The median income for a household in the United States at $51,017, and some make more than that, and some make less. But there are however, the exceptions in our world of people who make a whole lot more than that $51,000. There are the celebrities of the world, who make millions upon millions of dollars a year. While many of them are indeed overpaid, some aren't, despite what you may think. And one of these iconic people got a whole lot richer on Monday, November 25th.
Kobe Bryant is arguably one of the best basketball players that has ever played the game. On Monday, he signed a two-year contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers, worth 48.5 million dollars. This year alone he will make more than 30.45 million dollars, and he hasn’t suited up for a single game so far this season. That is nearly 8 million dollars more than the next player on the salary list. Many speculate he will return from his Achilles injury that he suffered last April on Christmas day. If we assume he plays every game from then until the end of the season, he will be making approximately 564,000 dollars every game. If we assume he plays the same amount of time per game as he did last year (38.6 minutes per game), he will be making over 14,600 dollars per minute he is on the floor. And not only is he making money from his contract, in 2013 he will make 32 million dollars on endorsements, jersey sales, etc.
With Kobe being the third highest paid player in NBA history, and soon to pass Shaquille O’Neal to be second, you may think that this is a ludicrous amount of money the Lakers have shelled out to some athlete to play a game, but the Los Angeles Lakers are paying for a lot more than that. The Lakers franchise is the 2nd ranked team in the NBA when it comes to team value, being worth 1 billion dollars. When they signed Kobe to the extension, they knew that they were going to be making that money back, with the 74 million dollars he has brought in by filling the seats with stands. According to ESPN, the Lakers in 2010 had been the top selling team when it came to merchandise seven out of the last eight years, with Kobe’s jersey topping the list of most sold jerseys among NBA fans, more than players such as Lebron James, Derrick Rose, and Kevin Durant. Not to mention that he has helped the Lakers win 5 championships within the decade of the 2000s. The Lakers bring in an annual revenue of 176 million dollars, and the owner of the Lakers, Jerry Buss, once said Kobe brings in over $80 million a year to the Lakers in revenue.
If they hadn't signed him to that extension and he had gone elsewhere, you could expect something to happen like what happened in Cleveland, when Lebron James left to go play for the Miami Heat. The Cavaliers dropped from second in total attendance in the NBA during James' final season in 2010 to 19th in the 2012 season. To add onto the damage, the worth of the Cavaliers took the brunt of the impact, dropping 26 percent in value, according to Forbes in January 2011, with another 7 percent drop in 2012. Lebrons move also cost downtown businesses upwards of $150 million in revenue and perhaps even damage the local government.
So when the Lakers gave Kobe that huge extension, they weren't paying just for the points he’ll put up on the board. With him being included in conversations about the best all time in the game of basketball, they’re paying to get fans in the seats, and to continue to keep the sales at the top of the league. The marginal benefit of Kobe Bryant is greater than that of the marginal cost for the Los Angeles franchise.
"Here's a list of the 100 highest paid NBA players ever, including 16 who made more than Michael Jordan." FanIQ. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. <http://www.faniq.com/blog/100-highest-paid-NBA-players-
of-all-time-Blog-54092>.
Guarini, Drew. "Life After LeBron: How Cleveland's Economy Is Faring After The Star's Departure." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 8 June 2012. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/08/life-after-lebron-how-clevelands-economy-is-faring_n_1582328.html>.
"Los Angeles Lakers." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. http://www.forbes.com/teams/los-angeles-lakers/>.
Badenhausen, Kurt. "Kobe And LeBron Top List Of The NBA's Highest-Paid Players." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 23 Jan. 2013. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2013/01/23/kobe-and-lebron-top-list-of-the-nbas-highest-paid-players/>.
"Kobe's No. 24 is No. 1 in jersey sales."ESPN.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. <http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/news/story?id=5142370>.
Yes, Kobe Bryant does increase the value of the Lakers, and every team has a player that has an all star athlete that adds value to their team. However, considering that Kobe is one of the top 3 basketball athletes it is no wonder why he adds value and popularity to the team. Furthermore, I knew that basketball players make a lot of money, but when you put it into perspective of how much they make per minute, for Kobe it is rather ridiculous. Especially since they are making more than the president who is in charge of our country's fate.
ReplyDeleteI think it is ridiculous the amount of money professional athletes are paid. I am so curious to know how much more the economy would improve if athletes would be paid less. Why are were paying athletes up to 80 million dollars when we are economically unstable? We are 31 trillion dollar in debt and it isn't going to decrease soon. Shouldn't we be paying doctors and the president more? People who dribble a ball for entertainment aren't saving lives and determining the future of America.
ReplyDeleteSo the reason why people are being signed for so much is because owners are getting paid more to see on special player increasing sells which is why players get paid more money in this case. The owner of the LA Lakers was therefore smart in signing Kobe because of the overall result in money. To the owner signing him was a no brainier; he gets paid what Kobe will make plus a bunch more money.
ReplyDeleteI believe it is ridiculous to be paying him that much. However it’s probably necessary as the franchise is making more money than they are paying Kobe. We pretty much make his paycheck as fans. We watch him on ESPN, we go to his games and we buy his merchandise. Although he is paid so much it’s suiting because he has a lot of fans. His fan base grows even more every day, which in return makes the Lakers have a higher growth rate.
ReplyDeletePlayers that make into the pro's make millions of dollars and it is unreal when you calculate out how much money they make just doing what they do. But the fact is they got there somehow and that somehow required a lot of time and effort and hardwork. Not all pro's make it there just because they are naturally good but because they have their minds set and work hard. That however doesn't mean they should be getting paid so much money, but I guess you can't just change the system.
ReplyDeletegame kiu kiueven though he has died his name will still be remembered by basketball enthusiasts
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