The minimum salary in the NBA is nearly $900,000 and the average salary is $7.7 million. With numbers so high, most people would think NBA players are doing well financially, even during tough times like now when they’re facing possible missed paychecks. But that might not be the case.
CJ McCollum, who has played in the NBA for seven seasons, estimates that about a third of players live paycheck-to-paycheck. He gave his guess in response to a question from Jay Williams on “The Boardroom.”
“I would say out of 450 players … 150 probably are living paycheck to paycheck,” McCollum said.
“I think a lot of guys are going to be hurting especially people on minimums or people that didn’t just budget correctly and didn’t expect this to happen,” McCollum said, via The Boardroom. “Maybe they loaned money or paid money to family. Maybe they’re taking care of multiple people and now there’s a work stoppage for us and for a lot of people in America.”
McCollum, 28, wasn’t saying that to elicit sympathy for players. He actually has donated money in Portland to help with COVID-19 relief. But he said that to share that many people — even ones who might surprise you — are also struggling and/or concerned.
The players are in a dispute with the owners over whether they will get their next payments (scheduled for April 15) and how much they will receive.
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