Conrad Kaczmarek and Eric Maroun both share love for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but they differ on whether or not players should be paid for playing basketball in the Olympics. To settle this debate, they took their viewpoints to e-mail. What you see below are the results.
Eric: Earlier today, Dwyane Wade came out and threw out the idea that players should be paid for participating in the Olympics. Nevermind the fact that he was agreeing with comments Ray Allen made earlier in the week expressing the exact same sentiments; Wade is a member of Team John Dillinger so the heat is on him (see what I did there?). Wade’s basic argument is that for a team expected to make a deep playoff run, preparation for the Olympics, the Games themselves, and training camp for next season shortly thereafter provides very little R&R time. While it’s not all about the money, in his mind, players making that commitment should be compensated for the work that they are putting in.
Wade threw out the idea of generating the money through jersey licensing. I wouldn’t mind this idea, and I’d totally be on board with a setup similar to the United States’ bicameral legislature. Here’s what I am proposing. Every player on Team USA gets a base amount for simply making the team ($100,000? $250,000? The specific details can be worked out later). This puts all players on a similar level the way that the US Senate affords two representatives to every state. On top of that, each player could get a percentage (5%? 10%? 20%?) of their jerseys that are sold. Safe to say, Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant jerseys are going to outsell those of Tyson Chandler should they all make it to London. It would be like the US House of Representatives where seats are allocated based on population; in this case, the more popular the player, the more money he will receive. I see this as a reasonable, fair compensation for dedicating their time, effort, and bodies to the Olympic team.
You disagree with the idea of players being compensated for playing in the Olympics. Tell me why I’m wrong.
Conrad: Alright so I’d figure that I better start my rebuttal off by pointing out that you are undeniably wrong. If the readers take nothing else away from this post, I just hope that they realize how wrong you are. That being said, I think there is a number of reasons why I disagree with Dwyane Wade and Ray Allen’s comments. I understand the point about making a bigger commitment when you’re already short on time. That time is valuable for NBA players in the offseason and I certainly don’t intend to underestimate that value. I guess my biggest gripe with his argument is that it simply isn’t mandatory. There will be people who want to harp on the honor of representing your country on the international stage and such, but that’s not my concern. While there is some validity to that angle, my main point is that they simply don’t have to do it. If your time is so valuable that you cannot possibly give up two weeks without compensation to play in the Olympics, just don’t do it. If representing your country is such an inconvenience that you can’t do it for free, just don’t do it. There’s nothing that forces the top tier players to make that commitment.
Eric: If this was 1992, I would totally be with you. However, if the past decade or so has shown us anything, it’s that we can’t simply pick a team of 12 guys, send them across the pond, and let the gold medals land on their necks. The competition has caught up to the USA, and unfortunately, the days of routing Angola by 68 are over. Our goal is to win, and as a country, we need to do what we can to send the best representation of USA basketball to the Games as possible. If that involves taking some of the money that’s being made off of merchandising (or other avenues) and funneling it back to the players who are doing the work, so be it. I don’t see the problem here.
Are there a number of role players that would jump at the chance to represent their country in the Olympics for free? Sure. Are there elite college level players that would do it? Of course they would. Hell, they play for free for a lot less than national pride as it is now. But that’s not the point. I’m sure that there are plenty of people that would do my job for less money, but that doesn’t make me wrong for wanting to get paid for the work I do. I’m with D-Wade and Jesus S. on this one.
Conrad: So how much money are we talking here? We’ve established that you need the elite of the elite to win on the international level now, so how much money do those guys make? Is this compensation just some sort of gesture to make them feel like they aren’t wasting their time or is it something that is actually going to make a difference in their bank accounts? Now before you dismiss that as something that doesn’t matter — of course it matters. Does $250,000 make a ton of difference to Dwyane Wade? He makes $15 million+ a year. I just don’t see the lack of money as being a deal breaker for most elite NBA players. Getting money for playing in the Olympics would be nice, sure. Getting money for doing anything is nice. These guys play charity games in the offseason all the time, why not do it for your country once every four years?
