Because it's easier to measure an athlete's performance than to measure a CEO's.
And athletes usually have no right to fire people (at least not a lot of people at once).
And athletes usually have no right to fire people (at least not a lot of people at once).
Tom Brady famously got Gronk out of retirement and Brown was on the team because of Brady despite having a horrible reputation and being essentially blacklisted from the NFL.
Star players are a dime a dozen in professional sports and I don't think their influence on the team makeup is as rare as you think. In fact, a big name star might have _more_ hiring power than a typical CEO in a public company.