In the event that the National Basketball Association or any specific basketball
organization is forced to make an important decision they must take into account
that there are many factors at play. Prior to making the decision you must
consider all the possible outcomes of each solution. Recently, a professional
basketball player known as Latrell Sprewell assaulted his coach physically and orally.
There has been a lot of controversy over what the NBA and Golden State Warriors
should do with him. Many different things would be affected by the decision that they
make. The three most notable are the financial issues, the players, and the public
relations.
Just like any business the most important thing that they must consider is money.
The financial reasons play the most dominant role in this decision. Latrell should be
considered an investment, on the team's part, and the team should stick by their
investment.
If they suspend him, the team would have no chance of getting to the playoffs and,
without
the possibility of winning the basketball championship, a dramatic decrease of income
happens.
No matter how devoted a fan is they do not want to spend hard-earned money on a losing
team.
A good portion of the income from a basketball team is derived from home games. Without
many
fans, fewer people buy tickets and therefore, fewer people go to the games. The team
gets hit
hard in the financial books. Another financial issue is that a lot of companies had
hired
Latrell to advertise certain products for them. Is Latrell the image the retailer is
looking
for? If he gets suspended and no one sees him play, why would they want to purchase a
pair of
shoes endorsed by him? If, ultimately, the league decides on fining him, how much should
they
fine him for? Another issue in the financial area is the possibility that many
laypersons
would say, "He'll get away with it, he's rich." Is that the kind of signal that you want
sent
out to the American public?
Another large factor is how are the players of the NBA are going to react to the
decision. What are they going to think? There is always the possibility of a strike.
What would happen if Latrell got kicked out of the league, and his teammates and other
NBA
players decided that they did not like that decision and managed to go on strike. This,
of course, is also a financial issue. If there was a strike, it would cause a major blow
in the income of the teams. Another factor is how the players' morale is going to be
affected
by the outcome of the decision. In recent years, the number of players who attacked
their
coaches has risen profoundly. If Latrell got away with a fine or something miniscule
like
that, would players feel the right to hit their coaches every time the coaches scream at
them? All these circumstances have to be considered before making a decision. This will
help to insure that you have made the best decision.
The last important issue, public relations, is tied in with the financial
problem.
In professional sports a major aspect that effects everything is public relations. Any
PR
director will tell you that if your team does not have good public relations you will be
in
great financial danger. Players are celebrities, and just like in Hollywood, if you do
something bad and the general public does not like you, they will not go see your new
movie
or television show. Having good public relations is a necessity because it generates the
income that the team has. If the Chicago Bulls were seen as a bad team with a bad
reputation,
the public would not accept their merchandise, tickets, and other endorsements. Despite
popular belief, money does make the world go around and, without it, the decision to be
made
about Latrell Sprewell would be a lot easier to make.
Basically, one factor leads to another and they are all pretty much the same no
matter
how different. Before a decision is made on what to do with Latrell, they must consider
all
these factors and many others. That is the only way that they can absolutely make sure
they
have made the right decision. It was stated earlier that "money makes the world go
around" and
in this case that is obviously true. Isn't it kind of sad that the moral issues affected
by
this decision are so obvious that he was guilty of a crime? If a regular layperson were
to
strike their boss, they would have been fired immediately, no questions asked. But since
there
is so much money being handled in the NBA as well as every other professional sport, it
changes
the whole approach to the problem.
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