The quest for power is a fundamental force in life, sport, and basketball. Power goes by different names - ego, status, influence.
And many problems arising in organizations, from youth basketball through upper echelons relate to power struggles.
At the pinnacle of sport, it's an easy get. The powerful get the attention, publicity, respect, and money. Power attracts eyeballs and eyeballs print money. But power seekers attract critics, about their involvement ("shut up and dribble") or lack of involvement (lack of social conscience). We accuse the powerful of exaggerating their importance (e.g. "The Decision") or empire building (e.g. the orbit of a star, e.g. Rich Paul).
The powerful leverage their status or voice for change, favors, or money. And depending on the change they seek, they earn friends or make enemies.
Brookings, considered overall centrist, writes of pandemic sport support by colleges, "We find that the prevailing model rests on taking the money generated by athletes who are more likely to be Black and come from low-income neighborhoods and transferring it to sports played by athletes who are more likely to be white and from higher-income neighborhoods."
Philanthropists are not immune from criticism. The Gates Foundation has been accused of being self-serving by pushing online education and by ignoring the advice of experts.
In October, Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewwki said, "We're going to have March Madness." Now, with Duke struggling, the tune seems to change. "I would just like for the safety, the mental and physical health of players and staff to assess where we're at."
At every level, minority coaches don't get an equal opportunity for hiring, retention, or advancement. “College sport continues to have some of the lowest grades for racial hiring practices among all of the college and professional sports covered by the respective Racial and Gender Report Cards” and "blacks are 45 percent of the football players in Division I but only 6.9 percent of the head football coaches. This was down from 7.7 percent in the prior year."
At the youth and high school level, the conflict can be subtle or harsh. At the extreme, you recall the Texas cheerleader mother and her plan to kill a rival mother and daughter.
In Carl Pierson's excellent book, The Politics of Coaching, he details the conflicts among coaches, players, administrators, and families. Families wonder why their child doesn't make a team or when they do, why they don't have more minutes and a featured role. Parents may obstruct the path and opportunities for younger players, in the hope of being the anteambulo for their child.
We've all heard about or seen parents and politicians lobbying for their children or working to displace coaches whom they couldn't influence. A Texas high school basketball coach told me a parent offered his school a $25,000 contribution in exchange for his ouster. Gone, baby, gone.
There's nothing we can do to change the dynamics of power and sport. But let's not kid ourselves when discussing diversity and opportunity.
Lagniappe: "Bring your own juice." Coaches are energy givers.
What are our three goals for this season?
Lagniappe 2. "Water the flowers." Coach Mason Waters shares a Devin Booker study. Great stuff to show players!