For these Olympics, the question of whether athletes should speak out on political issues has again arisen, a familiar one for Buric.
The lawsuit, itself a consolidation of several cases, has expanded beyond its origins into the bigger question of whether athletes at major universities should receive a portion of the money cascading into college sports from TV networks like ESPN.
There is a question of whether athletes should bring political and social issues into the arena, but national leaders have certainly done it, mandating boycotts that diminished Summer Olympic Games in Moscow and Los Angeles.
(The full NLRB, it should be noted, did not rule on the question of whether athletes are employees; instead, it declined to assert jurisdiction in the case).
The IOC could have handled the question of Russian athlete participation with a uniform set of guidelines that would have provided the advantages of clarity, consistency and transparency, while avoiding the legal quagmire into which the IOC has cast the 28 International Federations.
Scott has imposed a ban on the media asking questions of his athletes about the suits in an attempt to protect the team from further distraction.
Although no American has mentioned the Zika virus as the reason, former Laker and current Bulls forward Pau Gasol openly questioned the safety of athletes and said he'd like to have more information.
The unspoken divide between black people and white people — whether over reparations, affirmative action, or the question of paying N.C.A.A. athletes — comes down to a question of history.
Let's put aside the question of why college athletes usually have to sit out a year when they transfer, even though coaches can switch schools at the drop of a hat.
But Ms. Walker uses that moment to pivot to a disturbing look at high-risk sports and the traumatic brain injuries associated with them, as well as the slippery question of what drives athletes to keep trying to go higher, faster and more extreme.
