Kobe Bryant's Ethical Essay

Jerry West, one of the great players to ever play in the NBA, once talked about Kobe Bryant’s work ethic “What’s most impressive about this young man are his desire, his work ethic, his competitive nature. [Bryant] comes to the arena at 4:30, before anybody is here, and works on his game alone. He has incredible skills and the desire to be a great player.” Countless amounts of hours in training, preparation, and dedication are devoted towards becoming a professional athlete. No matter what sport it is, athletes expect their fellow competitors to be clean and fair in competition. With all the hard work it takes to become a professional athlete, this is why athletes who cheat, let alone dope, should undoubtedly be stripped of all the medals/awards
they won during the time they cheated because it’s morally wrong, it helps keep sports clean, and it also helps discourages children from attempting to cheat.
Cheating is morally wrong and it’s something that cannot be disputed.
Cheating gives someone an unfair advantage that their opponent doesn’t have. In 2009, a report came out stating that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two anabolic steroids, testosterone, and Primobolan in 2003. Rodriguez came out and admitted that he used PEDs early in his career (2001-2003) and that all his years in New York have been clean (2004-present).But, in 2013 after the Biogenesis baseball scandal broke it was found that Rodriguez had been associated with Anthony Bosch while playing for the New York Yankees. Bosch, who was the program director of Biogenesis of America, has sold performance-enhancing drugs to 13 professional baseball players who have all served +50 game suspension. Alex Rodriguez is an example of a player who has no morals when it comes to competing fairly, he’s lied to the public, his teammates, and the people who employee him. That’s why after he retires all his stats/awards/titles should be forfeited to show that doping has no place in baseball or in professional
sports.
From the mid-90s to until 2013, Lance Armstrong was considered to be an exceptional American and one of its best representations of the country in the International community.
Through his continually work with his charity, LIVESTRONG, it’s brought him even more love and admiration as he’s inspired and motivated millions of cancer patients to continue and fight for their lives. But In 2013, Lance Armstrong who was once considered the greatest cyclist of all-time admitted that he had doped throughout his career in an Oprah Winfrey interview. Though it was not a surprise to many people being that he’s had several allegations of doping thrown at him since 1995, the news of the doping scandal to had become sort of a slap in the face to his millions of fans and supporters, but it was especially disappointing for the children. In response to Lance Armstrong announcement, the International Cycling Union announced that they would not appeal the United States Anti-doping Agency’s decision to ban Armstrong for life from Olympic competition. With the ICU’s decision to not appeal, it’s formally stripped Armstrong of the seven Tour titles he won from 1999 to 2005. Responses such as ones given by major cycling committees has proven no matter how popular or how rich the athlete is, they are going to have to face stern consequences when they decide to cheat and tarnish the game they represent. Athletes such as Lance Armstrong, Marion Jones, and Barry Bonds, etc. have all faced excruciating
criticism and have been black listed from their respective sports since their allegations of doping have been confirmed. Therefore, when fellow athletes who are considering doping take a look at what has happened to these once beloved athletes, they will think twice about what they are about to do.
In a sports obsessed society, athletes whether they like it or not are going to end up being role models for children. What kind of example would leagues such as the MLB, NFL, and NBA be sending out to children if they treated a serious offense such as using performance enhancing drugs as a slap on the wrist? Performance-enhancing drugs have been very prevalent in the Major League of Baseball and in the National Football League for decades. Doping is a serious problem in sports today, children over the years have witnessed the advancement of steroids. This often causes children to perceive that the benefits are outweighing the negative effects. Much too many athletes get away with using performance enhancing drugs and have ended up with an MVP award, a higher salary and love from millions, so why wouldn’t kids think they should use them to become successful? If athletes stay clean from doping and major committees/ leagues continue to strip cheaters of their medals and titles it shows children that cheating is wrong and something they should not copy.
In conclusion, cheating/doping has no place in professional or amateur sports. Athletes who dope should have to forfeit all the titles and medals they won during the time they cheated because it’s morally wrong, it helps keep sports clean, and it also helps discourages children from attempting to cheat. Some the greatest athletes to ever play such as Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, and Peyton Manning etc. have been great inspirations and representations of how to play the game fairly and cleanly. If someone is really considering cheating they should take a really hard look at the greatest athletes of all time, they’re clean so why can’t you be?