Reality check for Miami's Stephen Ross

[Spider-Dan]

And yet with their highest numbers in years there is between 17-22 teams that are in financial trouble and losing money.

What is this statement based on?

Also while the NBA plays more games, the players face less chance of a career ending injury on any given game day. They are grossly overpaid for what they do.

So players' pay should be based on the likelihood of a career-ending injury?

Basketball players play MUCH, MUCH more game time than football players and spend much more time traveling.  In 2009-10, Drew Brees played in 19 games and was actually playing for less than half of those games.  In the same season, Kobe Bryant played more time than that in the playoffs alone.

If your argument is that basketball players don't deserve their pay, that's a tough argument to make.  They spend more time on the court/field than baseball or football (because you don't get to go sit down at change of possession) and individual hockey players don't play anywhere near the amount of minutes per game that NBA players do (in 2010-11, the #1 NHL player in minutes-on-ice would have been good for #117 in NBA minutes-per-game).

[badger6]

The way I see it. The NFL is the most popular of the 3 and the players are a part of that popularity. Therefore, regardless of how much they play, they still generate more money. So therefore, they should get paid more money. I'm sure if the NFL was a popular as beach volleyball that the players wouldn't be making anywhere near what they are making now. It's all relative.

[Spider-Dan]

badger6, when there are almost four times as many players per team in the NFL as in the NBA, how do you plan to execute your goal of NFL players making more money?

As I see it, your options are limited to the following:

1) NFL owners give their players a drastic pay increase... but the owners are already locking the players out over what they are paying now
2) NBA owners cut their players' salary drastically... so NBA owners wind up making much more money than NFL owners?

You can technically argue for increasing NFL revenue (e.g. raising ticket prices) so that they can match NBA players' salaries, but I don't know how much support that plan will get.

[bsmooth]

What is this statement based on?
So players' pay should be based on the likelihood of a career-ending injury?

Basketball players play MUCH, MUCH more game time than football players and spend much more time traveling.  In 2009-10, Drew Brees played in 19 games and was actually playing for less than half of those games.  In the same season, Kobe Bryant played more time than that in the playoffs alone.

If your argument is that basketball players don't deserve their pay, that's a tough argument to make.  They spend more time on the court/field than baseball or football (because you don't get to go sit down at change of possession) and individual hockey players don't play anywhere near the amount of minutes per game that NBA players do (in 2010-11, the #1 NHL player in minutes-on-ice would have been good for #117 in NBA minutes-per-game).

The average salary for the NBA is 5 million a year. Plus rookie minimum is almost 500k for sitting on the bench, and it goes up considerably until it maxes at over 1.3 minimum for over 10+ years which is almost twice the NFL. So guys who sit on the bench and get no real minutes per game make much more than comparable players in the NFL.

[Spider-Dan]

bsmooth, who do you think makes more money: the 10th highest-paid player on an NFL team, or the 10th highest paid player on an NBA team?

The competition for roster spots in the NBA is much higher (to say nothing of the fact that NBA rosters pull from a worldwide talent pool, while nearly every NFL player is from the U.S.).  They deserve to be paid more.

edit:  I'll go ahead and give an example, from two comparable teams in 2010 (team in a large media market that advanced to conference finals):

10th highest-paid Chicago Bear- LB Nick Roach, $1,684,000
10th highest-paid Chicago Bull- PF Kurt Thomas, $1,352,181

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

^^^ 10th best player on an NFL team is a starter, 10th best player on an NBA team is a waterboy. 

[Spider-Dan]

The 20th best player on an NFL team is a starter.  The 20th best person on an NBA team is out of a job.

The point is that the level of competition to be on an NBA team is much harder, simply because there are less slots available.