Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer has stood unbroken for more than 25 years. He has been an actor, an author of young adult books, and a U.S. cultural ambassador. Despite his long and distinguished career, he hasn’t forgotten his experiences as a UCLA basketball player. In this November 2014 article published in Jacobin, he criticizes NCAA rules for college athletes.
Read it here: Abdul-Jabbar, “College athletes of the world, unite”
- Although he never states it explicitly, Abdul-Jabbar is arguing for specific changes in NCAA rules concerning college athletes. What is he advocating? Point to passages in the article to support your conclusions.
- Although Abdul-Jabbar’s argument focuses on college athletes in the United States, he presents cases of injustices concerning child labor in other parts of the world. Do these examples strengthen his argument? Why or why not?
- In addition to his personal experience, what evidence does Abdul-Jabbar present? How well do the different types of evidence complement each other? Explain your reasoning.
- Abdul-Jabbar emphasizes the distinction between treatment of students who receive academic scholarships and those who receive athletic scholarships. How are those two types of scholarships treated at your school? If you find any differences, are they well-justified? Do some investigation and write an essay in which you take a position on the conditions you find. Do you support the status quo? Why or why not? Use Abdul-Jabbar as your They Say.
They Say I Blog 
In “College Athletes of the World, Unite,” Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar argues that college athletes are being exploited by the NCAA because they refuse to adequate compensate athletes for their dedication. Abdul-Jabbar reflects on his time as a college athlete, explaining how even his jobs over breaks and scalping his season tickets did not get him enough money to make ends meet. Abdul-Jabbar mentions that those on sports scholarship would lose it if they were injured and could not play. He argues that, even though the NCAA would give compensation for injury, it was only if medical bills were over $90,000, or the injury was so severe that the athlete would never be able to play again. According to him, both of those scenarios were highly unlikely, leaving college athletes to figure their medical bills out themselves. Abdul-Jabbar goes on to say that the NCAA and his college both raked in millions of dollars, but they assumed a full-ride to the school was enough.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar theory of college athletes being exploited by the NCAA is extremely useful because it sheds light on the difficult problem of whether or not they should be financially compensated. I think in the situation Abdul-Jabbar describes, players should be able to make money off of their number, face, etc., since they lack the free time to get a part-time job. If not, they should be financially compensated, which is doable by the NCAA and universities, alike. College athletes put tons of time and energy into their sport, enough to constitute some sort of pay. In regards to injury, I believe that Abdul-Jabbar brings up a good point that the NCAA’s injury compensation is not fair. Players should not have to worry about paying their medical bills and losing their scholarship if they are injured. So much dedicated to a sport should mean something to those in the business, enough so that they compensate those athletes accordingly.
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TL;DR
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Abdul-Jabbar makes many great points in his argument for paying student-athletes. While I agree with many of the ideas he has, I disagree with his overall conclusion. Collegiate athletes do put in time and work for the school they also receive much in return, but not enough. The education and experiences gained are priceless, but at the same time they should be fully compensated for the cost of college. Like Abdul-Jabbar stated, the average college athlete needs $3,200 more than what is provided for things such as laundry, books, and food. I feel that student-athletes should not become employees of the university, but at the same time these additional costs should be covered. Additionally, if athletes were guaranteed a four-year scholarship this would reduce the risk of losing scholarship money and dropping out due to injuries. On the contrary, I do think that players deserve to have the right to make money off of their likeness. If they are putting in enough work to get noticed and someone is willing to pay for their autograph, jersey, etc., they deserve to accept that reward. Overall, I do not believe that student-athletes should receive payment from the university, but I do think they should be able to receive payment from outside sources.
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In the article, “College Athletes of the World, Unite” by Kareem Abdul-Jabar, he is stating the exploitation of college athletes on scholarships. He uses his personal experience throughout the article to make the issue more relatable. Kareem makes very good points about how even though he was an amazing basketball player, he struggled off the court with financial problems. The purpose of his article is to shed light on the restrictions athletic scholarships have as opposed to academic scholarships. Kareem states how he struggled to provide for himself simply off of his spring break and summer job money because part of the restrictions is that athletes cannot earn money beyond the scholarship. He states that academic scholarships have a lot more benefits than athletic scholarships. Kareem Abdul-Jabar wants to create awareness to this issue in the hopes of helping current college athletes.
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I don’t think the NCAA should have such strict rules when it comes tho their players. Even in college they have strict rules that say they can’t have a job or any outside source of money yet they are starving because they don’t have money for food. They live and breath the sport but are being penalized for it. They should be allowed to get food from a coach or be able to have a job but instead the NCAA want to keep them under their thumb.
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I have to agree with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, something needs to be done so college athletes are, at the least, able to get by without stressing about finances. For a college athlete to lose their scholarship because they got injured playing in a game for their school is absolutely ridiculous. In addition, to not have their medical bills paid is totally unjustified. More needs to be done to protect these players. Yes, they are extremely lucky to be given the opportunity they are, but, to kick them to the curb because they are no longer useful is morally wrong.
