I personally think there are a lot more variables to it than "Hiko has a large fan base, and is minimally competent at the game".

Are there better options? Of course. There are better options than each player, depending on what your criteria is. Hiko brings intangibles that are valuable to the rest of the team and management, that's all there is to it. What those intangibles are is not for us to know. We can discuss them from the outside all day long, but it makes no difference. But when a time comes that those reasons are no longer valid, a change will be made.

Moving Hiko to content creation and off the Valorant team is an option, you know.

They can keep him employed and not one of the starting 5.

You are making accusations as if they are fact.

If an NA pro player gets banned, it will be a big deal, but until then, an observer feed from an online match is proof of absolutely nothing.