Do NBA players get paid too much?

in basketball •  8 years ago  (edited)

With the salary cap having gone up this year and expected to continue to rise in the future do these players deserve this much money? I will give 2 arguments

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Source-http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/news/season-opening-night-free-agency-2016-television-money-salary-cap/8u5609qkrbta18bqdxpvmh69c

Should they be getting this much?

With Stephen Curry signing a contract guaranteeing him $40 million a year for the next 5 years, a person starts to wonder whether these players are getting paid too much! As a society should we not make an effort to fund things like science and medicine and so on, rather than forking out millions on individuals who are no doubt exceptional at what they do but at the end of the day are entertainers. Would mankind not be better served if it were to put that much money and resources into making the life of our fellow man better.

Why it is justified

At the of the day the NBA, like many other sports is a business and like any business, they are selling something. If people show up at your door buying what you are selling no one is going to judge you for asking a price when the demand rises. These players work very hard for their pay day and are just employees to a massive business. So in the grand scheme, the NBA is just an extremely successful business. No one questions when the employee with the best results gets a pay rise, so why should it be any different for a sportsman

My opinion

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I am a very big fan of basketball and I do believe these players have made a case for themselves to earn what they do. But, I don't feel that it is fair that for instance that a doctor who physically saves lives, or an army serviceman who risks his life, gets paid pennies on the dollar in comparison to what sportsmen get paid to do in essence what they love to do! Humanity should be less concerned with entertaining itself and more concerned with bettering itself but that just how I feel about it.

If you have any basketball/sports related posts that I might find interesting, please comment below and we can interact!

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There are two sides to this equation. On one side you have the moral aspect of the question and on the other you have the economic aspect.

On the moral side, I think you would be hard pressed to find someone that truly believes that Steph Curry deserves to make 1000 times more than your average teacher, but it is what it is.

Economically, if I recall correctly, NBA superstars (Steph Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, etc.) are actually underpaid based on the business they bring in for their team and league. It's actually a part of the reason the NBA has a salary cap because if it didn't competitive balance would go out the window and it would simply be a matter of which owner was willing to pay the most (look at the MLB for a prime example).

Yeah I agree it is a very difficult argument just because each side has valid points!

The players are paid whatever the market will bear. I don't see it as good or bad, it just is what it is. Entertainment has a value.

I agree I just bring up the point that maybe the market should try to bear for other fields.

  ·  8 years ago (edited)

Its funny because some people would argue that American physicians are overpaid as is. Like @lig007 said below, the players are paid based on how the business is doing (and as you mentioned in your post as well). There is no right or wrong in this situation.

However, it would not be feasible for doctors to be paid more "comparably" to these athletes, because then the health care costs in America which are already astronomical would increase even further. Do you want to pay more for a doctors visit? I sure don't. And the same line of reasoning applies to teachers.

I'm not saying teachers, doctors, and other public service workers don't OR do deserve what they are paid, but comparing them to athletes and arguing that their work is more valuable is completely a moot point.

The reason athletes and actors/actresses get paid millions upon millions is because of our desire for their services.

That is sort of the point. The value is dictated by the client and in this case, there are just so many clients. To your point, nobody wants to go to the doctor but they do want to go to an NBA game and are willing to pay. So it is as you say down to the desire for said service.

I think its good that they are getting the increased salaries with all the TV contracts and such, the executives are still making a boat load more, thats something we dont talk about because we dont see those numbers, we just hear the big player contracts and just think...wow.
Im a big sports fan in general you should check my posts out, thanks :)
My teams are the knicks, mets, and patriots :)

Ah, a fellow Knicks fan to share in my pain! Yeah, the executives get ridiculous amounts!!

and what of teacher..the salaries of sportsmen is crazy...too much..way too much...if you look to Europe...the footbalers also take crazy money while noble profession like teachers, firemen, police, army recie far to nothing
nice posts though

  ·  8 years ago (edited)

no, they have a set of skills that takes a whole youthful lifetime to achieve! health and determination is just one of a few factors. go lakers! west coast, best coast, # 1 team.

I understand your point however in the same breath, aren't other fields with sets of skills that better serve society doing the same thing to an extent but just gatting paid less for it?

Well Said! A lot of people dismiss the amount of work that it takes to go this far. Then when you consider the amount of money that is made from viewers and filling stadiums, its only right that they are paid for their contributions. after all, without the players their is no NBA

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Thank you for the compliment!

Value is determined by the individual. I believe there are better ways to spend money but I am not opposed to determined value.