a star player refusing to play, or a coach on the hot seat, each must be handled with care. In certain scenarios a challenge through the media is the right decision—it can put external pressure on the team that forces them to play with more heart and energy. But other times, a team can fold underneath extra outside voices, and the better choice would have been to keep conversations about effort in house. At the end of the day, the players have the power on a day-to-day basis; they are the ones trotting onto the court every single night. But in the long run, it is the front office who must answer why the team they have created is not performing or cementing its chemistry.
ReplyDeleteFor a sports organization to properly function, players should not have any power in the front office. Players will only spend a few years with a team, while the owner may control the team for life and fans may be dedicated to a team for life. The direction a team is headed in and the way they build should not be determined by a player who will not spend their life working for the team. Often times, players may just do what they think is best for them, rather than doing what's in the best interest for the team, such as LeBron James leveraging the Cavaliers to sign Tristan Thompson to a max contract (which is far overvalued). Of course, players should have a role in the locker room to shape team chemistry and grow as a team, but that should not translate into personnel decisions. Players should have some power in the media, but should not abuse their power, because that can drain energy out of a team, players, and fans. After the misbehavior of many players on the Bulls regarding their media comments, their fan base moral has plummeted and the players are only hurting themselves. Messages must be sent to players who publicly step out of line, and benching them is the best way to do so. This can get the message across to the players and help them realize who is really in charge. An example of this is when Don Mattingly grew his mullet too long, breaking the Yankee dress code. After refusing to cut it publicly, George Steinbrenner made sure Mattingly was benched. Eventually, Mattingly cut his mullet and learned his lesson, and he now enforces the clean-cut Yankee dress code on the Marlins. Taking a players' playing time is the best wsy to convey a message to a player and bring down their egos. If a star player does not comply, he or she must be traded. Then, the team can get value in return for the player while getting that ego out of their locker room. There are rarely easy agreements to be made at this point, making a trade the only logical option since continuing to bench the player will only increase the media circus.
ReplyDeleteI think that to have a successful team and organization, there needs to be a good balance of leadership within the team in the locker room, have no power in front office, and very small role in the media. All of these components helps contribute to having a great team and organization. As to punishing players, this is often done in the wrong way and usually an ineffective solution to the problem. Players often don't respond well to the punishment of being suspended or being benched for games and often will say stupid things to the media that will further hurt them. Thats's also why players role in the media should be limited, although they are allowed to talk to the media and say, for the most part, what they want, they are still apart of the team and should have the team values always as priority. Lastly, for a player refusing to play, I personally would bench them and possibly trade them with the bad attitude reputation they have. Doing so, their value will plummet and few teams would stand to have that on their team.
ReplyDeleteTeam chemistry is a very important part for sports. All the players need to get along well and work together to be successful. Players should be able to say what they want to in locker rooms and in the media. When players are complaining about how the team doesn't care enough and ends up in the media, awareness would be spread forcing people to force action. By benching starters a message would be sent out creating a solution for a problem.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, for a team to achieve true greatness, the relationship between players, coaches, and the front office need to be extremely solid. Relationships are the foundation on which championship teams are built and any disruption can be detrimental to the ultimate goal of winning a championship. This being said, anyone not falling in line with this, whether it be player, coach, or even employee, drastic measures must be taken in order to achieve equilibrium within all facets of the organization. While benching or reprimanding someone for behaviors that go against team values can work, the only perfect solution is to completely rid them of the team. Anyone who is willing to do this once is the type of guy to continue to be an issue with the team. One of the biggest examples of this today is Odell Beckham Jr. Yes, he is one of the, if not the best wide receivers in the NFL. However, I believe that his antics on and off the field will continue to be an issue for the Giants in a greater way than his abilities benefit the Giants.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great article. Obviously Wade and Butler are both superstars in the NBA and certainly leaders of the Bulls organization. Jimmy Butler has yet to reach his highest potential even though he is already an outstanding player in the NBA. He is very young, but with that being said he is a natural leader and plays hard which is why he is so respected by everyone including his teammates. He has the right to call people out on the team if he has concerns. I believe team chemistry is brought together by people taking a stand like him and Wade both did. Dwayne Wade is a true veteran and clearly loves the game and wants to win since he is still in the league at his age and playing at a super high caliber this year. He has been around the block and he is the guy everyone should be listening to. I believe players should have full say with concerns the may have about the team, coaches, or management of an organization. They are the ones playing, and they are certainly the ones seeing what's going right and wrong.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great article that many people our age can connect to. I agree with what Daniel said that players, coaches, and the front office need to be very good in order for a team to move forward and progress. In todays game very few teams can succeed if they don't have good chemistry. The Warriors are a perfect example of this. Despite blowing a 3-1 lead in the finals last year they have been exceptional since then and prior to that. They definitely have a lot of individual talent in the likes of Curry, Durant, Thompson, and Green but would they be as successful if they weren't playing together? Their chemistry drives their continuous wins and that is also between their coaching staff and front office. The Chicago Bulls have been faced with many issues recently regarding chemistry between the franchise and it has had a serious effect on the outcome of their games. They have fantastic individual talent with Wade, Butler, and Rondo but they aren't able to click together with all the off the court issues that is now having a large impact on their playoff hopes. When it comes to players causing trouble within the organization I think drastic measures can be take. One persons action has the ability to impact an entire team and there shouldn't be an issue of releasing the player even if he brings a lot of talent to the team. It is unwanted attention taking the players minds off the goal of winning games.
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