Basketball Salaries are way too High
Of all American sports, Basketball is number one. We all love the stars. We love the game. But does that justify salaries of more than $10 million? Let’s consider the facts before us. First we can look at the situation on a basic level, comparing a basketball star’s weekly work with that of a manual labor. The 60-hour work week of cleaning floors and lifting crates performed by many blue collar workers is a lot more than anything an NBA player puts in at their weekly practices. Even if the inequity of physical labor is taken out of the equation, this situation is still far from balanced? Is there even a comparison between an 8-hour day of driving a truck and playing basketball?
There’s just no comparison when you look at the average Joe. But doesn’t it end up coming down to more than that? This is because talent is hard to come by, and talent is something basketball stars have in no short supply. Throughout history that one little word has spelled the difference between the gods and the clods. But what if basketball salaries were high even by the standards of other major league sports? The average Major League Baseball player makes around $3 million per year, as given by salary research performed by USA Today. That’s quite a salary. On the other hand, NFL players earn an average of just $775,000 per year. So what are the NBA numbers? According to KayCircle’s article on NBA salaries, the average pro basketball player breaks $4 million, more than the other two sports combined. So are they earning this bonus money? The MLB season lasts a full 162 games, almost double that of the NBA’s 82. The NFL season, however, only lasts 16 games. And yet, consider what it means to play football. It is a lot rougher of a sport. Even its practices are loaded with broken bones and head injuries.
Considering this, what could be the reason why the NBA doles out such higher salaries than any other major sport? The simple answer is popularity. As mentioned before, basketball is the number 1 sport in the US. Is the system balanced? Beats me. But I will say this. Throw me a cold be, flip on the Bulls game, and I won’t complain a bit.
