NBA More than A Bunch of Whining Millionaires

The perception that many people have of professional athletes is that they are overpaid, under worked, arrogant individuals who get paid way too much money to essentially play a game for a living. Though it is a reasonable perception given what the public sees of professional sport, it is far from the truth. The median salary among NBA players is in the $2 million range. But what people forget, in addition to the fact that many players are paid salaries well below this median, is the limited career span of an NBA player. The 10-year guaranteed contracts may be what get the publicity, but the average career of an NBA player is just under 5 years. Do the math and that comes out to a median earnings potential of around $10 million. Dont get me wrong, these guys arent poor and in fact are probably part of the infamous 1% crowd. Given that the average career of your everyday white-collar worker is upwards of 35 years, NBA players make on average the equivalent of about $285,000 spread out over that 35 year span. That is definitely a lot of money, but it isnt so much that players can go about their lives without financial worry. And when you think about the consequence of losing a season's worth of salary, the impact is tremendous, the equivalent of losing 7 years of work in a "normal" job. Say what you want about the decision to reject the final offer that NBA owners gave this week. In fact, I would probably agree that they lose leverage with each passing minute. But to say that the players should stop whining and go back to their multi-million dollar mansions is simply an ignorance of the realities that many NBA players face. This lockout fight isnt about the Lebron James' and Chris Paul's of the world, although their decision to stand up for their teammates is to be commended (not Lebron's, but certainly Paul's). Rather, it is about the average players, those guys you see on the bench who have made the game of basketball their livelihood and who are fighting to ensure that they can continue to do so. Just keep that in mind when you call for an end to the fight.