We talked one day on whether or not athletes should have to take a stand on political issues. The two athletes that we talked about was Micheal Jordan and LeBron James. Most people thought that the should not have to be involved in political issues. At first, I thought that athletes should express there opinions on issues, but the more I think about it I do not know if should have to or not.
The reason I say that they should is because they know when they become a professional athlete they should know what comes with it. When LeBron was drafted he knew that he was going to be more than just a player for the Cleveland Cavaliers. I just think that you know you are going to be asked the questions, you might as well give your opinion. Athletes are looked up to by a lot of people. I am not saying that they should agree with the issues that people want them to support. This is the way our society is people look up to the athletes and it might help more people understand an issue if someone like that said something. I think LeBron did a good thing when asked about an issue, he said he did not know anything about it and that he would look at more information about the topic.
The reason that I think that they should not respond to the issues is because that is not their job. All the athletes want to do is go out there and play their sport. I know it has to be hard to have to deal with questions like that. It takes away from an athletes accomplishments in their sports when they do not respect the media. Micheal Jordan was a very dominate athlete but after not taking a stand on an issue he was criticized by the media.
Its hard to say whether they should respond to issues not dealing with sports. I do not know what it is like to have to deal with that so I really do not have an opinion. I think the hardest part for LeBron and Micheal is that they are also trying to sell products. If they say something that someone does not agree with they might have people that will not buy there product. I do not believe that people should stop buying a product because of a person point of view.
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Casey,
ReplyDeleteI agree that none of us are high profile athletes and we do not know what it is like to have an agent or coach who may be making our decisions for us. It is more than likely harder said than done to deal with politics in the media.
I agree that it was good for Lebron to say that he needed to gather more information on the topic before he would speak out. And I can see where some athletes ought not to speak on topics about which they are not knowledgeable. Maybe the response to Michael Jordan's HOF Induction speech gives an indication of how people might have responded to his speaking out about more political issues.
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