This article will be a little different from most of my posts. I usually like to use statistics and facts to flesh out posts, to support my point. This article will be almost the opposite.
In the wake of the Zion Williamson injury, the biggest debate was not if Zion would physically be able to play again, it was should Zion play at all to preserve his draft stock. This is just a continuing of a trend we have seen as the years have gone by, really starting with college football. The most notable examples being Christian McCaffrey and Leonard Fournette in 2017, both top 10 draft picks who sat out their respective bowl games. Ever since then, the number of players sitting out bowl games is only increasing. Once the draft stock is secured, there is less and less incentive to play games, and there is more and more risk to doing so. Zion will go number 1, or at worst number 2 if he doesn't play a single minute more. Logically, he has nothing to gain by returning, but everything to lose if he suffers a career ending injury. But when did everything become about the money in sports? When did we stop playing for the love of the game? What happened to playing because you love basketball, you love competing, and you love your team and teammates? What happened to playing because you love the fans and the atmosphere? To quote one of my favorite manga, "what you can put on a future resume, heck even winning future games, none of that matters. Proving your better than the opponent in front of you and feeling yourself playing at 120% of you full abilities, that's what it's about." Anyone who plays sports for long enough has that feeling, of simply getting swept up in the joy of competing, of expressing yourself and your growth through the game. It's a rush. And it's one that is becoming more and more absent. It won't be long now before we see people sitting out whole seasons to not hurt their draft stock. Does Tua Tagovailoa have anything to gain from playing this year? Will Trevor Lawrence have anything to play for the year after that? Sports, even college sports, once the epitome of passion, is becoming all about the money, and it makes me sad.
The intense optimization of sports is making them trend down a scary path. The focus on always doing the smart thing, always doing the analytical thing is all the rage now, and it's taking the human element out of the sport, and that isn't for the better. Baseball, the foremost sport at the statistical revolution, has become more boring than ever in the "Three True Outcomes" era. What this is for the confused people is that hitting has, in my opinion, devolved to batters only going for home runs, the statistically best option. The three outcomes being a walk, strikeout and home-run, the only things that essentially only involve the hitter and pitcher. A batter that hits one homerun and strikes out three times in 4 AB's is basically of the same worth as a player that hits 4 singles in the same. Possibly more, as that one home-run guarantees a run, where 4 singles do not. To me, this total focus on the long ball is boring. And many agree. The NBA is in the midst of their own revolution, and it can be seen in the total difference in today's game to one just fifteen years ago. Take a look at this shot chart. The optimization of the NBA has led to the total death of the mid range game, the only shots worth taking are layups/dunks, three pointers and free throws. Look no further than James Harden. While you have to be somewhat impressed with the scoring he is doing, the way he does it is beyond boring, chucking 13.6 3 pointers per game this season to go along with 11.5 free throws per game.
Even the NFL is getting in on this. Because of it's nature as a stop and start game, decision making can go down to a science. At each down and distance, statistics can tell you exactly what to do in every situation. So what do we need coaches for? I don't hate analytics, far from it. Statistics fascinate me, and I love having them. But at times, this emphasis on logic and analytics over everything really hampers the game. We lose out on so much because of it, and as we go ever deeper into this, sports may take a shape we don't like. The value of money over the game, of playing simply because you like to is becoming a lost art, and that saddens me greatly. No one wants to put it on the line for their teammates anymore. No one wants to play just because it's fun to go out and compete. And it really is impossible to blame them, when an injury can cost them literally millions of dollars. As we strip away emotion from the game we are left with the cold hard numbers. It's not a future I look forward to.
Well said, Mr. Barkley.