How can losing your best player be a good thing?

Could the Rangers have actually gotten better without former MVP Josh Hamilton? By Keith Allison on Flickr, via Wikimedia Commons

Ideally, on any team in any sport, there is always a “best” player. This is the face of the franchise and much responsibility is put onto that player. In recent years, we have seen many franchise’s best players leave their team to go play for another, but few have actually been successful. The two main ones that come to mind are LeBron James, who left the Cavilers to join the Heat, and Albert Pujols, who left the Cardinals to join the Angels. LeBron has had success so far with the Heat, winning a title. But Pujols and the Angels have yet to make the playoffs and aren’t playing up to their potential for the second year in a row. At the same time, two smaller market franchises have lost their face of the franchise but have actually gotten better or stayed up to the same level of play. Both the Memphis Grizzlies and Texas Rangers have done this.

The Grizzlies made a trade back in January with the Toronto Raptors, sending former all star Rudy Gay away. Gay had been their face of the franchise since 2006. The Grizzlies weren’t very relevant until 2010, when they returned to the playoffs and ended up making it to the second round despite Gay’s absence due to injury. Many questioned whether or not the Grizzlies were better off without Gay playing but that just seemed outrageous because of his unique skill set. They gave the core of Gay, Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol and Mike Conley another year to see what they could do as a healthy team and the Grizzlies ended up losing in the first round to the Los Angeles Clippers and the whispers about Gay started looming. Finally the Grizzlies decided it was best to move Rudy Gay and his huge contract and did so. In return, they got some decent pieces including Ed Davis, Tayshaun Prince and Austin Daye. The Grizzlies were looked at as crazy for this trade and were expected to drop in the Western Conference but they did the exact opposite. As of right now, the Grizzlies have reached the first Western Conference Finals in team history and are competing for the chance to represent the West in the NBA Finals.

Rudy Gay was the face of Grizzlies basketball for a long time. Not anymore. By Game Face, via Wikimedia Commons

The Texas Rangers and slugging outfielder Josh Hamilton had success over the last few years — making it to two straight World Series. But after a disappointing season in which the Rangers failed to qualify for the playoffs after a heartbreaking wild card game loss, Hamilton and the Rangers decided it was time to part ways. Hamilton, in a shocking signing, joined Albert Pujols in Anaheim as a member of the Angels. With Hamilton and Pujols in the middle of the lineup, the Angels were supposed to shred records and were a top pick to make the World Series. Thus far, though, they are at the bottom of the standings, and many of their players aren’t playing to potential. The post-Hamilton Rangers, on the other hand were viewed in the preseason as still a good team but no where close to what they were with Hamilton. Much like the Grizzlies, the Rangers have succeeded, earning the best record in baseball so far, not seeming to miss Hamilton one bit.

Both the Grizzlies and Rangers management and fans have seen a lot of success after losing their face of the franchise. It is yet to be seen if the good play translates into a championship like in LeBron’s case, but they both look pretty good. Normally I wouldn’t say that losing the best player on your team is a good thing but for the Grizzlies and Rangers it just might have been true.