How to Stay Classy During a Sports Breakup
Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat have broken up. Someone get the tissue!
While sad, Wade's departure is all too familiar in the sports world. Whether they are via mutual decision, trade or free agency, sometimes sports splits go smoothly, and other times the road is more rocky. Regardless of circumstance, it's nice to see folks taking the high road.
Breakups often happen in stages, and sports are no different. From the initial decision to the inevitable backlash and—hopefully—ultimate forgiveness, sports breakups are hard. Of course, there is generally slightly more media involved, necessitating a specific set of guidelines for sports splits in particular.
Here's how athletes, teams and fans can make it through—from start to finish—with their Ron Burgundy class intact.
Quick tips: Don't renege on a retirement decision, and never burn jerseys.
Making the Decision
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Making the decision to break up with a team or athlete can be tough, but it's important to minimize the mind-changing if possible.
Just look what happened to Brett Favre with the Green Bay Packers. The quarterback announced his retirement in 2008 but later backtracked. A team statement read, per the Associate Press (via ESPN.com), "The finality of his decision to retire was accepted by the organization. At that point, the Green Bay Packers made the commitment to move forward with our football team."
Favre's indecision led to a messy divorce, and he was ultimately traded to the New York Jets.
So, swift and decisive action helps with sports breakups. So does communication.
Dwyane Wade played for the Miami Heat for 13 seasons and won three titles. And yet, Ethan J. Skolnick of the Miami Herald reported Heat president Pat Riley never even called the franchise superstar during his free agency. Seems to be in poor taste, no? Wade ultimately departed for the Chicago Bulls.
Informing the Involved Parties
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If a breakup is going to happen, both parties should be aware, right?
But what's the right way to inform said parties? In person or at least via phone call has got to be ideal.
Derrick Rose said his agent called him to share the news of his trade from the Chicago Bulls to the New York Knicks, per The Cycle. Seems like the very least amount of courtesy he was owed.
What you do not want happening is one party finding out some other way. For instance, the Denver Nuggets traded guard Randy Foye to the Oklahoma City Thunder in February, but according to ESPN's Royce Young, Foye said he found out about the trade via the NBA app.
Similarly, NHL centerman Brooks Laich reportedly learned of his trade from the Washington Capitals to the Toronto Maple Leafs when he caught a glimpse of a notification on his fiance's phone.
Athlete Announcements
3 of 10Teams can initiate breakups via release or trade, but athletes can also control their own fates through free agency.
The No. 1 rule of announcing a free-agency decision: Don't do it on a nationally televised broadcast special, even if the proceeds are going to charity.
LeBron James' decision to "take his talents" to the Miami Heat in 2010 was announced about as poorly as possible. His decision to return to Cleveland four years later was handled much more appropriately, with an eloquent piece in Sports Illustrated.
Former Oklahoma City Thunder star and newly minted Golden State Warrior Kevin Durant chose to announce his long-awaited free-agent decision with a brief post on the Players' Tribune, a respectful choice and also one that allowed Durant to control the message.
Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside announced his free-agent decision to stay in Miami via Snapchat, which wasn't necessarily not classy, and was in fact, at minimum, contemporary and interesting.
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Team Statements
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Speaking of Kevin Durant, the Oklahoma City Thunder handled his decision to leave beautifully.
The following is just one of many kind things OKC general manager Sam Presti had to say to reporters on the topic of Durant's departure, per Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman: "...I do think it's important to be very grateful and thankful, and I'd like to thank Kevin for not only what he did for the team and our organization on the floor but also for what it is that he did for Oklahoma."
In a contrasting example, when the Chicago Bulls fired head coach Tom Thibodeau in 2015, the team released an official statement that was, frankly, disparaging.
Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said, per Chris Mannix of SI.com, "When everyone is on the same page, trust develops and teams can grow and succeed together. Unfortunately, there has been a departure from this culture."
Mannix called it a "classless dismissal."
Regardless of circumstance, a respectful—or if not respectful, at least simple and brief—statement is best.
Breakup Letters
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Newspaper ads and letters are nice ways to show a little class in the midst of a breakup. Many players have gone this route when departing a city they've grown accustomed to.
Recently, former Atlanta Hawks big man Al Horford signed a four-year, $113 million free-agent deal to play for the Boston Celtics. Horford took out a full-page ad in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to express his gratitude to the Atlanta fans and the Hawks for drafting him in 2007.
