This page is my view on the exchange of money and talent in a sport called basketball.  This is my opinion, not necessarily factual data, on this rampant  situation. 

Money for talent has been an issue for nearly a century now.  It has revolutionized the outlook people have on sports.  In the old days, money was not that big of a factor in sports.  You could earn a higher salary doing other things such as making the first this or that than you could scoring some kind of point in some elaborate game.  Playing a game for money was nonsense in the 40s due to the lack of publicity and, thus, money.  But then, beginning in the 50s, and carrying on even stronger now, people became more interested in sports, and that’s about when the NBA really started.  The game is about the same now as it was 50 years ago (some new rules, a 3-point line), but the cash crop involved has skyrocketed, turning this sport into a multi-billion dollar industry in the past decade or two.  Sports have changed to accommodate with the time period and the NBA has become one of the few things that has succeeded as a bustling business for over half a century now.  But the love for the game, as it was back then, has changed into love for glory and money.  Is money what it is all about now?

Owners pay players and coaches, fans and companies who want to sell their products pay owners more than the owners pay their players and coaches.  That is picture most people see in the NBA.  But what about the details?  What about the people behind the desks in NBA buildings who do get their share as well?  And what about the salary cap that seems to limit the amount of talent in the NBA?  Well, this is what the NBA is all about.

Now, a lot of exchanges are involved to make this huge corporation an established success in a world looking for the next big thing.  More kids want to play in the NBA and other major sports leagues due to the fame and money they hope to acquire.  These people have seen others from ghettos and other poor areas get instant cash for the ability to shoot a ball into a hoop.  This belies the truth that much less than one percent of those who attempt to get to the pros actually make it.  So, now the kids are hooked on all these sports and focusing less on other, more important things.  And, when they inevitably fail, where will they be heading now with no education?  With a bunch of obese guys without jobs who spend their money on beer and cable for their favorite games?  But, all this propaganda gives the NBA tons of money because people would rather play sports and look and feel like the best than look and feel like the best in school?  With this advantage over the youth, the NBA can be sure to get a lot of money from ticket sales and plenty of money from their merchandise.  With this, the NBA is sure to thrive.

Now that the NBA has a base for its foundation, it will pay employees to enforce that base.  The workers will make the NBA what it is and the owners will get most of the money.  But, there is one key factor that is overlooked.  What about the effect of a franchise on the local area?  Well, the Lakers, for example, need players, coaches and assistant coaches, referees, parking attendants, janitors, scouts, secretaries, accountants, office staff, a personnel director, security, information systems people, public relations people, announcers,  people who maintain the court, trainers, physicians, locker room staff, plumbers and electricians, travel agents, private planes, flight crews, attorneys, drivers, webmasters, photographers, cleaners, sports psychologists, cheerleaders and cheerleading staff, and others to succeed in the NBA world.  Well, these new job offers will create a bustling economy around the area inadvertently, contributing to the wealth of the city the team is located in.  The city gets money for allowing use of certain places or things and the city gets tax revenues from the franchise as well.  This obviously won’t hurt the city, and it allows for the citizen to watch his (or her) new favorite team and it also allows for, maybe, a few less taxes to deal with, or a few more improvements occurring around the town.

Now, about the salary cap.  Why do we need to give limits to the money being given to the players?  This is simple.  Some teams have more money than others, and even some of those teams have even more money, and it is just whoever has the most money to buy all the good players wins.  The championship would be useless then and no one wants to watch one team dominate everyone else while the others just play for pyrrhic victories.  So, to keep the competitive spirit, and to, of course, get more money, the NBA establishes the well known salary cap that changes a little and offers a few different things each year.  The salary cap regulates how much money goes to the NBA people and the owners and, most of all, the players.  The NBA wants a part of other’s success to contribute to them, and they will give donations out to charities as well.  The Players Union is also in this salary cap agreement with the league, this contract is called the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and the Players Union is paid by the players for representation of their salaries, legal issues, penalties, fines, drug abuse, injuries, and retirements.  Without people to represent the players as a whole, the players would not have attained some of the benefits that they deserved and would have no say in the NBA.  Now that’s democracy.

The NBA is also a huge target for companies for endorsement purposes.  To be the official thing of the NBA shows that the NBA uses your product, so why shouldn’t the customer?  Like Spalding, for example.  Spalding is well recognized for being the official basketball of the NBA, and widespread knowledge for a company is the first step to selling their product and getting the money they need to support their business.  But the NBA and the people associated with the NBA are limited to using that product and that product only.  ESPN and other television and radio stations pay money for the right to broadcast NBA games.  This is a way for these companies to get money, and for the NBA to get money.  That is not a bad exchange.  Well, money is money.

The TV rights for the games are probably the number one source of revenue for the owners.  The expenses of having games include renting out or buying the building, but the profits are enormous.  Parking fees, ticket sales, billboard endorsements, allowing vendors to sell their snacks, all this will give the ball club money about 90 times a season.  Sure, there are other things the club’s can do to get their cash, but not much has changed in how the game revenues impact the franchise’s budget since the early days of the league.

To sum it all up, money makes this basketball world go ‘round and it will stay this way until money becomes irrelevant and people start using computer bits for money and play basketball on the moon.  Hey, with what has happened since the beginning of the NBA till now, I wouldn’t be so surprised if it happened.  The NBA creates a lot of exchanges and has a huge impact wherever it goes.