When LeBron James made “The Decision,” there was an accurate sense that something had changed. Superteams had been around for years—the NBA had just seen a Big Three, even, with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce and Ray Allen winning a title in Boston two summers prior—and players had long had a role in constructing them. Here, though, was something new. Here was something that, at least appearance-wise, was fully player-driven.
Right now, class clown Kevin Durant is playing games with the Brooklyn Nets, trying to force a trade out of a superteam he designed himself, or at least agreed with Kyrie Irving to help build. Durant hand-picked his ideal team, and when the front office didn’t cater to his every whim, he decided he wanted out. Will it work? It’s unclear. Recent reports suggest he’s trying to thoroughly sabotage Brooklyn as a franchise to lower their leverage and make them more willing to trade him on the cheap.
There’s an ugly trope where athletes get criticized for trying to choose where they play. In most professions, employers and employees have to agree on an employment arrangement, and—and this is important—employees can go do similar work elsewhere if no agreement is reached. In American professional sports, state-supported monopolies like MLB and the NFL and the NHL and the NBA give athletes effectively one option on where to do their job, and then through the draft determine with little athlete input where and for whom they will live and work. The caricature of the ungrateful athlete who wants a little more say in their career is a double standard, and it’s often flavored with racism.
This is not what’s going on with Kevin Durant. It’s not even why people were mad about The Decision. With The Decision, the anger was with James for talking out of both sides of his mouth vis-à-vis his dedication to his hometown and, more broadly, for taking the societal instructions of “win a championship and we’ll take you seriously” as license to try to find the easiest way possible to win a championship (this, and the ethos behind it, which has remained long after the talents left South Beach, is a large part of why many still don’t take James seriously). With Durant, it’s even worse. This man signed a contract, and nowhere in that contract did it state that he would be the team’s general manager. Upon learning that the actual front office is not full of his puppets, he now wants out. That’s not what the contract—the literal one and the figurative one—said he could do.
It’s a great turn for the NBA, whose emperors wear no clothes. The Association’s commitment to positive relations with its players is admirable. It is even just. But it has its limits. This isn’t “shut up and dribble.” It’s “let other people do their jobs.”
Anyway, The Decision and this Durant saga feel like the inflection points on the arc of player empowerment. The last two titles were won by collections of homegrown talent who persuaded their stars to continue to play for them. The Nets got swept by the superstar-less Celtics in the first round. LeBron James’s Lakers are in a pickle because they can’t get rid of Russell Westbrook. And hopefully, what this means is that while the commitment to player empowerment will remain (that’s thankfully an unlikely thing to see backslide), it’ll be more within reason now. Free agents (or free agent-adjacent, in the case of Durant) contracts will, hopefully, be expected to be honored. Players will be asked to be players, and front offices will be allowed to do their job. Where that doesn’t happen? Teams will continue to lose. Because just as Brad Stevens would be a terrible choice to play shooting guard, Kevin Durant is a bad choice to run the Nets’ front office.
Are the Cubs Hot?
Another good win for the Cubs last night, their fifth in their last seven games. Day off today as they travel from Dyersville to Cincinnati for the conclusion of the series, but they have a good chance to win their third straight three-game set, which might not be hugely valuable to the future (I don’t know if players at this level really need to “learn how to win,”) but absolutely cannot hurt.
The Field of Dreams Game was about as romantic as I hoped it would be, which is to say that I wasn’t blown away like last year, but how could they possibly have blown me away like they did last year? My impression is that this was an experience shared by others, but I could be wrong. I do think, and we mentioned this a little yesterday, that the aspect where the game was meaningless to the season at large may have actually added to the experience. It was stakes-less baseball, and while that idea can go too far, one of the beauties of baseball is how much it can matter even when played as pure competitive exhibition. It’s like the sandlot.
