For far too long, NBA player salaries have been divided along racial lines. That needs to end.
As the media continues to focus on the racial disparity that has reared it’s ugly head in the coaching ranks of the National Basketball Association, the time has come to realize that this discrimination isn’t limited to just the coaches; the player population, along with player salaries, have been reflecting the expanding racial divide in our country for just as long.
Black Americans currently represent roughly 13-14% of the population, according to 2019 data from the U.S. Census Bureau. However, there are only 7 teams among the 30 that make up the NBA who employ a Black Head Coach. At 23.3% of the coaching population in the league, this means there are fewer than twice as many Black NBA coaches as would be expected given their country wide population. Very disturbing indeed.
Even more disturbing: the wide and ever growing disparity in player salaries when sorted by race. This issue isn’t just limited to player salaries, however. End of Season Awards, All-Star Selections, All-NBA team composition, and the very NBA player population all demonstrate a stark racial divide that league officials MUST begin to tackle to ensure that racial discrimination is not occuring in the sport. As one anonymous player shared when interviewed for this article: “I believe in equal pay for equal work. Gender, race, skin color, or ethnicity should not be the parameters to hire someone or to decide how much they should be paid.”
Let’s take a dive into the data to really illustrate how deep of an issue this has become. We’ll start with player salaries Here’s a list of the top earners in NBA history (through the 2020 season) along with their lifetime salaries:
LeBron James ($343,863,770) Kevin Garnett ($334, 304, 240) Kobe Bryant ($323,312,307) Chris Paul ($299,909,419) Shaquille O’Neal ($286,344,668) Kevin Durant ($264,153846) Carmelo Anthony ($259,881,402) Dirk Nowitzki ($251,646,362) Russell Westbrook ($244,370,524) Dwight Howard ($242,500,792) If you’re a fan of the league, most likely none of the names on that list will come as a shock. But look closer: In a league filled with players, coaches, and management personnel that have shown a dedicated effort to rid the game of racial disparity, as well as speaking out against systemic racism in the country, a huge disparity exists in player pay. Nine of ten names on that list are black players. There is only one white player and not a single Hispanic or Asian player. And that won’t last for long. Current signed NBA contracts, when completed, will mean that the top ten all-time earners will all be current active players with lifetime earnings all exceeding $300 million. Mr. Nowitzki will be off the list. When shown this data, another anonymous player had a very powerful reaction: “It’s amazing to me that, in the 42 years since President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law, non-black NBA players today still receive fewer wages than black players for the same work.”
An examination of season-by-season pay data shows the same results as the above historical career data. Here’s a season-by-season breakdown of how many non-black players are in the top ten in compensation, going back to the 1995-1996 season:
2020-2021 – NONE 2019-2020 – NONE 2018-2019 – 1 (Gordon Hayward, 7th) 2017-2018 – 1 (Hayward, 4th) 2016-2017 – 1 (Dirk Nowitzki, 8th) 2015-2016 – NONE 2014-2015 – NONE 2013-2014 – 2 (Nowitzki, 2nd and Pau Gasol, 7th) 2012-2013 – 2 (Nowitzki, 2nd and Gasol, 6th) 2011-2012 – 2 (Nowitzki, 5th and Gasol, 6th) 2010-2011 – 2 (Andrei Kirilenko, 6th and Gasol, 7th) 2009-2010 – 1 (Nowitzki, 6th) 2008-2009 – NONE 2007-2008 – NONE 2006-2007 – NONE 2005-2006 – NONE 2004-2005 – NONE 2003-2004 – NONE 2002-2003 – NONE 2001-2002 – NONE 2000-2001 – NONE 1999-2000 – NONE 1998-1999 – NONE 1997-1998 – NONE 1996-1997 – NONE 1995-1996 – NONE
The data is pretty disturbing. Over a 26 year span, only four non-black players were able to crack the top ten, and those occurrences only took place in eight seasons. The most frequent player on the list, Nowitzki, is now retired, and Gasol is no longer playing in the NBA. Over the past 30 years, roughly 25-30% of the NBA player population has been non-black. How is it, then, that only four of these players have been able to crack the top ten in seasonal earnings? Why are the wages of non-black players being suppressed?
