French Author, Philosopher, and Journalist, Albert Camus, once said, “A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world" (decision making solutions, 2017). As the leader of a sports franchise, making sound ethical decisions are the most integral and challenging part of the job. An ethical dilemma is a practical conflict involving more or less equally compelling values or social obligations (Masteralexis, Barr and Hums, 2105). Not new to the National Basketball Association (NBA), but now more prevalent than ever, is the ethical dilemma of resting “superstar” players throughout the regular season. Similarity, the ethical dilemma that arises when a player wants to return to action but is prevented from returning by team doctors. The …show more content…
The NBA has faced controversy and harsh criticism for how teams, namely general managers and coaches, have chosen to rest their marquee player(s). Both the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers decided to rest their marquee players during nationally televised match-ups, which prompted NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, to issue a memo to NBA team owners criticizing the practice. Silver’s memo stated the following: 1.States that the practice of resting star players is “an extremely significant issue” for the league, 2) States that the issue of when to rest players will be discussed at the next Board of Governors meeting on April 6 in New York. 3) Asks team owners to get involved in decisions about when to rest players because other members of organizations may not have the correct awareness of the impact those decisions have on “fans and business partners,” the reputation of the league and “perception of our game.”, 4) Warns owners that teams could face “significant penalties” for not obeying the league’s existing rules about reporting player unavailability (Last word staff, …show more content…
Miami Heat power forward, Chris Bosh, suffered a recurrence of the blood clotting that had abruptly ended each of his last two seasons (Aldridge, 2016). Other have shared Bosh’s diagnoses, namely, iconic tennis star, Serena Williams, who has come back from multiple embolisms in her lungs to win nine more major titles and tie Steffi Graf for the most major wins in the Open era, 22 -- including this past year's Wimbledon championship (Aldridge, 2016). Through the lens of a change leader, who is benefiting and who is being hurt from the decision? Here again, the ethical dilemma is the welfare of the athlete versus the organization. Physiotherapy doctor, Theresa Burgess, had this to say, “one of the main ethical issues that have been identified by healthcare professionals working with athletes and sports teams is the tension between the long-term welfare of an athlete and premature demands to return an athlete to sport” (Aldridge, 2016). With marquee players making absorbent amounts of money, it is not surprising to see them want to play and live up to the lofty expectations. These situations have become more common placed and calls for the sports leader to do what is best for the athlete and organization, even if it means the fans miss the opportunity to see the marquee play