Professional Sports - NBA Players are Greedy Essay

NBA Players are Greedy How many of us would love to make $2.4 million a year? Or even better, how does $126 million over a six-year period sound? Then again, why stop there? As John Donovan, a sports analyst for Sports Illustrated and CNN points out, with the average salary of players in the NBA at $2.4 million a year, and some players with contracts well over $100 million, its hard to see what many of them are complaining about. Players in the NBA need to stop being so greedy, agree to a drug policy and realize that they are employed by the owners and should follow all rules and regulations set by the league. Even though the NBA is a multi-billion dollar industry, it does not mean that the owners should have†¦show more content†¦Many players might say that it is the leagues and owners fault for some of the outrageous salaries being paid, but when the league tries to control the problem, the players are against any of the suggestions they have. The current salary cap, called a soft cap, lets teams spend $27 million a year on player salaries (Donovan, John NBA). The problem is that under current rules, there are too many loopholes a team can use to go well over the limit. One of these loopholes is the Larry Bird exception that grants teams the ability to resign veteran players without it counting towards the salary cap. This is why teams like the Chicago Bulls can pay Michael Jordan ($33 million last year) more than 17 teams pay all of their players combined. The rule was originally designed so that a team could keep important veteran players and still have money to sign new ones. This rule has now been misused so much that teams are paying players $100 million plus over a 4-6 year period and say they are just using the Larry Bird rule. Team misuse of rules has made it so large teams are making it harder and harder for small teams to stay competitive. Loren Jorgensen, a sports writer for the Utah paper Deseret News, states that big market teams like Chicago, New York, Los Angeles can pay players enormous amounts that make it impossible for the small market teams to holdShow MoreRelatedAre Nba Players Overpaid?1513 Words   |  7 PagesAre NBA players overpaid? The subject of money can be very controversial when it comes to sports in general. Whether it is the NFL, NBA, or MLB, they all exist because of large sums money. The NBA in particular produces billions of dollars of revenue each year in advertisements, ticket sales, apparel, and other forms. Through these different forms of revenue, a portion of this money goes to all 30 teams in the NBA. In the millions of dollars that each team receives, parts of it go to the ownersRead MoreNational Basketball Association : The Lockout Essay2273 Words   |  10 PagesNational Basketball Players Association. 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