Elsewhere around the league:
- Max Fried has a concussion, and it doesn’t sound severe, but, well, I don’t get the impression we know concussions through and through yet, scientifically. In the most cynical wins-and-losses sense, it’s pretty common for guys to come back quickly and perform just fine, but we’ve seen a lot of instances in recent years of concussions lingering, and we’ve probably seen this forever and just not had it named. In the meantime, a tough hit for an already-struggling Atlanta rotation, and a scary thing for Fried personally.
- The Mariners will get Julio Rodríguez back from the IL today, with Jarred Kelenic headed back to Tacoma to make roster space. Big deal for the Mariners, and also for the AL Rookie of the Year race.
- It’s unclear if Kyle Schwarber will hit the IL, but he’s got a calf injury. The Phillies lost to the Marlins yesterday, but still enter this weekend’s set with the Mets having won seven of eight and having thoroughly established themselves on the right side of playoff likelihood in the NL. They can always fall off, and Schwarber’s injury would increase that probability, but they look like a playoff team, and that’s a big deal.
- The Guardians beat the Tigers in a frantic finish, the White Sox lost to the Royals again, and the Twins were idle. This leaves Cleveland a game and a half clear in the Central heading into a weekend set in Toronto. Not decisive, but every game at this stage matters quite a bit. The pennant race is on.
- On that same note, the Cardinals losing in Colorado leaves them only half a game ahead of the Brewers as those teams prepare for three this weekend in St. Louis. If you believe how hot or cold a team is matters in August and September (I’m curious, but haven’t dug into data), this marks the Cardinals’ second loss to a bad team in three games after sweeping the Cubs and Yankees last week.
- The Red Sox beat the Orioles, pulling Baltimore back out of playoff position, half a game behind the Rays. That’s one the O’s really would have liked to have, and while Boston might be waterboarding itself right now, a breath is still a breath.
Does the Packers’ Preseason Game Matter?
No. I mean, probably, to people who know more than me. It sounds like Matt LaFleur’s playing a young lineup, led by Jordan Love, so there’s probably interest there, but it’s just such a small sample size. If you absolutely love watching football, or if you fancy yourself an evaluator of talent, of course, go watch it, have your fun. We just don’t have much to say beyond acknowledging that it’s happening.
Is Martin Truex Jr. a Lock at Richmond?
Toyotas have been great on short tracks this year, short tracks have been hard places to pass this year, and Martin Truex Jr. is in desperate need of a win to make NASCAR’s playoffs. It’s still very unlikely he’ll finish in first place, though. It’s just so hard to win in NASCAR. Takes a lot of luck, making it something of a numbers game. Although: The short-track-difficulty-passing thing does take some of the luck out of the equation. Less chaos when everyone’s staying in line.
No F1 or IndyCar this weekend, but we’ll have a bet for this on Sunday.
**
Viewing schedule for the weekend, including every game of consequence for our growing soccer futures portfolios (second screen rotation in italics):
Friday
- 3:00 PM EDT: Burnley @ Watford (ESPN+)
- 7:10 PM EDT: Philadelphia @ New York (NL), Suárez vs. Scherzer (Apple TV+)
- 6:40 PM EDT: Atlanta @ Miami, Odorizzi vs. López (MLB TV)
- 7:05 PM EDT: San Diego @ Washington, Clevinger vs. Abbott (Apple TV+)
- 7:07 PM EDT: Cleveland @ Toronto, Quantrill vs. Berríos (MLB TV)
- 7:10 PM EDT: Baltimore @ Tampa Bay, Voth vs. Kluber (MLB TV)
- 7:10 PM EDT: Detroit @ Chicago (AL), Norris vs. Kopech (MLB TV)
- 7:10 PM EDT: New York (AL) @ Boston, Germán vs. Eovaldi (MLB TV)
- 8:05 PM EDT: Seattle @ Texas, Kirby vs. Sborz (MLB TV)
- 8:10 PM EDT: Los Angeles @ Kansas City, Gonsolin vs. Lynch (MLB TV)
- 8:10 PM EDT: Oakland @ Houston, Oller vs. Garcia (MLB TV)
- 8:15 PM EDT: Milwaukee @ St. Louis, Lauer vs. Montgomery (MLB TV/ESPN+)
- 8:30 PM EDT: Packers @ 49ers (NFL Network)
- 9:38 PM EDT: Minnesota @ Anaheim, Mahle vs. Sandoval (MLB TV)
- 10:15 PM EDT: Pittsburgh @ San Francisco, Wilson vs. Rodón (MLB TV)
Saturday
- 10:00 AM EDT: Swansea @ Blackpool (??)
