Opinion |

Institution of sports mirrors societal flaws

As an institution, sports are a microcosm of society — imperfect and even flawed. But lately, sports have gotten downright ugly.

In an interview last month, tennis star Sloane Stephens told Reuters she’s dealt with racism for her whole career — but that it’s getting worse. Stephens, who is Black, cited online attackers, saying, “When there are FBI investigations going on with what people are saying to you, it’s very serious.”

Stephens isn’t alone, nor is tennis. Professional athletes in all sports — and around the globe — are regularly confronted with racist comments and behavior.

Real Madrid (Spain) soccer player Vinícius Júnior, a Black Brazilian, has been derided since joining the team five years ago. According to Associated Press writer Tales Azzoni, the racial insults keep coming, including “monkey” chants outside a stadium, offensive gestures and taunts, and an effigy hung off a highway bridge in Madrid.

Recently, Vinícius was on the receiving end of racist chants at a match against Valencia CF. The team has banned one of the offenders for life and is looking to identify others. Real Madrid asked local authorities to get involved, saying they considered the incident to be a hate crime.

If only soccer in real life was like soccer as seen in the series “Ted Lasso.” AFC Richmond, Lasso’s team, was multicolored and multicultural — and adored by fans, at least when they were winning.

And winning, it seems, is key. As reported by theconversation.com, research has shown that when visibly diverse teams lose, exclusionary and racist undercurrents rise to the surface. Nationalism prevails and players of color don’t belong. It wasn’t “my” team, or “my” people that failed, it was this interloper.

Rejection strengthens a sense of superiority.

In professional basketball, losing has different consequences. The NBA has unofficially adopted a zero-tolerance policy for losing coaches — even if they were winners in seasons past.

This year, Mike Budenholzer, Monty Williams and Nick Nurse were fired after their teams — the Milwaukee Bucks, Phoenix Suns and Toronto Raptors, respectively — were ousted from post-season play.

Each of them had led their team to a recent championship; Budenholzer was named Coach of the Year in 2021 and Williams in 2022.

Most recently, Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers joined the “what have you done for me lately” crowd, after the team was eliminated in the second-round of the playoffs.

Following Rivers’ firing, Joe Vardon of The Athletic linked the “coaching carousel” to teams’ star players.

That’s where the power resides, Vardon said, and organizations are terrified that, if unhappy, they will demand a trade before their contract is up.

Lest you think I’m naïve, I realize these teams have a lot at stake. At the end of the 2022 basketball season, the 30 NBA franchises were collectively worth $90 billion. The Golden State Warriors topped the heap, with a valuation of $7.56 billion.

No doubt the Denver Nuggets, which just won their first-ever NBA championship, will improve upon their position as the 21st most valuable team.

The companion to the “winning at all costs” norm is greed.

It’s on full display in professional golf, where the PGA Tour and breakaway LIV Golf League — which have been embroiled in a legal and public relations battle for more than a year — agreed on June 6 to merge, along with DP World Tour (a Europe-based league). Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will become a major tour sponsor.

While the financial details are still unknown, the merger has aroused the ire of golf insiders and observers alike. Last week, the Senate opened an inquiry into the deal.

Yet, for all the flaws in sports today, two-thirds of Americans describe themselves as fans. We continue to pack stadiums, buy team merchandise, and (on average) watch more than four hours of sports on television each week. We encourage our kids to participate in sports, believing in its ability to improve their health and fitness and build life skills, like discipline, teamwork and leadership.

Thankfully, there are still players to admire, like Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo. When asked if he viewed the season as a failure (following the team’s elimination from the playoffs), Antetokounmpo said, “There’s no failure in sports. You know, there’s good days, bad days. Some days you are able to be successful. Some days you are not. Some days it’s your turn, some days it’s not your turn. And that’s what sports is about. You don’t always win.”

It was a perfect response.

Dinkin is president of the National Conflict Resolution Center, a San Diego-based group working to create solutions to challenging issues, including intolerance and incivility. To learn about NCRC’s programming, visit ncrconline.com