Accusing athletes of cheating has been a staple of sports since the dawn of competition (I can only imagine the harsh words uttered at Mount Olympus in bygone days).The onus on athletes in the steroid era of sports has been especially damning, as their guilt for even the most erroneous charges is presumed. But what about the people in the front office?
In the midst of this Brett Favre-Matt Millen situation everyone has forgotten all about the all-collusion NBA Finals between the Celtics and Lakers which went virtually unreported. The fact is both teams benefitted from lopsided trades made by executives with deep ties to their original franchises. Kevin McHale sent Kevin Garnett to Boston, the site of his Hall of Fame career, for virtually nothing. Jerry West, in a “consultant” role, engineered the Pau Gasol trade which gift-wrapped the Western Conference championship for LA by sending them exactly what they needed to compliment Kobe: a young big man in his prime. So why did West and McHale get a free pass for unethical behavior while athletes like Favre, albeit justifiably, get raked over the coals for similar actions? Is it more justifiable for executives to dabble in the ethical grey areas we prefer our athletes to avoid? Isn’t this exactly the kind of behavior that has led to our current economic predicament?