- 3:07 PM EDT: Cleveland @ Toronto, McKenzie vs. White (MLB TV/ESPN+)
- 6:40 PM EDT: Cubs @ Cincinnati, Sampson vs. Ashcraft (MLB TV)
- 12:30 PM EDT: Manchester United @ Brentford (NBC)
- 1:10 PM EDT: Atlanta @ Miami – Game 1, Anderson vs. Luzardo (MLB TV)
- 4:10 PM EDT: Baltimore @ Tampa Bay, Watkins vs. McClanahan (MLB TV)
- 7:05 PM EDT: San Diego @ Washington, Darvish vs. Sánchez (MLB TV)
- 7:10 PM EDT: Atlanta @ Miami – Game 2, Strider vs. TBD (MLB TV)
- 7:10 PM EDT: Detroit @ Chicago (AL), Manning vs. Giolito (MLB TV)
- 7:10 PM EDT: Los Angeles @ Kansas City, Heaney vs. Keller (MLB TV)
- 7:10 PM EDT: Oakland @ Houston, TBD vs. McCullers (MLB TV)
- 7:10 PM EDT: Philadelphia @ New York (NL), Nola vs. deGrom (MLB TV)
- 7:15 PM EDT: New York (AL) @ Boston, Montas vs. Crawford (FOX)
- 7:15 PM EDT: Seattle @ Texas, Gonzales vs. Dunning (MLB TV)
- 9:05 PM EDT: Pittsburgh @ San Francisco, TBD vs. Webb (MLB TV)
- 9:07 PM EDT: Minnesota @ Anaheim, Bundy vs. Detmers (MLB TV)
Sunday
- 9:00 AM EDT: Sheffield United @ Middlesbrough (??)
- 1:40 PM EDT: Cubs @ Cincinnati, Thompson vs. Dunn (MLB TV)
- 7:00 PM EDT: New York (AL) @ Boston, Taillon vs. Wacha (ESPN)
- 12:05 PM EDT: San Diego @ Washington, Snell vs. Espino (Peacock)
- 1:37 PM EDT: Cleveland @ Toronto, Bieber vs. Gausman (MLB TV)
- 1:40 PM EDT: Atlanta @ Miami, Morton vs. Garrett (MLB TV)
- 1:40 PM EDT: Baltimore @ Tampa Bay, Lyles vs. Rasmussen (MLB TV)
- 1:40 PM EDT: Philadelphia @ New York (NL), Wheeler vs. Bassitt (MLB TV)
- 2:10 PM EDT: Detroit @ Chicago (AL), Alexander vs. Lynn (MLB TV)
- 2:10 PM EDT: Los Angeles @ Kansas City, Anderson vs. Singer (MLB TV)
- 2:10 PM EDT: Oakland @ Houston, Irvin vs. Javier (MLB TV)
- 2:15 PM EDT: Milwaukee @ St. Louis, Ashby vs. Mikolas (MLB TV/ESPN+)
- 3:35 PM EDT: Seattle @ Texas, Gilbert vs. Pérez (MLB TV)
- 3:00 PM EDT: Federated Auto Parts 400 – NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond (USA)
- 4:05 PM EDT: Pittsburgh @ San Francisco, Thompson vs. Wood (MLB TV)
- 4:07 PM EDT: Minnesota @ Anaheim, Archer vs. Davidson (MLB TV)
