The Most Controversial Sports Stories of 2016
Sports aren't meant to replicate the rigors of everyday life, but they're often a reflection of the zeitgeist, which is why these nine controversial sports stories of 2016 triggered such intense debate among fans. Some of these stories were deeply rooted in the notion of what an athlete is worth (Andrew Luck’s megacontract), and some involved the conflation of sports and political consciousness (Colin Kaepernick taking a knee), but in nearly every case, the resulting hubbub nearly drowned out the story itself.
The truth is that sports have always brought out strong emotions, whether fans believe that their beloved athletes should be paid whatever the market bears, or whether fans believe that athletes should just play their games and keep their mouths shut about social issues.
In that respect, 2016 had its usual share of stories and events that made people joust and jab at each other, before taking their respective corners to watch whatever sport they found most enjoyable.
The stories on this list were controversial, debated and never resolved, which feels an awful lot like real life, with the major difference being that once the noise died down, we could all still cheer for our teams.
Kevin Durant Goes to the Warriors
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The sports world reacted with shock when Kevin Durant left the Oklahoma City Thunder to join the already-potent Golden State Warriors.
Some pro athletes saw Durant’s move as the ultimate sign of disloyalty, while others applauded his unbridled desire for a championship ring.
Jordan Heck of the Sporting News cataloged some of the reaction from NBA players, including Paul Pierce of the Los Angeles Clippers, who tweeted that Durant was joining the team he knew he couldn’t beat, and the Detroit Pistons’ Andre Drummond, who poured cold water on the deal by tweeting that the Warriors would have problems on defense because of their lack of size.
Pierce’s opposition is ironic, given that he was the beneficiary of a superteam back in 2008 when Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined the Boston Celtics and won a title in their first year playing together.
Old-school legends such as Larry Bird do not like the way modern NBA stars move to different teams, and in an interview with SiriusXM NBA Radio (via SI.com) said:
"I know back in the day, I couldn’t imagine going to the Lakers and playing with Magic Johnson. I’d rather try to beat him. I could never imagine myself going and joining another team with great players, because I had great players and I was in a great situation."
Fans of other NBA teams have reacted by booing Durant and the Warriors with even more fervor since the season began, confirming Forbes writer Brian Mazique’s prediction that the Durant move made Golden State the NBA’s most despised team.
Colin Kaepernick Takes a Knee
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In retrospect, many NFL fans probably thought that Kaepernick would re-emerge in the sports zeitgeist for a resurrection in his play, not because of a social protest that became one of the biggest hot-button issues in pop culture.
But Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the playing of the national anthem stirred up strong emotions on both sides of the issue.
Some felt that the San Francisco 49ers quarterback was disrespecting the flag and the country’s principles by kneeling in protest for the social ills that plagued the U.S.
Others thought that Kaepernick was merely exercising his right to protest, a bedrock on which the U.S. was founded.
What made this issue so complicated is that fans could understand Kaepernick’s point of view but still disliked the way he chose to express his dissatisfaction with how people of color are treated in the U.S.
The quarterback explained his position in a piece written by Steve Wyche of NFL.com:
"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," Kaepernick said. "To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."
Per Rhiannon Walker of The Undefeated, the list of athletes who supported Kaepernick included Ndamukong Suh of the Miami Dolphins and DeAndre Levy of the Detroit Lions, but also included a non-player, Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh.
Other sports luminaries such as Jerry Rice, Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints, Alex Boone of the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants coach Ben McAdoo, strongly disagreed with Kaepernick’s method of protest.
The issue shows no sign of abating and speaks to conflict between the freedom to protest and how that protest is conducted.
Gabby Douglas at the 2016 Rio Olympics
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The darling of the 2012 London Olympics, Gabby Douglas, a three-time Olympic gold medalist found out this year just how difficult it is to please sports fans when she was excoriated for not placing her right hand on her heart during the playing of the U.S. national anthem after the American gymnastics team won gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Jacob Bryant of Variety wrote that the Douglas contretemps was one of the biggest controversies at the Rio Olympics, especially given the vitriol directed at the young gymnast.
Douglas issued a heartfelt apology on Twitter, writing that she did not intend to disrespect the flag, but that did little to quell some critics who believed that her action was intentional.
CBS New York compiled some of these reactions, which included accusations that she disrespected the flag, was making a political statement and was not a team player.
But Douglas did find support from some celebrities who felt that the social media backlash against the young gymnast was too much.
Celebs such as Leslie Jones, Gabrielle Union and Sophia Bush tweeted positive messages to Douglas, per D’Arcy Maine of ESPNW, with one supporter writing that Douglas was "a national treasure."
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Andrew Luck’s $140 Million Contract
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Yes, NFL contracts are almost never paid in full, but Luck’s $140 million deal over six years guaranteed $87 million, setting several NFL records.
