In recent days, there had been talks that basketball giant and rap extraordinary, Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal, was going to be traded by the Miami Heat, for, surely, several henchmen from one of the 29 other NBA teams.
Trades like this happen all the time in professional sports. A star, of varying shimmer, is traded to another team for one or any number of individuals who together have a perceived value, for that particular team, equal to that of the star. In some cases, and typically with lackluster talent, teams will trade a player for a draft pick in an upcoming draft.
This seems like it would hurt the players feelings a bit. In essence, the team would rather try its luck in the draft, than have the traded player on their team. Which is the team basically saying “we don’t know who it will be, but anyone would be better than you”. A bit insulting, yes; poor business, not as much.
And all of this happens without much consideration to the player. They can voice their opinion, but in a legal sense, they are property of the team, able to be wheel-ed and deal-ed as the team pleases.
This thought had myself and some coworkers thinking, what if everyday, “normal” jobs and employees were treated like athletes, free to be traded back and forth between companies like baseball or Magic: The Gathering cards, or worse yet, pogs.
To some extent this might make sense. If a company has a number of, and I am going to use my company’s titles since that is what I know, Project Managers and wants a quality Art Director, it might seem fit for them to trade a couple PMs for an AD from an opposing company.
Or, in a more grievous situation, say the company is low on office supplies, one project coordinator might go a long way in securing a nice new box of 8.5” x 11” paper.
Seems a little unfair and a little atrocious.
We don’t have any issues when our favorite athletes are traded, often times we embrace it, we don’t seem concerned with their feelings. If it happened to us, though, I don’t think we would be as skipper.