Can you believe it? Basketball player Kevin Garnett is currently in a six-year contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves that will pay him $120,000,000 with an included $10,000,000 signing bonus. Sure, it may seem like a lot, but just think about how much he gets to keep and what he has to go through. He will have to pay about 50% of his earnings in taxes and pay his agent about 10%. After all is said and done, he will receive roughly eight million dollars a year. Lets not forget he will have to go through in the next six-years. He will have no truly personal life because he will be followed by the media 24 hours a day 7 days a week. He will play at least five hundred games. In half of those games he will be roughed up and get pushed around by the opposing teams. He will also risk the chance of getting injured in any game, which may cause him his career.
Chicago girls at Sokol Sports, Prague, Austria (L...
English: Former basketball player Michael Jordan
English: Picture of Michael Jordan at a basketball...So do athletes such as Kevin Garnett deserve to get paid high dollar amounts? I believe so. Athletes do deserve to be paid based on their risk of health, exploitation of public image, as well as their contribution to fan satisfaction.
Most athletes are based on game-by-game basis while athletes such as golfers and tennis players are paid based on their performance at individual events and do not receive a fixed salary. Players such as Michael Jordan earn $78 million a year ($31 million in salary plus $47 million in endorsements) because that is what the market is willing to reward him. Who pays an athletes salary one may ask? Salaries are paid in a collaboration business compact (contract) between the owner and the player himself. Many contracts also come with a few million...