Reality/Injury

Every year I face the heartbreaking task of bringing at least one of my clients home from an injury. Many times WNBA basketball players ask their bodies to do extraordinary things – to play year-round, season after season, without a break. They do this to take maximum advantage of their ability to earn income – the logic being that they will not want or be able to play forever and should maximize every opportunity while they do. This is very appealing; however, it usually comes with a tremendous price/sacrifice, including devastating injury and/or not being able to see family, friends and loved ones for months at a time. Far too often women are also mistreated by teams and/or their own agents.

What is the solution? I wish I had an easy answer. I want my clients to all have the most happy and productive careers – to live where they want and be paid an amount they deserve. Isn’t this what they deserve? For some, money is more important than anything else. For others, the ability to live in and learn about a culture is most important. Ultimately, injury is always only a step away. An athlete should have no regrets – they should live and play fully. However, they must also take care of their bodies, minds, hearts and souls. They can’t forget to live.

As I write this I am bringing someone I care deeply for home from an injury. She has worked so hard for so long – when she plays it seems like she flies through the air. For the last 16 years her life has been devoted to basketball. All of that seems so meaningless right now as I watch her sit with her crutches in pain - her career has been jeopardized because of injury. Why . . . because she forgot to remember she was human and needed to rest. She was not a machine. As an agent I should push each client to play, play, play – that’s how my clients and I make money. However, money can’t help an athlete walk after her children and live without pain if her body is broken. Professional basketball is a business and an athlete is only as good as the product she sells – the ability to use her body and mind to do things on the court most of us can only dream about doing. It is up to everyone who loves an athlete to help them be as successful, happy and healthy off the court as on.