The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

HAS THE game changed before our eyes?

Some would say no, others would contend that it has. I would suggest that our concept of basketball and how it drives the lives of athletes remains the only variable.

We want our teams to get the starts, we want our teams to win, we want to have the opportunity to call the team we cheer for on a night-to-night basis the greatest team performing - as fan, that is exactly what we hope and pray for.

However, away from the dunks and clutch jumpers we forget that basketball players are in fact people - they have emotions, personalities, wants and needs just as you and I do.

I agree that their drive into the office is starkly different from many of ours. Obviously their day-to-day circumstances are things you and I can only dream about.

But, at the end of the day, these ‘gods that soar’, once they step away from the courts stand as mere mortals - just someone’s son, husband, brother, father, uncle or friend.

There is a need to separate the performer from the person.

My joy at watching LeBron James drive to a rim and finish over the top of an entire opposing team should not trump the joy he feels for playing alongside his friends - the men he considers to be his brothers.

Before you go on a rant about how superstars shouldn’t be allowed to form these all-world teams and how that is bad for the league, think about the strings you would pull to work in an environment where your boss, co-workers and support staff are all dedicated to achieving the same goal. Think about what you would do to have a shot at that sort of synergy in your life.

Sport has advanced beyond an activity being done to best an opponent. The moment we started to view sports through the prism of business - a means to make profit - honour and dignity took a back seat to comfort and financial gain for those participating. These guys literally put their bodies on the line on a night-to-night basis, they deserve to be happy.

As a Laker fan my expectations are that any player that puts on that purple and gold remains loyal to that logo.

The reality is, that logo isn’t even loyal to me. I am just a fan. Yes, I love my team, but my love doesn’t mandate what they do to put a product out on the court. My love will never force my beloved Lakers to keep a player that I want if it hurts their idea of what is best for the team.

I learned that the hard way in 2005 when the Lakers traded away ‘Shaq’.

The logo wasn’t loyal to him. Loyalty is a strange thing in sports. As fans we demand something of these players that we aren’t prepared to offer.

Kevin Durant leaving the Thunder doesn’t signal a lack of loyalty; he will always be connected to that city because of everything they went through together. It is ridiculous to confuse his loyalty and love for the people of Oklahoma City with his loyalty and love for the Thunder organisation.

Are you willing to take a pay cut for your job? What if the company you worked for was failing and closure was imminent, would you say to yourself ‘I am going down with the ship?’

Sport has corrupted our minds into believing that what we see is all there is. The lives of these men and woman that compete for our enjoyment is what matters. Love your teams, cheer for your favourite players but ask not of them something that you would never consider.

Money matters to them as much as it does to you. Happiness matters to them as much as it does to you. Life matters to them just as much as it does to you.

• Ricardo Wells writes on Thursdays on the NBA during the season. Comments to rwells@tribunemedia.net