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I think its is unfair that the players are not allowed to make money outside of the NCAA but the coaches are, and they are getting paid as well, and becoming millionaires. The players have to make money somehow and its ridiculous that they can’t accept jobs outside of NCAA, they NEED to get a paycheck. The players have bills and such to pay, yes they’ve received a scholarship but everything else in the world isn’t free to them. They are practically poor and all they are doing is playing their favorite sport to become what paupers?
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The rules that the NCAA enforces on the student athletes are not very fair. Their rules have many problems, as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar discusses. He talks from personal experiences saying he did not have enough money for food and other essentials for living. He was a reason that his college was getting thousands of dollars, yet he wasn’t seeing any of that money, instead he was struggling like many of the other student athletes. The student athletes put in so much work, doing it and biting their tongues because it’s what they love, but get little in return. Yes they get tuition, room, and board, but it’s not a lot to live on, compared to the students with academic scholarships who are allowed side jobs, supplies, transportation, and entertainment. Also, unlike the student athletes, those with academic scholarships don’t have to worry about injuries that could cost them their careers and education. This article is similar to the documentary “Schooled: The Price of College Sports” in that they discuss how these student athletes are being exploited, such as being a character in a video game unknowingly and not even getting paid. The NCAA needs to change its’ rules so these students are treated more fairly and have a better chance at being successful. Kareem compares this to the under aged sweat shop workers in other countries, I wouldn’t say it’s as harsh, but I think it’s a good comparison in that these students are being worked hard with unfair return when everyone else is profiting, essentially in both situations, they are slaves.
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I strongly agree with Shelby and feel that the current system implemented by the NCAA is extremely unfair for the players. She brings up a great point on how these athletes need money to pay bills and for other necessities. I agree and believe that division one athletes deserve compensation for not just paying bills, but for helping out their family members who may still reside in broken homes, groceries, and leisurely activities. These athletes dedicate almost all of their time as a college student to their craft and definitely deserve more than what they are currently receiving. In this article Abdul-Jabbar reflects on his college experience and recalls how he never had enough money to do things he needed and wanted to do. I do not believe that these students deserve to be making millions of dollars, but they do deserve to make a decent amount of money to live a comfortable life while playing a sport in college.
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This is so crazy! I can’t believe people are being treated so poorly when giving their all for something that they love to do. I feel it is so unfair to keep money from the people who have earned it the most. These coaches are getting paid crazy amounts of money, which they deserve for leading such great teams to victory, but it’s not fair to not pay the team who brings these colleges such great reputations and revenue.
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I would agree with what Kareem argues throughout his article. These college athletes who bring in serious money for the school deserve to be paid, even if it is just enough to get by. None of these students should have to worry about money or making ends meat if their coach is making close to seven figures a year off their athletic skill. He states in his article that the people with academic scholarships can make some money on the side but the athletic scholarships recipients cannot, and i find that completely unfair.
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Bernard makes a good point when he mentions that student athletes sometimes don’t get adequate medical coverage. Most times when athletes make a claim to cover their procedures, they are not given sufficient coverage necessary to afford the rehabilitation and treatment in order to get healthy. If medical expenses fail to exceed $90,000, they are expected to pay for all of the expenses. The NCAA is a multi-billion dollar industry and proper care and treatment should be in place for athletes who are risking their career every time they practice or compete. Kareem is arguing in favor of compensating student athletes for their work and I agree that the NCAA may need to fix some of their regulations to allow for compensation to take place.
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Just as many of the comments above believe the rules that the NCAA enforces on college athletes are unfair, I do as well. In the article, Abdul-Jabbar reflects on his personal experience and argues college athletes should be financially compensated. Ginessa makes a great point here that these colleges are bringing in thousands of dollars because of these athletes yet the athletes aren’t seeing any of that money. College athletes put countless hours into their sport and deserve some sort of pay or the option of having a part time job. Just as anyone else, these athletes need money to pay bills, buy necessities, and provide for themselves/families. Going off of what David said I do agree athletes should not be making millions of dollars but most definitely enough to live a comfortable life without the constant stress or fear of being in debt.
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I agree with Hannah Butler that student-athletes should not be considered employees of the university, but they should be able to make money from their name. Abdul-Jabbar makes great points that student athletes oftentimes struggle financially because they are not able to have a part-time job like other students on academic scholarship because of how much time athletics take up. I believe that all student-athletes should be given a full scholarship to attend the university as payment for playing because a free education is worth more than just paying students directly. Along with this, college athletes should be allowed to make money from their name because they do not have any other means of making money while being a student-athlete. While there is no perfect way to handle this issue, the NCAA definitely needs to reconsider allowing student-athletes to make money without directly giving them a paycheck.