Eric: Without having access to the financials of the Olympics, or more specifically USA Basketball, I cannot estimate what the actual payouts what can be. But in true debate fashion, I’ll answer a question with a question: What WOULD it take in your mind to make a difference in their bank accounts? No matter what the figure is (assuming we’re being realistic), if it can’t be taken out of the USA basketball account, there are certainly other avenues to explore that would result in that money appearing somewhere. But I don’t even think that the actual bottom line is the issue here. It’s the principle that they want to be compensated monetarily for their work.
These guys play in charity games because it’s for a good cause. Not only are they raising money for those less fortunate, but there is no fallout if you’re on the losing side because the ultimate goal is to have fun and entertain, not win. In contrast, the USA’s 2004 Olympic “Nightmare Team” was skewered for getting hammered in Athens and being the only time a team of US professionals didn’t take home gold. There is obviously a higher level of play at the Olympic level, and higher stakes are involved. Plus, the preparation required to play in one, or even multiple, pickup games pales in comparison to that of preparing for the Olympics. It’s akin to comparing the Rookie-Sophomore game to an NBA playoff game, except they might actually play more defense in the Rookie-Sophomore game.
If these guys could roll out of bed, throw on their shoes, drive to the arena, and play a couple games during the week and call that the Olympics, I’d be arguing that they should be doing it for free. For the weeks of training, workouts, and travel involved though, they absolutely deserve to get paid. Now, if they feel like the money they were to get doesn’t matter to them and they choose to donate the money to charity, more power to them. At least put them in position to make the choice though.
Conrad: Your last sentence is exactly my point. Put them in position to make the choice? They are in that position. No one is making them play. LeBron James said himself that he’s just honored to be picked for the team. I figure that’d be enough. If there were NBA players turning down the Olympics because they weren’t making money, I think it might be time to consider a change. The fact of the matter is that most players probably agree with LeBron (lol wut?) and don’t feel that they need to get paid to represent their country. If Wade doesn’t want to play because he wants a couple hundred thousand in exchange for his time, that’s fine. Let James Harden or Eric Gordon take his spot. I just don’t believe that enough guys feel this way that the USA would be unable to find elite talent.
Eric: I meant put them in position of being able to choose whether they keep the money for themselves or donate it to charity. I understand that no one is forcing them to play and there are willing participants to take their place, but the fact remains that money is being made off of the work that they are putting in and they are not seeing a dime of it. It’s ridiculous at the college level that football and basketball teams generate a massive portion of the yearly athletic revenue for schools, yet the players, excuse me, STUDENT-ATHLETES, are prohibited from profiting off of their work in any way. Same principle applies here. The Olympic players are the ones that people pay to see play the games, buy the jerseys of, and watch on TV. They should be entitled to a cut of that.
Conrad: The same principle doesn’t apply here because: A) there are various other ways for these guys to go make money during that time. If they want to go pursue endorsement deals during those 2 weeks (once every 4 years), then they can do that and probably make more money. B) The college players have no other (reasonable) opportunity to play basketball. I’ve long been a proponent of paying college players (or at least letting them go to the NBA out of high school), but this isn’t the same thing. You aren’t restricting the players’ earning potential. It’s just saying “hey, here’s an opportunity to volunteer and represent your country”. No one makes them do it. If you want to do it, do it because it’s volunteer work. I’d close this argument by saying two things. First, Dwyane Wade went on Twitter today and pretty much retracted some of his statements. He said he never claimed that he wanted to be paid, just thought that players should be paid (whatever that means). And second, and more importantly, you are so wrong. The wrongest of the wrong. Beyond wrong. A drunk baby could formulate a better argument than you could. So, yeah.
Eric: I have serious concerns with the parent that gave that baby alcohol, but that’s a discussion for another time. It’s pretty apparent that we aren’t going to change each other’s minds on this, so I will leave you with the following. As a Cleveland sports fan, I know that you remember Josh Cribbs’ Pay The Man motto from a couple of off-seasons ago. In a sign of solidarity with Wade and Mr. Shuttlesworth, I am starting the Pay The Men campaign. Of course, it was either that, or “You’re wrong,†which for the record, is accurate.
