Should Professional Athletes be Judged Strictly on Athletic Performance?

Sports have become increasingly popular nowadays and the sports world has expanded over the last few decades. No matter who you are, sports fan or not, I am sure the sports world does have some impact on you. Professional sports are now a big means of entertainment for many people, but for the very few fortunate athletes who get to be professional athletes, playing their particular sport is their job and if they want to keep their job then they need to perform at the highest level possible. When they perform well, they usually receive praise and attention from fans. But the problem with this is that many fans only judge athletes based on their athletic performance and not by their morals or the way in which they conduct themselves on and off of the court/field. With this being said, it brings up a fairly controversial topic, but one that is not often addressed, and that is – should professional athletes be judged for their character and not just their performance?

I am sure you have a favorite athlete who you admire for their physical performance. I have several players that I admire, one of them being Golden State Warriors point guard and reigning two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry. Curry is a phenomenal athlete and he plays his sport successfully and leaves many fans in awe of his ability. Stephen Curry knows that, while basketball is his job and passion, some day his playing days will end because it is just a game. Curry understands the position he is in and the platform he has and he seeks to be not only a good athlete but also a positive role model. With likely several million fans watching him, he is constantly under a microscope, but the media rarely has negative information to report on him because he is one of the most kind, caring, and humble superstars in the sports world. For example, Stephen Curry has been a part of the “Nothing But Nets” campaign which is an organization created to provide mosquito nets to those in need. He gave three life-saving mosquito nets to families in need in Africa for every three-point shot made during the season. Last year alone Curry made 402 three-point shots which equates to over 1200 mosquito nets. There are many other athletes who do similar acts of kindness. For example, New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday donated $1000 for every point and assist he tallied, during a game, toward tornado relief. Holiday ended up donating $31,000. With that being said though there are several players who are rightfully looked up to and judged for their actions on the court/field as well as their off court actions. However at the same time there are also plenty of professionals who use their platform terribly and aside from their athletic performance are usually pretty bad role models.

For all sports, there are likely to be players who are dirty players, poor sports, or maybe even dishonest. Some examples of professional athletes who are very talented at their sport, but not really seen as  “good people” are NBA superstars, and All Stars Demarcus Cousins and Draymond Green. Both of these players are extremely talented, and in a basketball skill and performance standpoint I admire them and respect them for their hard work and amazing ability on the court, but when it comes to their character and sportsmanship, I do not see them as the ideal professional athlete to try and mimic in terms of their character on the court. Demarcus Cousins is definitely one of the best centers in professional basketball but he is notoriously known for the frequent fights he gets into and being the the league leader in technical fouls. Draymond Green is one of the most well rounded and versatile players in the NBA and was a crucial part to the Warrior’s recent success, but his play is often overlooked by his very common dirty plays (kicking opponents) which result in him also receiving a high humber of technical fouls. Sure these are definitely not the only two pro sports players who have character issues; there are many who are similar but these two are very well known. One other common thing that various athletes in different sports do is use Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED’s), which is cheating because it gives them an unfair advantage over their opponents/competition. If these type of athletes are good at what they do in their respected sport should this matter, why should we care?

Personally, I believe both athletic performance and character are equally important for a professional sports athlete. The reason why is because (especially the superstar athletes) so many young fans and children look up to them as role models, but if they continuously perform bad actions then this could be sending a message to fans that character does not matter as long as you can perform. An occasional fluke or mistake is fine as long as they learn from it, but many athletes continue to make these mistakes. There are professional athletes who repeat these behaviors and this reflects on their character as a person. Some of the on court/field actions that players do could be due to their competitive nature, but still there comes a point to draw the line between right and wrong. Now, if a regular non-famous athlete did such things would society still see it as okay? Probably not. So why would professional athletes not only get off the hook but still get praise from fans? I feel like professional athletes should not be treated differently just because they are professionals. They should be complimented for their amazing abilities and achievements, but I think that people should not block out character. Now, players like Demarcus Cousins and Draymond Green are both really good and I like to watch them play but because of their often negative character issues, they are neither among my favorite players. I am not saying that you should hate on players who have character issues; I am just saying I believe character is important in every area of life, not just in sports. After all,  your character is mostly what people judge you on.