A famous sports player was recently arrested for a DUI and was released after paying bail. Following his release he was allowed to return to practice as normal and face minimal to no punishment upon his return to the field. These behavior issues are more common than people think, and the leagues these players are in need harsher punishments towards these athletes to stop them from happening.
It seems like in the past year or two, more and more pro athletes are being called out on off field behaviors like sexual assault allegations, drug use, DUIs and outbursts than ever before. Examples like NBA player Josh Giddey’s supposed relationship with a minor was barely acknowledged by the NBA, Draymond Green’s on court outbursts with dangerous personal fouls towards players got him only a slight suspension, and MLB player Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter being imprisoned over gambling debt. It was also very likely that Shohei was involved. The list goes on and these players are just allowed to just keep playing with very little to no punishments, which is concerning because of the amount of money they make.
Athletes with bad behavior need to be punished more because fame and status do not put you above the law. It doesn’t matter how much money you make or how famous you are, laws are laws and the fact that many professional sports leagues just shake these legal actions off or have their punishment not harsh enough will only keep encouraging pro athletes to get away with these behaviors. To promote a true change in behavior in the athletes who find themselves in controversy, it is necessary for a punishment that will make them rethink their actions to avoid further misconduct with the law.
People who work regular jobs are likely to lose their job or to be put on probation due to misconduct with the law, so it’s unfair that pro athletes are still able to keep everything after these behaviors. For example, a regular person is way more likely for them to lose their job over a serious crime charge compared to a pro athlete, which is unethical for many reasons; considering these leagues are paying these athletes millions of dollars it could be seen as a major waste of money.
The final reason why the bad behavior of pro athletes should result in higher punishments relates to the league policies themselves. With how much money these pro athletes make, their league should have harsher punishments and raise the fine price towards players to stop their narcissistic behavior. Higher fines towards players would likely make players actually rethink their actions by taking a lot of money out of their pockets, this could also be a way that these leagues generate additional revenue.
Some people may argue that a pro athlete’s status and fame gives them some freedom from punishment if they commit crimes. This is wrong because in reality they are human beings too, and they will make mistakes but because of the amount of money they make these punishments need to be harsher.
With the recent increase in poor on and off field behavior by pro athletes in recent years, it is clear either league policies or Judiciary decisions haven’t been enough to change pro athletes attitudes on and off the court. If something doesn’t change these actions will not stop, which is a bad look for the league itself and will disappoint fans even more.