From Amateurs to Icons:
The Role of Professionalization and Technology in Shaping Athlete Value
Abstract:
This project dives into the nuances of sports history, specifically the value of professional, and amateur players, throughout the history of the game of Olympic basketball. I focus on the eight year time period between 1984-1992. This time period would have a very influential historical actor to my research in Michael Jordan. Jordan would compete as both an amateur and professional in the Olympics and would leave an ever lasting legacy within the game of Olympic basketball, and basketball as a whole. Throughout my project I go into detail about players NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) and how the value of players NIL evolved overtime. With Michael Jordan being the trailblazer that would be the first to be able to completely capitalize off of the evolution of the game of basketball, and the factors that would contribute to that evolution like technology and the globalization of the professional game of basketball to a worldwide audience by using the Olympics as a global platform.