And it's not just athletes. Pat Riley might not have called Dwyane Wade during free-agent negotiations, but the Miami Heat did place a full-page ad in three area newspapers thanking the longtime guard.
For his part, Wade wrote a letter to Heat fans that was published by the Associated Press. He thanked "#HEATNATION" and wrote, "I am deeply moved and appreciative of the positive messages from my fans expressing that they want what's best for me and I know they will support my decision."
Comments to the Media
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Even if the circumstances of a breakup were less than ideal, speaking ill of a former team or player is just not a good look.
Indeed, it was shocking when former Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly chose to ship All-Pro running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills in 2015.
McCoy later alleged several unflattering things about the coach—Kelly doesn't like stars, for instance, and he purposely parted ways with talented black players, per Darin Gantt of NBC Sports.
McCoy also hung up on Kelly ahead of a December game and said he would not shake his former coach's hand, per Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
In some cases, it's probably better to use the old "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" tactic.
Less overt but similarly questionable were Oklahoma City mayor Mick Cornett's comments on Kevin Durant's departure to the Golden State Warriors.
Cornett said on ESPN's Capital Games podcast (via Andrew Joseph of For the Win) Durant's move seemed "out of character" and even suggested Durant might have been manipulated by outside forces.
Dealing with the New Reality
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At a certain point, the breakup becomes a reality and new circumstances must be accepted.
A player might not like where he or she has been traded, but one way to stay classy is to accept the new reality gracefully.
In 2015, the Toronto Blue Jays traded shortstop Jose Reyes to the Colorado Rockies—a downgrade in terms of team record at the time. Reyes said, per Tim Rohan of the New York Times, "I don't want to spend the rest of my career playing on a last-place team."
Ouch.
Fast forward to June 2016 when the Montreal Canadiens traded defenseman P.K. Subban to the Nashville Predators.
Though the move was a surprise to outsiders, Subban handled it well. He thanked Montreal fans in a video message for Uninterrupted and also gave a "howdy" to the folks in Nashville.
The Return
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Sometimes with breakups, one party never wants to see the other again. And yet in sports, as in real life, that's generally hard to achieve.
So, when the often inevitable reunion happens, it's nice when folks are classy about it.
Look at what the Indianapolis Colts did for longtime quarterback Peyton Manning when he returned as a Denver Bronco in 2013. The Colts played a video tribute, and fans gave him a standing ovation.
In February, the Toronto Maple Leafs traded All-Star defenseman Dion Phaneuf to the rival Ottawa Senators. When he later returned to the Air Canada Centre as a visitor, a few fans booed, per Mark Zwolinski of the Toronto Star, but the reception was generally warm. The team even displayed a video tribute in the arena.
Forgiveness
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Sometimes it takes time, but forgiveness is where it's at, right?
Cleveland eventually forgave LeBron James for leaving (probably largely because he came back and won them a title). Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert even took down that famous, scathing letter he wrote upon James' departure for Miami in 2010 (not classy, btw).
Green Bay forgave Brett Favre, and the Packers retired his number during a halftime ceremony at Lambeau Field in 2015.
Even the Montreal Canadiens forgave Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy, whose departure from the team in 1995 was about as ugly as sports breakups get. He gave up nine goals during a brutal loss and later demanded a trade. The team retired Roy's No. 33 in 2008.
BTW, to the Fans…
10 of 10To close things out, here's a few dos and don'ts for the fans:
No. 1. Do not, under any circumstances, burn player jerseys. Not only is it a fire hazard, but it's just ridiculous. After everything Kevin Durant did for the Oklahoma City Thunder, fans burned his jersey when he left? Come on.
No. 2. Try not to boo. Granted, some athletes probably deserve a good boo, like Dwight Howard for example. Orlando Magic fans—having dealt with the big man's trade demands and role in then-coach Stan Van Gundy's firing—can boo that guy. In general though, booing isn't the picture of class.
No. 3. Definitely do show respect. The Winnipeg Jets traded forward Andrew Ladd to the Chicago Blackhawks in February, and Jets fans immediately took to Twitter to thank their former captain. Washington Nationals fans cheered former pitcher Jordan Zimmerman in May even though he joined the Detroit Tigers in free agency.
Keep it classy, fans.
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