Have you ever wondered why National Basketball Association owners pay a 21 year-old college student twenty million dollars to play professional basketball? James Mitchum IV, owner of the Houston Tornadoes, wondered about that very same thing. While sitting in his office, he knew that a plan needed to be devised to change the system. Why is he cutting a check to a guy who hasn’t even played a game? Why is he paying a player for potential? What if that player doesn’t live up to that potential, can he get his money back? The answer to his dilemma is buried somewhere between the pages of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. After reading that document from stem to stern, he finds his answer, and he devises a plan to change the pay structure for the NBA players. The players won’t like it, but so what?
Kelly Wilken is a native of Youngstown, Ohio. She is a retired United States Navy veteran, who currently works as a Human Resource Classification Specialist with the Federal Government. She holds an Associates of Arts Degree in Business Administration, Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Management, and a Master’s of Science Degree in Human Resource Management. She has always loved reading, and that love spilled over into writing. Kelly resides in Hampton, Virginia with her husband Alan and their daughter, Jessica.
I propose that we agree to put a cap on the salaries offered to all new rookies this year. I mean the number one draft pick all the way down. Granted, the number one draft pick is something special, but history has shown that simply being number one does not guarantee that your team will make it to the quarter-finals, semi-finals or the finals. History has also shown that the number one draft pick doesn’t always turn out to be the number one rookie, or even the number one player. So why should we pay some young man twenty million dollars to play professional basketball.