Per Mike Wells of ESPN.com, the deal was the largest contract in league history and also surpassed the $65 million guarantees of San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers and New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning.
Whether or not Luck is worth that kind of money became the subject of intense debate.
Clearly the Indianapolis Colts had to make the deal because with a porous defense and a leaky offensive line, Luck may be the only franchise cornerstone the team has for several years.
In fact, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com wrote that Luck should have utilized his leverage and held out for more money.
"Luck should have raked the Colts over the coals,” Graziano wrote. “If ever a player were going to take a stand and demand the league’s first fully guaranteed veteran deal, this was the guy to do it. He didn’t even come close."
That’s especially true in a league where players are cut without warning, and signing bonuses are the only guaranteed source of income.
But not everyone seemed overjoyed with Luck’s contract, and the biggest detractor was in the quarterback’s own backyard: Colts general manager Ryan Grigson.
In an interview with Jay Mohr on his radio show, Grigson blamed Indianapolis’ horrible defense on the fact that the team had to shell out so much money to Luck that it ate into cap space.
"When you have to tighten up, once you pay Andrew what we did, it’s going to take some time to build on the other side of the ball," Grigson said, per Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star (via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk).
Summarizing what many fans outside of Indianapolis felt, a piece in FoxSports.com contended that Luck was overpaid, but that he took advantage of market value, which will likely set precedent for negotiations involving New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Kirk Cousins of the Washington Redskins.
College Football Playoff Final 4
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Despite the abolishment of the BCS two years ago to make room for the four-team College Football Playoff (CFP), controversy has not ended.
Last season, TCU was ranked third going into its final game, but dropped to sixth in the final CFP rankings after dismantling Iowa State 55-3. The Florida State Seminoles, who many felt had ascended based on name recognition and the fact that the team had won the BCS title the year before, replaced the Horned Frogs.
This year was no stranger to divisive debate, as the Penn State Nittany Lions, winners of the Big 10, which many felt was the strongest conference in college football in 2016, were shut out of the playoff even though they had beaten CFP participant Ohio State head-to-head earlier in the season.
However, Penn State had two losses compared to the Buckeyes' one loss, and one of those setbacks was a 49-10 shellacking by the Michigan Wolverines.
Many prognosticators believed Penn State had earned inclusion in the CFP, including five out of the nine sports writers and editors at CBSSports.com, who felt that winning the Big 10 and beating Oho State was enough for the Nittany Lions to earn a spot.
However Neil Paine of FiveThirtyEight.com wrote that Ohio State clearly deserved a CFP spot over Penn State by virtue of its higher ranking in a number of statistical categories, including strength of record.
The debate will be settled when Ohio State battles Clemson in one CFP semifinal, and Penn State takes on a surging USC squad in the Rose Bowl. If the Buckeyes falter and the Nittany Lions crush SC, then it will prove a point.
If Ohio State wins and Penn State loses, Buckeyes fans will celebrate, and if both teams lose, then the debate will rage anew until next season.
Draymond Green Suspended for NBA Finals Game 5
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It was the crotch shot seen 'round the world, and because Green, the Golden State Warriors’ Swiss Army knife, had previously delivered a kick to the groin of Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams in the Western Conference Finals, the NBA brass was not in the mood to overlook another infraction.
Green was suspended for Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals for swiping at the groin of Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James in Game 4.
His action was in response to James stepping over him after Green had fallen to the court.
At that point, the Golden State Warriors were up 3-1 and looking to close out the series, but without Green, the team lost Game 5, and with Green the losing continued through Games 6 and 7.
There’s no doubt that Green would have strengthened the Warriors at both ends in Game 5, especially with his defense on James, who had a Finals for the ages, averaging nearly a triple-double. It's not going too far to suggest that with Green, Golden State would likely have won the title in five games.
Opinions varied as to whether Green’s swipe deserved a suspension.
Bud Shaw of Cleveland.com wrote that Green should not have been suspended, because James played a crucial role in his reaction.
Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News felt that Green did not deserve a flagrant foul and that he would not and should not be suspended.
Per FoxSports.com, NBA players such as Patrick Beverley of the Houston Rockets and Patrick Patterson of the Toronto Raptors called foul on the suspension, with Beverley tweeting, "They suspended @Money23Green for that. What??? Let Men play basketball."
Though Green played in the final two games of the series, James and point guard Kyrie Irving had built up confidence from their Game 5 win, and that carried over to an improbable Game 7 win on the Warriors' home court.
Caster Semenya Wins the Women’s 800 Meters at the Rio Olympics
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Caster Semenya is the world’s best female 800-meter runner, and at 25 she has dominated the field for several years, winning a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics.
However, the issue is that some feel that her muscular build (5'10", 160 lbs), square jaw and non-traditional features indicate that Semenya is an intersex athlete, meaning that she has the sexual anatomy of both a male and a female.
