Loyalty and sports

Is loyalty a virtue in the modern sports environment, or is it simply an illusion to which we cling until the business considerations kick-in, sending athletes to the highest bidder?

The question has become acute for tortured Cleveland basketball fans who worry that hometown star and NBA wunderkind Lebron James will join a new team this Thursday during a nationally-televised broadcast tomorrow.

Those who say that loyalty should not figure in ethical thinking at all are clearly wrong.  Families, communities, and even nations expect some measure of personal sacrifice in the name of loyalty from time to time.

But loyalty also has its limits.  And appropriate self-interest is also an acceptable, if not laudable, quality.

So, will Lebron be in the wrong if he travels to greener pastures?

-Sam

Image used under a Creative Commons attribution license from flickr user Keith Allison.

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  5. An uncertain climate

July 7, 2010 · Filed Under Sam

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  • Editors

    Jacob Bronsther is a law student at NYU. He has an MPhil in Political Theory from Oxford.

  • Sam Gill is a consultant in DC. He studied Political Theory at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.

  • Marc Grinberg is a Presidential Management Fellow. He studied Political Theory at Oxford.

  • John Rood is founder of Next Step Test Prep. He has an AM in Political Theory from Chicago.

  • Luke Freedman is studying Philosophy and Political Science at Carleton College.


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