In sports, people love to point fingers. If a team wins, it’s easy to give all the credit to one person, but if the team loses, everyone blames the player who missed the last shot, fumbled the ball, or struck out. But the truth is, no game ever comes down to just one person. Wins and losses belong to the whole team, not a single player.
“The result of a game should never end up on the shoulders of only one player,” junior and soccer player Laurel Verbos said.
In the 1994 World Cup, Colombian defender Andrés Escobar accidentally scored on his own goal that contributed to his team’s elimination. Instead of people remembering the whole game and the many chances Colombia had, the blame fell on Escobar. When he got home after playing for his country, he was killed by upset fans. In this tragic case, it highlights the unfairness of assigning a loss to a single player.
“I feel like [the media] over-exaggerates what actually happens in the whole game, but just fixes itself on the high-pressure moments because it’s what makes the money,” senior and basketball captain Amara Comfort said.
Sports outlets help create heroes and villains by promoting important plays because it makes things more dramatic, and fans love it. It is easy for people to scroll on the internet and see a big moment late in the game and not recognize the events that came before. Even the greatest athletes rely on their teammates. An example of this is Ray Allen’s clutch three to keep the Miami Heat in the 2013 NBA Finals. People forget that in the play before, LeBron James had to hit a deep three to give Ray Allen a chance to be great.
“Having stress on the players to perform is part of the game, but if they fold under the pressure, you can’t blame them for the whole game,” senior and baseball player Jayden Thompson said.
Blaming one player isn’t just unfair, it’s also harmful. Athletes at every level feel pressure to perform. When people say a single mistake ruined everything, it creates stress and undermines the “team first” mentality that sports encourage. At the same time, giving all the credit to one person can make others think their hard work didn’t matter and that all of the extra time they put in was for nothing. Sports, at their core, are games, and games are meant to be fun.
“Big moments are what make or break a player’s career,” senior and football player Lavartrell Creasy said. “Even though those moments are important, it’s what they do and how they perform all of the time that affects their legacy more.”
(Karleigh Lundy)
Sometimes, a player makes a big play that wins the game. A clutch three-pointer still needed that one teammate to score a layup 30 seconds before that to give them that opportunity. The big-time moment is just what gets highlighted the most. With Allen’s three, a lot of people remember that play as a game-winner, but the game went into overtime with that shot. As well to even get the shot off, Chris Bosh had to get the offensive rebound over two defenders to pass the ball out.
“I mean, every once in a while, I can definitely see why you’d blame a game on one player,” Thompson said.
On one hand, people argue that a player deserves credit for a win if they perform exceptionally throughout the whole game, rather than just in one moment. But if a player makes multiple mistakes, some believe that the loss should fall squarely on them. However, it’s important to recognize that a player’s success is boosted by teammates who have to help in ways during the game that go beyond just statistics. If a player consistently underperforms to the point of receiving blame, the focus should also shift to the coach for not considering substitutions to improve the team’s performance and chances to win.
“Players should just be able to play the game that they have played and loved their whole lives without judgment from people they don’t know,” Comfort said.
Ultimately, team sports are fundamentally about teamwork. While one player may shine, wins and losses are never achieved alone; people can’t expect to win a basketball game when it’s one player up against five. I believe that a game cannot be won or lost by a single player, so it is not fair to give them credit or blame for any game’s outcome. Each pass, play, and effort contributes to the overall result. So when a team wins, celebrate the team. And if the outcome isn’t in your favor, don’t single out anyone to blame. Regardless of what the scoreboard says, it’s always a team effort.
