Should Olympic Athletes Get Paid?
SodaHead Sports
2012/04/12 16:25:43
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190 votes
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319 votes
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Does anyone remember the time when every star NBA player wanted to represent their respective country in basketball at the Olympic Games? It's been a while since we've seen that kind of nationalism on a consistent basis, but we did get the "new" Dream Team in 2008. However, one high-profile member of the team thinks there should be some more incentive besides a gold medal, high-priced sponsorships, worldwide exposure and sports immortality. Well, he did anyway...
"It's a lot of things you do for the Olympics -- a lot of jerseys you sell," Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade recently said to the media during practice."...I do think guys should be compensated...The biggest thing is now you get no rest...It's something you want to do. But it's taxing on your body. You're not playing for the dollar. But it would be nice if you would get compensated."
Wade has since backtracked, tweeting that his American pride means more than money ever could. For NBA players, who have an average salary well into the six-figure range, should Olympic pay even be up for debate? Chances are if stars like Dwyane Wade don't want to play unless compensated, there are other players who will. Money is always great to have, but Olympic memories can last a lifetime.
"It's a lot of things you do for the Olympics -- a lot of jerseys you sell," Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade recently said to the media during practice."...I do think guys should be compensated...The biggest thing is now you get no rest...It's something you want to do. But it's taxing on your body. You're not playing for the dollar. But it would be nice if you would get compensated."
Wade has since backtracked, tweeting that his American pride means more than money ever could. For NBA players, who have an average salary well into the six-figure range, should Olympic pay even be up for debate? Chances are if stars like Dwyane Wade don't want to play unless compensated, there are other players who will. Money is always great to have, but Olympic memories can last a lifetime.
Top Opinion
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Seeker of Truth - War Wizard 2012/04/12 20:17:12
You might say, so what who cares? They should be playing for the love of the sport. Yes, the probably should. But, in addition to the love of the sport people need to be able to feed and clothe themselves. They may have families they need to feed, wives and husbands to support. The sad truth of the matter is you NEED money to live and train.
That may be less of a problem in the United States where someone may be able to get a night job shift to barely cover their remaining expenses, but think about people in other less wealthy countries. They CAN'T afford to train for those remaining eleven months because when it comes down to it they need to spend 40 hours a week working a job. This is probably one of the main reasons that you have 300+ athletes from America and Europe and only 2 or 3 from ...
You might say, so what who cares? They should be playing for the love of the sport. Yes, the probably should. But, in addition to the love of the sport people need to be able to feed and clothe themselves. They may have families they need to feed, wives and husbands to support. The sad truth of the matter is you NEED money to live and train.
That may be less of a problem in the United States where someone may be able to get a night job shift to barely cover their remaining expenses, but think about people in other less wealthy countries. They CAN'T afford to train for those remaining eleven months because when it comes down to it they need to spend 40 hours a week working a job. This is probably one of the main reasons that you have 300+ athletes from America and Europe and only 2 or 3 from other poorer countries. Those athletes can't afford to spend the same amound of time training as the ones in the US, Britian, and China can. Does this seem fair? Rather, giving olympic athletes money would give them the means to be able to support themselves so they can devote their time to training. That isn't lessening what the games are about. You can't train that hard for that long and not love what you're doing, you're leveling the playing field. It might be hard to accept that message from a star NBA player, but in the long run it's benefiting more than just him.
But of course in our "modern" world nothing gets done unless someone makes a profit from it. And as soon as anyone makes a profit, everyone else involved wants a piece of it.
"...there should be some more incentive besides a gold medal, high-priced sponsorships, worldwide exposure and sports immortality..."
Fine. Give this musclehead a pocketfull of cash ...and take away the medal, sponsorships, exposure, and "immortality". Remove his name and likeness from all records and let him fade from memory as a wealthy has-been.
I do understand the logic behind letting our basketball players being pros, since they are the "best" for the competition, but it doesn't mean I agree with it. If there was an exception for this sport, why not others? Well, I don't think they ever should have let the pros compete in basketball. Once you make one exception you open the floodgates to have all professionals and that just destroys the entire idea behind the concept of the Olympics.