Free agents, loyalty and legacy

By Paul Frederickson

December 8, 2010 a former Ohio high school basketball phenom spent 75 minutes explaining to his adoring home fans that he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to join what would become an all-star triumvirate at the Miami Heat. Cue despair, anger and tears as well as the requisite burning of Lebron James Cavs jerseys as his once adoring fans felt betrayed, like a scorned lover their anger knew no bounds. The Cleveland sports radio airwaves were filled with indignation and derision from fans who were just as upset with the way the message was conveyed as the message itself.

For Lebron James, his management and the wider sporting world it was a lesson in the delivery of a message. It was a mistake of enormous proportions at the time and an unbelievable miscalculation of public sentiment and understanding. Of a greater concern is the fact that James has a bevy of advisors who either gave bad advice or were ignored.

Make no mistake, Lebron James is a brilliant advocate for social awareness, development and philanthropy. The Lebron James Family Foundation  has generated and provided millions of dollars towards education programs putting hundreds of young adults through a university education and providing hope in many communities. And whilst this should be the legacy he will be known for it is his sporting achievements and legacies that the wider community will be aware of. But his contract is coming to an end and he wants to win more than his three NBA Championship titles. His next move is being widely debated across the world. Will he depart his hometown team once more, or will he build on the hometown hero persona? It will be great drama to watch!

In Australia the market for sports stars is generally far shallower than that of many stars from more populous countries, therefore the career choices need to be very carefully navigated. Take Tim Cahill, one of the great Socceroos of any era, and his football journey. Cahill first came to prominence playing in the 2004 FA Cup Final against the might of Manchester United for the much smaller Millwall FC a then struggling First Division team. He then became a star at Everton playing 278 games in his first stint scoring 68 goals.

Tim Cahill is the all time leading scorer for the Socceroos with 50 goals and three FIFA World Cup appearances thus far. His standing as a Socceroo will stand the test of time and when his career does end it will be these efforts that he may well be best known for. Why? The standing and respect of performances of international performances for one. Secondly his club career, like may before him, may be diluted by the amount of clubs that he has ended up playing for. Thus far Cahill has played for Millwall FC, Everton FC, New York Red Bulls, Shanghai Shenhua, Hangzhou Greenland, Melbourne City and has currently returned to Everton FC in the hopes of returning to the World Cup for the fourth time. A great player no doubt and he will be forever in the hearts of Millwall and Everton Fans, but not as a one club player.

The choice of being a one club player and club legend for any sportsperson is becoming less of a reality. In many cases the player has far less say in their career path than ever before. Most sports have tight salary caps, which include marquee and guaranteed salary provisions at set points of their playing careers.  Along with the greater provision of drafts in a number of sports the turnover of players is becoming more and more the norm. Where some sports, such as the world game of football, have transfer fees; a team, player and their agent can profit from more than one move throughout the player's career.

In sports such as the AFL where there is no transfer fee a player moving, the player movement is for more opportunity, more money or by the team choosing to swap players or draft picks. High profile player movements or even the rumour of a move are speculated on by the media and football community for months at a time. Some of the moves result in the player being a legend at more than one club. Tony Lockett and Lance Franklin being recent successful examples but it is more often than not a successful transition. The player and their agent must carefully consider how they will be remembered and how that will be received as it will effect financial opportunities in future years. The fans still talk of player loyalty but it must be balanced out with the realities of the modern sporting landscape.

As fans we talk about player loyalty, but due to the huge finances involved in most major sports the sportspeople themselves are commodities of the club. The club's decisions to trade, draft and move on players is often beyond the player's control. Clubs are highly hypocritical when they use the 'loyalty card' during contract negotiations. This is often a ploy to garner fan support and put pressure upon the player to stay at the club. The other part of this tactic is to show the supporters that the club is doing 'everything that it can' to keep the player, even if they know they may not be able to. Likewise player agents also espouse loyalty which they use as a leverage point in stalled or difficult negotiations.

We, as fans of our sports, are the most loyal parties in the process. Not many of us will change teams of beloved sports in our lifetime. But before we chop up, burn or throw out our jerseys adorned with a player's number and name let us remember that their careers are finite and often not as long as they would have wanted.

Be loyal, be kind.