All-NBA, All-Star Game selections, and player population follow the same disparity. Simply unacceptable. What are the solutions? How do we correct this growing divide along racial lines? We don’t have to dig deep to find the answers. They’re staring right at us, hiding in plain sight. We must simply look at the programs that have been instituted in other areas of our country, such as education, to find the answers.
Introducing an “Adversity Score”
It’s common knowledge that, in general, non-black basketball players are not as athletic or talented as black basketball players. This puts potential non-black NBA players at a disadvantage due to race, since NBA teams routinely ignore diversity in the name of drafting and signing the most talented and deserving players. An “Adversity Score” would attempt to even the playing field. Acting like a handicap in golf or bowling, it would allow teams who are fielding less talented players to be awarded “bonus points” at the start of the game depending on the talent disparity. Luckily for us, advanced metrics have made this a very measurable possibility. The league could use any number of stats, such as Offensive/Defensive plus/minus, Box plus/minus, and VORP to calculate each player’s value. At the conclusion of the game, we simply add up the difference in any one of these metrics, or a combination of several, based on each player played and the number of minutes. Then, we take the difference between the two teams, and whichever team played the least talented players receives bonus points added to their score at the end of the game to determine the true winner. This solution would only fix the talent gap issue, however, since it wouldn’t necessarily have an adequate effect on the pay disparity.
Equitable Redistribution
Anyone who has followed the “War on Poverty” knows this: It has been a RESOUNDING success. By asking only the very wealthiest Americans, the top 50% of earners, to support the bottom half, the United States has succeeded in not only stopping the dramatic gap between the highest and lowest earners, but to turn the tide. Eliminating the “wealth gap”, as it has been termed, has been a boon for the American economy, and the same tactic can be used in the NBA. A simple tax on the highest earning players, distributed evenly amongst the lowest earners, would allow all players to be able to enjoy the luxuries which are now only available to the league’s stars. As Latrell Sprewell famously said: “I have a family to feed.” Let’s make it so that the family of EVERY NBA player can eat, not just the precious few blessed with endless talent.
Diversity Requirements
In September of 2020, Governor Gavin Newsome of California signed AB 979 into law. This forward thinking and progressive legislation introduced new requirements for Corporate boards for any company headquartered in the Golden State concerning diversity. It required those boards, depending on their size, to meet minimum numbers for members from “under represented communities”. This would include all races who’s NBA population is less than half of their country wide representation. For example, Hispanic players make up 16-17% of the American population, but only ~2% of the NBA. Thus, they would qualify as an “underrepresented community”. For the purposes of our discussion, the new law requires boards who’s membership totals nine or more to contain, at a minimum, three members of such a community. Enacting this law as a rule for NBA rosters would be a boon, not just for non-black players, but also members of the LGBTQ+ communities, who as far as this writer can tell have no representation in the league. This new law seems to have had no effect on California businesses in terms of companies leaving the state, so I can conclude that this rule would be welcomed with open arms in a league that embraces diversity as much as California does. Also, it doesn’t need to cost players already in the league their jobs. The league can simply expand it’s roster size by three spots to allow the proper representation.
What Can the Players Union Do?
All the major sports in the US have a players union, including the NBA. Unlike most unions, however, in sports the members are not paid equally. Most unions throughout the US have CBAs in place that require equal pay for work, meaning that every electrician, plumber, carpenter, etc. is paid the same as every other member of the union, regardless of the race, gender, or talent of the worker. Would it be so hard to negotiate this requirement into NBA player’s salaries? Equal pay among workers unions seems to motivate them to work harder, be diligent in their tasks, and go above and beyond their job responsibilities. Applying this same rule to the NBA would raise the level of the game, placing each player on a level playing field and allowing hard work to win out above all else. This requirement would also raise the salary floor of the lowest paid players, and if the Diversity Requirement rule discussed above were put in place, it would open up about 90 high paying jobs to the most underrepresented communities. Seems like a win-win to this writer.
The truth is that implementing just one of these potential solutions will alleviate some, but not all of the racial issues that plague the league. Multiple policies will need to be introduced, but the real change needs to take place in the heart. Experience shows that implementing policies based on race leads directly to a change in thinking and long held viewpoints, and is essential in breaking down racial divides. These policies will bring people together instead of continue to push them apart. I just hope the league is ready.