When it comes to dealing with a star player, there’s no doubt talent is the first thing front offices look at in trying to determine whether or not to sign a long-term commitment. Coming through high school and college, being the biggest, fastest and/or strongest was enough to get by. In the NFL and NBA, those advantages are gone, because it’s truly the best of the best, and everyone has talent at that level. This means there has to be another factor that separates the great from the good, and if we’re talking about a franchise quarterback in the NFL, or elite player in the NBA, management is expecting them to be a leader and elevate the team around them. Therefore, many teams get blinded by someone’s talent, and find out the hard way they aren’t what they thought they were. Here are a few cases where leadership is lacking, and talent isn’t enough to overcome the headaches and heartbreak that come with it.
As the NFL prepares to start their season in a couple of weeks, there might not be a team with more question marks than the Arizona Cardinals. The offseason for the Cardinals was, to say the least, noisy. Their quarterback, Kyler Murray, went into brat mode and scrubbed his social media accounts of anything associated with the team, setting the stage for a contract dispute. Eventually, the sides got a deal done, but there were stipulations (which were later taken out) that basically said Murray needs to show more leadership and stop acting immature. On the field, it’s true Arizona has shown improvement each year he’s been the starter, but when things go bad, Murray has shown a tendency to quit on his team and throw teammates under the bus. Now the Cardinals are stuck with him for a while, which really says a lot about the league’s quarterback market (way overrated in my humble opinion). It’s time for Murray to grow up, because talent can only be hidden behind for so long.
In the NBA, the obvious example to look at for a lack of leadership is the Brooklyn Nets. During the summer of 2019, the Nets decided to make a splash in free agency by signing forward Kevin Durant and guard Kyrie Irving to huge contracts. Prior to these deals, Brooklyn had a team with a number of good young players, but they decided to mortgage the future for an attempt to win right now. Fast forward to current times, and it’s been nothing but disaster, mainly because Durant and Irving have been either injured, or malcontents, the whole time they’ve been there. The two stars have all-world talent, but if a team is counting on them to lead to the promised land, that’s going to be a long wait. The only times ultimate success occurred for these players are when they were supporting actors. It’s understood Durant was a two-time NBA Finals MVP during his days with the Golden State Warriors, but most know there wasn’t much he had to change in joining a championship-ready team. Irving hasn’t done a whole lot if he doesn’t have a certain king he’s playing with. Bottom line, it’s different when a player has to be the one to lead, and up to this point, Durant and Irving have proven they don’t have that leadership gene. When things get tough, they want to run and make excuses, and lash out at the media (because it’s always the media’s fault of course). Unless things drastically change, the Nets will continue to find out their investment in talent is going to fall flat.
Back in the NFL, let’s take a trip to Wisconsin, where Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers continues to be productive, and a pain in the a**, at the same time. There’s no denying the immense talent Rodgers has, and in my estimation, he might be the most talented player ever to play that position. He has won the regular season MVP award four times, and has a Super Bowl MVP along with it from the 2010 season. Notice there’s a lot mentioned about individual accolades. That’s because team success has been hard to come by. In the last two seasons, the Packers have managed to be the best team in the NFC, which gives them home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Even with that, the team failed to get to the Super Bowl, and it’s because the perennial MVP candidate came up small in the biggest moments. Coming into this season, Rodgers has already criticized the young group of receivers for a lack of production in training camp. I’m not one to talk much about contracts, but Rodgers is the highest paid QB in the history of the league (in terms of annual value). He’s getting that money because the Packers believe he can uplift the team to another Super Bowl title. At the moments of truth, he has failed, and for the amount of drama he has caused, it’s starting not to be worth it. If a player wants all the money, more is going to be on his or her shoulders. When leadership is needed the most, buckling isn’t an option. Someone forgot to tell Rodgers this.
All be told, most teams are willing to get through all of the mess and drama a great player can come with because the talent is so immense. Presidents and general managers everywhere are afraid to pass on them because they don’t want to be known as the person who lets that talent get away. Leadership is hard to evaluate because a player has to be put in that position in order for that to be shown or not shown. The players mentioned above have been anything but leaders, and there’s more than enough evidence to show things won’t be any different moving forward. It’s hot in the kitchen, and these players, along with many others, have displayed they can’t handle the heat. Don’t worry…the media will be ready for the attacks when the frustrations of these players boil over again.
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