Six Year Deal Worth 103 2 Million example essay topic

InAthlete's Salaries Athlete Salaries In the past few decades, athlete salaries have escalated like that of a superb stock equity. Athletes are taking full advantage of their position, causing the average man to wonder how high will they go. Some feel that athletes are greedy people who have lost care for the true meaning of their salary, the love of the game. Others feel that if a person is able to earn that kind of money, why shouldn t they? Increases in athlete salaries will bring up the question on whether athletes are worth the money by researching the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement (before and after the approval), by observing the current salaries of top athletes in their respective sports, and by concocting possible solutions. Shaquille O Neal, formerly of the Orlando Magic, signed almost two years ago with the Los Angeles Lakers for an enormous $120 million over seven seasons.

Alonzo Mourning signed with the Miami Heat for a seven year deal worth about $112 million. These fat contracts have brought out the question: Are pro athletes worth the millions they are paid? Basketball Hall of Famer David Thompson states, "Players have such a short time to make their money. If you look at others in the entertainment business, you d think so.

Look at Mike Tyson. He made $30 million for the six minutes and 50 seconds it took for him to knockout Frank Bruno' (Rhodes and Reibstein 44). Zachary M. Jones, an attorney at Howard University in Washington D.C., utters, "Superstar athletes are few in number, so the demand is high, which raises the price for their services significantly' (Sapor ito 61). Furthermore, Mark Rosen, who has been a sportscaster at WCCO-TV for almost 25 years, also feels pro athletes are not overpaid. He says, "The owners are just trying to get a team together. The problem is they want to do that immediately.

"In a couple years, after Garnett develops into a superstar, people will be saying Boy, I m glad we signed him [Garnett]. ' Rosen thinks that it was undoubtedly necessary to have rookie salary caps. "If there weren t those rookie caps, kids out of college, even high school like KG [Kevin Garnett], would be signing these multi-million dollar contracts right after the draft. There is no doubt in my mind that that was a good thing to do.

' He also feels that these high salaries are good because it shows that revenue is going up (Rosen). Sports salaries have sky rocketed in the past ten to fifteen years. Professional athletes have moved from six figure salaries to nine figure salaries in what seems like a snap of a finger. Michael Jordan, for example, got paid about $35 million a year not counting endorsements. Let's put that in easier terms: – $439,000 a game – $12,500 a minute played, assuming he plays about 35 minute per game – $209 a second played – almost $40,000 a jumps hot, assuming he makes 11 jump shots pe game That is a ton of money when one looks at it this way.

If one includes the endorsements he gets, which are from Nike, Gatorade, Hanes, Ballpark hot dogs, Jordan shoes and clothing, Rayovac Batteries, and Michael Jordan cologne, he makes about one million dollars per game. Now this is a little too much, even if it is, in fact, Michael Jordan, probably the best basketball player to play the game. Jordan said that he would not play for any other team except the Bulls. It's not only he wouldn t, but he could not, unless he was willing to take a pay cut. This was because the NBA salary cap was about $27 million.

He was already getting $36 million with the Bulls a few years ago. The Bulls could have paid him as much as they want because the cap doesn t apply to teams re-signing their own players. Can a seven foot, small forward named Kevin Garnett, who was drafted right out of high school, be able to take the Timberwolves to a title in a few years? If so, he may be as valuable to them as Michael Jordan is to the Bulls. Garnett, who is averaging near 23 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, and two blocks per game, signed a six year deal worth $126 million at the end of September of 1997 after his agent, Eric Fleisher, declared, "Kevin Garnett will not re-sign with the [Minnesota] club after next season' (Asch burner). This was on August 12, 1997.

Glen Taylor, the Timberwolves owner, had a first offer on the table. It was a six year deal worth $103.2 million. Fans were shocked when Garnett and his agent turned it down. The Timberwolves couldn t imagine their future without Kevin Garnett. Taylor then offered a $118 million deal which he also turned down.

Finally Taylor offered $126 million. Fleisher asked Taylor for an "out' clause, meaning Garnett could have the choice of leaving after three or four years. Taylor said, "No. ' Garnett signed the deal. Garnett jumped from $2.1 million in 1997-98 to $14 million in 1998-99, to $16.8 million this year. After this year he will take in about $19.6 million, $22.4 million, $25.2 million, and in the final year of the deal, he will receive $28 million.

Every penny is guaranteed, even if he is injured or doesn t develop into a superstar. Fleisher made the comment, "One of the concerns I had is that Kevin is making a six-year commitment to them. The market has escalated so rapidly, who's to say that, after a few years, Kevin wouldn t be in a position where he is worth far more. ' Certainly a 22 year old kid can live on $126 million quite alright.

Before doing an in-depth analysis of pro sports salaries, one ignorant person would conclude that these salaries are way too high. However, sports salaries are "okay' to be enormous. This is because high salaries show that the economy and basketball revenue are up, because that is where the owners get the money to pay the athletes. After Glen Taylor signed upcoming superstar Kevin Garnett, season ticket sales went soaring. Finally, if a player is allowed to make the money, why is it such a bad thing? More power to them.

Yet athletes should be satisfied with their current salary status. As you can very well see, salaries have risen to unbearable heights, yet it is inevitable. With the economy as it is who knows when it will begin to level off. All we can do is sit back and watch..