Young athletes need to break trend of egomania in sports

I was sitting at my desk on Wednesday night wondering if I should write my next column on Allen Iverson—and then the story about Ron Artest popped up on my screen.

For those of you who don’t know, Lakers forward Ron Artest admitted that he drank healthy portions of Hennessy cognac during halftime while he played for my Chicago Bulls earlier in his career. To provide a little more background, Artest is the proud recipient of the NBA’s longest non-drug or gambling suspension ever for brawling with Pistons fans in 2004. Since then, he has been suspended multiple times and even had the audacity to show up to practice in a bath robe and ask his coach for a month-long sabbatical to pitch a friend’s R&B album.

The latest chapter in the Artest saga comes at an interesting time when just last week, future Hall of Famer Allen Iverson announced his retirement. Although Iverson just signed a one-year contract with the 76ers—that temporarily keeps him in the league—many commentators thought that Iverson’s history of causing trouble would force him to end his career early.

And just because Iverson signed with the 76ers doesn’t mean it will last. After agreeing to a one-year deal with the Memphis Grizzlies on September 10 of this year, Iverson played just three games before effectively quitting on November 16 due to his role as a bench player and not as a starter. The Grizzlies did tell Iverson what his role would be, for the record.

These stories are especially interesting given the changing way in which the public and professional sports teams view players who are just plain prima donnas.

As I sat there listening to the ESPN analysts talk about Iverson’s role in bringing “hip-hop culture” to the NBA, I couldn’t help but wonder if Iverson’s premature retirement was symbolic of an anti-maverick mood in sports.

One need only look at Terrell Owens’ career to understand the general trend of dissatisfaction with players who are known to be “clubhouse cancers.” Owens is now playing for his fourth team—the Buffalo Bills—and has lost the very limelight that he craves playing for a peripheral team with a losing record.
In the world of sports, talent is nearly everything and it is almost unfathomable that a team would want to replace a player with superior skills. But for some of these players that have it all—the talent, the money, and the fame—it is perfectly logical in their minds to assume that their abilities will always trump their behavior when it comes down to landing the next contract.

Sports is obviously a competitive business and many players are coveted and respected for their tough attitudes and grit on the field, but being a total and utter jerk is a different category. As forces like YouTube continue to shrink the world, teams are increasingly worried about their image and how their players are viewed in the public domain.

Perhaps as a response to players like Artest, Iverson, Owens, or Milton Bradley, there is a growing population of young players who are rejecting this ego-driven attitude.

Those that watched the Saints play the Patriots on Monday night noticed the distinct professionalism displayed by Robert Meachem and Devery Henderson. Both receivers caught huge touchdown passes clearly worthy of celebration, but neither of them resorted to over-the-top performances, and the Saints went on to win big.

I wish Allen Iverson luck in Philadelphia, but the fact that so many teams were hesitant to sign one of the most proficient scorers in the history of the game (due to his past behavior) sends a clear message to younger players. If you’re a jerk, chances are you’ll bounce around to several teams before ending up at a franchise that only wants you to put butt in seat.

It’s unclear how the NBA will deal with Artest’s latest admission, but in this columnist’s opinion, he should just be banned from the game already. And while I think that younger players are developing a new, positive trend in sports, some leagues—such as the NBA—have serious problems with the overall disposition of their players. Players of all sports get into trouble and everybody has some sort of blemish—exposed or not­—but we don’t hear about hockey and baseball players engaging in the same sort of ridiculous behavior as basketball stars.

Maybe the answer is to start watching more golf, but then again, I guess not even Tiger Woods is untainted anymore.

Jacob Shapiro is a List College senior majoring in history and Talmud.
sports@columbiaspectator.com