Kobe Bryant is always outspoken and is not shy at all when it comes to interviews with reporters. Kobe was asked about players and their max contracts with their max values compared to those with the average players.
The great debate rages on whether if the players should take less money to win rings or take as much money as they can and now, with this lucrative TV deal in the works, the highest paid players are speaking up, including talking about the owners. Even a possible lockout in 2017.
Check out what Kobe Bryant said, courtesy of Shahan Ahmed of NBCLA:
“Business is business and I think people get that confused very easily, the understanding that players should take less than their market value, substantially less than their market value, so the team can win championships. It’s very easy to look at the elite players around the league and talk about the money they get paid, compare that with the average (salary in America), but we don’t look at what the owners get paid, the revenue they generate off the backs of these players. And now you have a TV deal that comes out and you look at it being up like a billion dollars (a year) from the previous one, and this is coming off the back of a lockout in which the cap, it’s not a hard cap, but it’s pretty close to a hard cap.
“And now it will be interesting to see what happens in this next labor agreement. It’s my understanding this TV deal kicks in the last year of this current agreement, so I’m sure they will try to lock us out again and harden the cap even more and I think as players you got to hold your ground a little bit. Not be afraid of what the public perception is and instead try to educate the public a little bit and understanding that it’s not about complaining about how much you’re making, because that’s ridiculous — we are overpaid, at the same time so are the owners. And you have to fight for your value.
Powerful words from Kobe. Here’s the video.