Tim Layden of SI.com wrote a piece prior to the Olympics about Semenya’s high level of testosterone that some female track athletes believed gave her an unfair advantage.
"I hope she blows away the competition," wrote U.S. 800-meter runner Phoebe Wright in an email responding to Layden’s inquiries about Semenya. "One, I want to see how fast she can run. But also, I want the world to see how much of an advantage she has."
In fact, Semenya won the gold medal in the 800-meter final in Rio in a time of 1 minute, 55.28 seconds, the fifth-best time in Olympic history, and a full second ahead of the second-place finisher.
Semenya has never made it a secret that she is hyperandrogenic, which means that she has an excess level of male sex hormones.
Semenya has endured years of hostility from female athletes and some fans, but residents of her home nation of South Africa started a #handsoffcaster Twitter page, and a crowd of supporters met her at the Johannesburg airport when she returned home after her Olympic triumph.
But Sebastian Coe, president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced after the Olympics that he would push to change the rules that allow female athletes with elevated testosterone to compete in international track events.
That could likely mean the end of Semenya’s dominance if new rules are passed prohibiting her participation, but it would not end the debate about what female athletes should look like, and what constitutes an unfair advantage when it comes to the way a person was born.
Tony Romo Loses His Starting Job Due to Injury
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Dallas Cowboys fans have no issue with Dak Prescott as the team’s starting quarterback because he’s gone 12-2 and is on the verge of securing home-field advantage throughout the NFL playoffs.
And yet...
Even Cowboys owner Jerry Jones appears to be still pining for Romo, his beloved one-time starter who lost his job, not because of poor performance, but due to injury.
So the question is: Should Romo get his job back now that he’s healthy?
Yes, the team is winning and on an unprecedented roll, but similar to the way New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady replaced the injured Drew Bledsoe, the switch doesn’t sit well with everyone.
Nate Scott, writing for For the Win, got the ball rolling when he wrote five reasons Romo should get his starting job back, including the fact that he lost the job to injury, his high completion and career passing rate and the fact that his contract makes him very difficult to trade.
But football experts such as Fox analyst and former Cowboys great Troy Aikman disagreed.
Via Chris Korman of For the Win, Aikman said:
"I don’t think you can disrupt the momentum this team has. When you have it, ride it. Odds are they are going to need Romo at some point this season whether they start him or not."
Former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson, as well as NFL commentators such as Michael Strahan and Howie Long, echoed Aikman’s comments.
It may be unfair for Romo to hold a clipboard on the sidelines, but sports are often cruel, and the only thing that matters is wins, not loyalty to a quarterback who has never shown the ability to remain healthy.
Nick Kyrgios Quits a Tennis Match
9 of 9On October 12, 2016, Kyrgios, a 21 year-old Australian with loads of talent and an attitude to match, quit a tennis tournament in Shangai.
Playing against Mischa Zverev, Kyrgios didn’t try to hide his malingering, failing to run after easy balls and walking off the court before his opponent could return a serve.
It was a deliberate tanking job that was condemned by many, but the ever-combative Krygios’ post-match comments were anything but conciliatory.
“I don’t owe them anything,” Kyrgios said in defiance. “If you don’t like it, I didn’t ask you to come watch. Just leave.”
Kyrgios was wrong on the owing part, as the ATP fined him $41,500 and suspended him from competition until January 15, 2017, a few days prior to the start of the Australian Open.
Even before the infamous Shangai incident, tennis legend John McEnroe told Kyrgios to quit the sport entirely after he retired from his third-round U.S. Open match in September, citing an injury.
Per Steve Orme of the Sporting News, McEnroe said: "If you don’t like what you’re doing, don’t do it anymore.”
But according to Kamakshi Tandon of Tennis.com, superstars such as Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are bullish on Kyrgios’ future.
"You have to give your best effort of what you have on that day, even if you're feeling a bit tired and lacking motivation because you have just won a tournament the week before," Murray said. "If he didn't do that, then he will be disappointed with himself tonight. But we're not perfect. You know, everyone makes mistakes. You just want to make sure that you learn from them and make sure it doesn't happen over and over again."
Djokovic echoed that sentiment after being quoted as saying, "I haven’t heard great things," in reference to Kyrgios.
"I share the opinion of many players, and many people in the tennis world," Djokovic added, "that he’s one of the greatest talents that the game has seen lately, and he’s got a huge potential, huge game."
Ed McGrogan of Tennis.com went even further, writing that Kyrgios is correct in believing that he doesn’t owe tennis fans anything, and that the reaction to his tanking match was overblown.
McGrogan wrote that the Australian is “the most fascinating figure in a sport so often devoid of drama during the non-Slam weeks," and that it’s too early to judge him given that he’s only 21 and has time to mature.
Either way, the debate over what type of effort athletes owe to fans—if any—is one that will continue to rage for years.
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