Un-Tradeable NBA Players

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Bianca Andreescu, Canadian tennis star, has a Toronto Raptors jersey.

NBA stars have some loose change because they get paid. Maybe the millions are compensation for confinement. Confinement, because their lives are governed by rules and regulations, including being traded.

Contracts start small, small, I guess and get bigger as players improve. Sports agents like Rich Paul use the improved stats, when it’s time to negotiate how their clients are moved from team to team.

Winning a championship also doesn’t hurt. Some rookie players find themselves in the right place at the right time, like being traded to a club that wins a championship, after more than 24 years in the wilderness.  

Players are still human beings although they are in the NBA confinement. They have good points and flaws. From time to time, some players pick that confinement with an nail file to assert their individuality. The self importance can grow to the size of a pothole.

Championship rings are one factor. Some players don’t care about winning anymore. Been there done that, is the attitude. Another factor is fan adoration which leads them to rewrite city zip codes by declaring: I am Toronto, Milwaukee, Houston, L.A., Chicago etc.

All these factors make it difficult for sports agencies to find the right fit for certain superstars. How do they trade a player who is so big, he is his own brand and does not want to work within the confinement?

He becomes un-tradeable. He’s a liability.  No team wants him, despite his prowess on the floor.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

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