In the Bleacher Report article, “Do Professional Athletes Get Paid Too Much Money?” by Mihir Bhagat, the author argues that the absurd amount of money that athletes get paid is unnecessary and not very well deserved. Bhagat suggests that by merely playing a game, athletes in professional sports are getting paid for something that is not very valuable. He says that esteemed jobs such as teaching should not be undermined since future generations rely on that particular occupation. Doctors, surgeons, firefighters, and police officers risk their own lives for the sake of others, yet they are paid significantly less than professional athletes. Even the president is paid considerably less than a starting rookie in the MLB or NBA. On the other hand, Bhagat understands how much hard work and countless hours of dedication it takes to make it big, but in the end it is all for entertainment. More so, he states that if athletes get injured and cannot play the game, they still have millions in their bank account. Whereas, another person working an average job could potentially get fired for not performing the task at hand. Bhagat consistently stands firm on the fact that athletes swim around in undeserved money, and although he makes a considerable argument, he does not fully convince the reader because he overlooks the charity of these players and defends one side of the argument by making unsupported claims.

Mihir initially argues, “Professional athletes are making too much money in a society where salaries and wages are traditionally based on the value of one's work”.  He articulates the indispensable need to have quality teachers since the future economy relies on how well the youth is educated.  Even more, people like, “Police officers, firefighters, and doctors save lives while risking their own for a fraction of what sports stars make.” This claim is not necessarily valid because there are countless jobs that people do which have immense value, yet their salaries do not match it. The deciding factor is the widely interpreted definition of a “valuable job”. In today’s world, almost every job is valuable. Jobs run this country, fuel the economy, and without all of todays’ existing occupations, everything would be stagnant.

Bhagat then inspects the most authoritative job and claims that, “While President Obama is hard at work reviving the economy, the unproven rookie in the MLB is earning way over. The most important man in our nation, the president, who makes critical decisions that affect the entire world every day, only makes $400,000 a year.” Here, the author is making a vague statement without any examples of the “unproven rookies” in the MLB or how much they earn to even compare their salaries to the president’s. The concrete evidence is lacking. If he is straining to make the reader believe his view, Bhagat needs more support than making an opinionated statement without anything to completely back it up.

But claims such as those, along with the other unfounded claims he pitches around, are nowhere near as erroneous as the following. He says, “These people do nothing more than entertain the general public. In order for these players to gain respect, they need to have a more significant impact on the community. ” This is the most biased claim in his article. He provides the reader with a one sided argument and does not attempt to shed light on the other side of it. Almost every star in the NBA is part of the league’s globalized organization called NBA Cares. It addresses important issues such as education, youth and family development, health, and wellness. This organization strives to positively impact the lives of children and families all over the world. Their work consists of hands on service and projects. According to the official website NBA Cares website, the organization yielded, “More than $242 for charity, provided more than 3 million hours of hands-on service, and built more than 915 places where kids and families can live, learn, or play in communities around the world.” What Bhagat does not realize that is that without these players, half of the charities would cease to exist. He fails to comprehend the gravity of the players’ contribution in settings such as soup kitchens and the Make a Wish Foundation. For instance, in 2013 Kevin Durant donated one million dollars to Red Cross for the Oklahoma tornado disaster relief fund after many lost their lives in the disaster. Brooklyn Nets player Deron Williams also created his own charity for autism and said at one of the events, “Our causes range from juvenile diabetes to autism, to cancer clinics. We give scholarships, host youth clubs and try to help low-income and homeless families. Once we had this Christmas dinner for single moms and that really got to me. Don’t forget, I grew up with a single mom… a remarkable woman, a phenomenal mother.” Undoubtedly, Bhagat needs to reconsider his claim.

Bhagat needs to realize that these players cannot control their salary and have no say in it because their talent dictates what their value is.  The world of sports needs to be seen as a business, and these players make that possible. People buy their gear and tickets to games. Television broadcasters pay to broadcast the games, which allows companies to advertise. Public transportation systems thrive from traveler’s money since at each game around twenty thousand fans are present.

At the end of his article Bhagat claims that, “When asking people whether they think athletes are paid way too much money, most agree with me.”  Where is the proof? How many is most? Who were the people he asked? All of these questions are ambiguously left for the reader to ponder. Not to mention it is very likely that these people have not taken the time to conduct an elaborate study on the matter before contributing their opinions.

It is a fair argument that professional athletes can seem to be paid extravagantly, but Bhagat misses the mark in his article by not giving the full picture. He makes multiple claims in his article and does not have nearly enough support for half of his points, which makes it hard for me to fully agree with him. He needs to offer more statistics, more numbers, and more proof for his claims in order to win over his audience and have an effective argument.

While being paid hundreds of millions to play a sport in a professional league may seem outlandish, it would be worse if all of that money was selfishly used. But the truth is, so much of that money is used to give back to the communities in which these athletes play in. Their charity cannot be overlooked because those in devastating situations know how much it means to them. This particular part of the economy is a business. That is what it boils down to.  They are simply businesses that look to be more successful while they entertain the public. The money they make showcases their success and is not something that can be restrained by anyone. So maybe the next time it may seem that these people are “swimming” in unmerited money, the countless lives they impact everyday should be reflected upon. Albert Pike said it best when he wrote, “What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.” Because in the end, although they provide us with entertainment on camera, off the cameras, their touch on the community is something that is irreplaceable.