[Syd Thrift]

Ironically I’d say the major sports leagues that holds best to the “players are loyal to their team” thing is the NBA, where there’s a max contract and so players don’t just go to the highest bidder. Instead... they move where they have a good shot at winning, they move where they want to live (Minnesota has specifically been cited as a place a lot of players avoid signing big deals in going back to Stephon Marbury because of the cold winters and lack of a culture that NBA players enjoy), they move to be nearer to their hometown (that was a prominent reason why Lebron went back to Cleveland for instance), and many times the bigger stars move to where they can market themselves the best.

As a result, you see as much movement now as ever before, and there might even now be a soft ceiling for some markets (Minnesota as noted, possibly Utah, even Milwaukee may have issues retaining Giannis) because at the end of the day, why would a guy who was born and raised in Los Angeles and who went to college in San Diego have any “loyalty” whatsoever to a team in San Antonio or Toronto just because those teams drafted him or traded for him? Or for that matter, I don’t see why a guy who grew up in DC, went to college in Texas, and then was drafted by a team in Seattle ought to have any sense of “loyalty” to a franchise that moved to Oklahoma City after the fact.

When you ask for “loyalty”, be careful what you wish for...