Utilitarianism In Sports

The political involvement of Athletes is not a new venture. Over the years, this has become an extremely polarizing event, with people very divided with those that see it as an honest opportunity for an athlete to make a valid statement, while others view it as an inappropriate gesture, forum, and time. Recently, the media, teams, leagues, and even the President of the United States have weighed in on whether they feel it is justified, or an abuse of hi-jacking an entertainment event. Clearly, there are two divergent viewpoints, and each side feels very strongly about their views.
On the one side, many view athletes making political statements as ruining the game, upsetting, and just plain disappointing when they are going to see a sporting event. These people see that sports and politics should not exist together, that they should be separate, and more appropriate for another time and place. The other viewpoint maintains that this is exactly the time and place for them, the athletes, to make a statement. It is their ‘house’, it does not take extra time, and it is a silent

He is seen as “the Face of the NBA” (Vardon, 2015) by many people. He has been a vocal spokesmen for the NBA players, stirring much controversy with political views on a variety of topics. He mentioned on one occasion, according to Michael Wallace of ESPN, that he has a sense of obligation to use his status to effect change. He has spoken up about Eric Garner’s killing by wearing the “I can’t breathe” shirt, gaining praise from President Obama at the time. Obama backed James by saying "LeBron is an example of a young man who has, in his own way and in a respectful way, tried to say, 'I'm part of this society, too' and focus attention” (Miller, 2014). According to Miller 2015, Obama continued to say that he'd "like to see more athletes do that...not just around this issue, but around a range of