MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 18
COMMENTARY
NBA's free agency dominates offseason headlines
LeBron James anchored a slate of star NBA free agents this summer. It was the second offseason since 2010 in which the basketball nation watched to see where the league's most popular player would wind up "taking his talents."
James' decision to return to Cleveland was the first domino to fall. In all of the free agent festivities, Carmelo Anthony re-signed to play in the largest NBA market, New York, and nine-time All Star Chris Boshhoodwinked Houston and wound up returning to Miami.
It shouldn't surprise anybody that James' story trumped the other free agent signings, but it's also not surprising how much attention NBA free agency has drawn year after year.
The most popular sporting event of the summer was the FIFA World
Cup. Go back to June 24 when the World Cup was in full swing and James announced he was opting out of his contract with the Miami Heat. Can you guess the top story in American sports that day? It wasn't soccer.
To further put it into perspective, James "decision" in 2010 was the third-highest-rated cable television program to that point in the year. Free agency is even taking attention
Free agency is even taking attention away from the league's other big
Taylor, whose trekkking company supports a school for children in Uganda, will take us on the journey through the Khumbu region to Mt. Everest, up to the summit and then back down, with inside information on the politics of the mountain and the physical challenges involved. He will also discuss how his leadership and training has brought success to mountain expedition teams around the world and of varying skill levels. The event will be an interview by Dole Institute director, Bill Lacy, and also includes a DVD sale.
Dole Institute, University of Kansas, 2350 Petefish Drive, Lawrence, KS 66045
www.DoleInstitute.org 785.864.4900 Facebook/Twitter
All programs are free and open to the public.
stories. The NBA draft was held two days after James opted out. What was the topic of conversation? How a given pick would help teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, the New York Knicks, the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Miami Heat land a key free agent.
A league's draft is normally its largest offseason event, but this year the discussion on multiple draft picks came with the presupposition of how it would work within a team's plans for free agents. Basketball fans and analysts across the country were considering how Cleveland's selection
of Wiggins helped in their pursuit of James.
All of this is to be expected. In an American sports culture fueled by superstars, the NBA promotes its big names more than any other league.
Free agency has always been a nice way to satisfy a fan's desire for their sport's rekindling the following year. There is, however, something lost amongst all of the hype that comes with any major sports league's annual acquisition period: the brilliance of free agency from a marketing standpoint.
The main selling point for any product—food, clothing and entertainment—in our consumer-driven economy is quality. Marketing, however, is almost equally as important.
The brilliant marketing strategy behind the concept of free agency assures a league that there is no ellipsis between seasons. It keeps a sport as front-and-center as it can possibly be during the time between the trophy presentation and the season opener.
Edited by Tom DoHart
FOOTBALL
news@kansan.com
BEN CARROLL
Heeney added to All-Big 12 Team
After an eventful preseason for Kansas linebacker Ben Heeney, the Big 12 league office announced that the 230-pound senior from Hutchinson was named to the 2014 Preseason All-Big 12 Football team Wednesday morning.
The announcement came after Heeney was named to the preseason All-Big 12 first team by Athlon Sports and Phil Steele Magazine. He was also recently named to four different preseason award watch lists: The Chuck Bednarik award, the Butkus Award, Rotary Lombardi award and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which goes to the national defensive player of the year.
Last year, Heeney was a 2013 All-Big 12 second team selection after leading the team in tackles and being fourth in the Big 12 with 8.7 tackles per game. He will be going into the 2014 season as the conference's leading returning tackler. He missed a pair of games last season, but is still one of six active linebackers with at least 200 tackles.
Heeney will join his fellow senior teammates tight end Jimmy Mundine, safety Cassius Sendish and wide receiver Nick Harwell in Irving, Texas on Monday, July 21, for the Big 12 media day.
The Jayhawks begin the season at Memorial Stadium at 6 p.m. on Sept. 6 against Southeast Missouri State.
Edited by Tom DeHart
ANDY LARKIN/KANSAN
AND FARKIN-KANSAS Junior linebacker Ben Heeney celebrates after an interception in the fourth quarter.
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