Quote:
Originally Posted by M3_WC
How about any major sports team and their star athlete on the team. You think Lebron James would get fired. Hell f*cking no.
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Well "terminated with cause" has a slightly different meaning in pro sports but I think we have some clear examples from the last 5-10 yrs showing that there are lines which cannot be crossed even in those settings (even for Lebron James).
The closest example I think of off the top of my head would be Tiger Woods. Think back to mid-2009 and recall his position as the "golden boy" of the sport. Kids had his picture up on their walls, sponsors were scrambling to sign him, he was on top of the world and then -poof- just like that it's all over because of a few instances of bad judgment. He was dropped by all of his major sponsors, his game went down the toilet and is even today still struggling to recover.
Ray Rice is another example, in that case a pro athlete sanctioned by the league and dropped by his team like a hot turd. His actions were of course much more serious, resulting in criminal charges (and to be fair I think his indefinite league suspension was overturned although I'm sure no sponsor would touch him with a 10-ft pole right now).
I think you may be overestimating the amount of tolerance both the leagues and sponsors have for shenanigans nowadays. As with a lot of jobs you can get away with some stuff if you are truly talented and/or well liked, but there are always lines.