Where will Lebron James play next year? Where will Dwayne Wade play? How much money will these two make playing basketball for the next few years?
These are the questions that seem to be running rampant in the sports world these days. I am a basketball coach, and a fan of basketball, but this to me seems a little ridiculous. Here we are in one of the worst economic downfalls in history and these two guys are seeing which team can pay them a max salary.
A max salary if you may know, is the most that a team can offer under the current bargaining agreement and the salary cap associated with each team. So there are teams right now that are cutting guys, trading players, and making all sorts of deals that will enable them to pay one of these guy in excess of $100 million dollars.
$100 million dollars! That is outrageous. These guys don't solve world hunger, they don't cure diseases, they aren't teachers in a classroom helping to shape young minds for the future, they are guys who are good at putting a round ball through an iron rim.
I am just finding it hard to wrap my head around. $100 million dollars. Now, this is spread out over a few years, but still. That number is just ridiculous.
I'm not saying these guys aren't good, they are. They are phenomenal players and deserve compensation for the skills they possess, but I don't think they are worth that much.
Think about what owners are going to have to do to help offset these costs. Raise ticket prices, raise concession prices (As if they weren't high enough), turn their arenas into gigantic billboards.
I hope it's worth it. I really do. If these two don't end up on the same team, and they don't win the NBA Championship every year of their new max contracts, this will be the biggest waste of money since Waterworld, or buying Baltic Ave in Monopoly.
That's just my opinion. Until next time
P
Hey, PJ! I agree it's an awful lot of money, but when fans stop watching or dishing out the money to be at the games, then advertisers will spend less and players will make less. It's all about supply and demand. Hot shot cricket players don't make much in the US because there's no demand for them. Women's professional soccer in the US ended the same year we won the Women's World Cup (which, incidentally, was held in the US). The #1 player was only paid $50k, and after no one made much profit, the sport ended. Admittedly, I've watched more professional mens basketball than I have professional women's soccer. - Julianne
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