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Many people hit on some of the ideals I took away from this article, like Shelby, stating that she things it’s unfair that the players are not allowed to make money outside of the NCAA but the coaches are, which I completely agree with. However, I disagree that these athletes are mistreated when they’re going to school for a mere $3200 a year (much less than most everyone going to college), with a multitude of player “meals” and “travel necessities” they receive, because my experience with talking to student athlete friends confirms it. While Abdul-Jabbar uses 11 year olds making shoes as a comparison, I hardly see this is fit because these Cambodian girls are making the shoes student athletes get for free. While Quinitin brings up a good point that athletes could get hurt at any point and be in a world of debt, they are ultimately doing what they love to do (Nadia’s statement) while receiving fame all the while, as these Cambodian girls are pretty much slaves. If Abdul-Jabbar wanted to make a pitch for paying college athletes, he should have avoided using much less fortunate examples because it takes validity from his argument and makes him look extremely ungrateful when people have it well worse. Abdul-Jabbar’s net worth is said to be $20 million; if he were to only give up half his worth (still living off a hefty $10 million), he could pay for over 830 student athletes college careers.
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Many of the comments in this conversation have been to the point that the college athletes are not being compensated for their work and dedication to the sport. I could not agree more with this statement, however I seem to disagree with the majority of the comments on how the process of compensation should occur. Many of you such as Max and Hannah, state that the athletes should be allowed to receive money from outside sources as opposed to the University they are playing for. I respectfully disagree with that statement because although I believe that players should get paid for their hard work, I still think it should be monitored. It is not fair to the multitude of athletes who are playing for schools that are advertised less, and televised less. The less exposure an athlete has, the less money they will accrue, even though both athletes put in the same amount of effort for their team. Therefore, money to cover expenses should be through the schools. That way each athlete, no matter the school or skill will receive the same amount of money. The money should cover food, leisure activities, laundry, and other assorted expenditures associated with a college student. The student-university relationship needs to be changed into a symbiotic relationship. The athlete will enjoy playing for the school with no financial worries, and the university will enjoy having the players on their team so that the University’s name and brand will grow.
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Max I’m going to have to disagree with you bud. You made an interesting point about how if “Abdul-Jabbar’s net worth is said to be $20 million; if he were to only give up half his worth (still living off a hefty $10 million), he could pay for over 830 student athletes college careers.” However, I believe that there is a more reasonable way to accomplish your goal of paying for these athletes instead of asking a single man to give up half of what he worked his entire life to earn. Each team in the SEC receives $20 million in TV revenue each year. That does not include merchandise, ticket sales, etc., just TV revenue. So each school could take that and probably pay for most of their student athletes and still turn a profit likely. This is true for all of the Power 5 conferences, albeit the SEC brings in the most TV money per year.
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Although I agree with Hannah Butler up to a point, I cannot accept her view that student athletes should not be paid by the college/university they play for. Colleges and universities are the sole beneficiary of the performances of student athletes, that is, they are the ones directly profiting from the students. Yes, they are receiving professional training at the hands of the institution they play for, but this training is only to improve that players skills which are directly linked to profits made by the school that player plays for. To say that this professional training has a monetary value would be correct, but that monetary value is more for the institution than it is for the player who is putting his/her body on the line.
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In “College Athletes of the World, Unite,” I would have to agree with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s understanding of collegiate athletes and compensation. Players put all their time and energy in the sports that they are playing. With this, they are making the university look good as well. When everything is going great, the universities benefits from the player(s). It does not matter if it is from a 2 or 3 hour game of football, basketball, etc, the university is going to rack in millions. Now the athletes that are injured for the sake of the university are not treated fairly, when the organization does not care about how the medical expenses are going to get taken care of. Paying the athlete a bit of compensation would not hurt the schools, why should they care? They will be bringing in millions anyway.
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In my response to your argument Drew, I believe paying college student-athletes in not the correct solution because of the unwillingness to change the NCAA has shown in the past. Instead of continuing to argue about something that hasn’t made much progress, I believe both sides need to compromise. I believe the best solution is for the NCAA to provide student athletes with the “full-cost” of attending college, provide better health coverage for athletes, and to only provide guaranteed four year scholarships regardless of performance or injury.
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Forgot to edit the first one 🙂
In my response to your argument, Drew, I believe paying college student-athletes is not the best solution to this debate because of the unwillingness to change the NCAA has shown in the past. Instead of continuing to argue for the NCAA to pay athletes, which hasn’t made much progress, I believe both sides need to compromise. I believe the best solution is for the NCAA to provide student athletes with the “full-cost” of attending college, provide better health coverage for athletes, and to only provide guaranteed four-year scholarships regardless of performance or injury.
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In response to Mitchell, I agree that the NCAA should have less strict rules when it comes to their players. In college players devote their lives to the sport, they have strict class schedule, practices, and study halls. On top of all of that they aren’t allowed to work. This presents a major issue for the player, such as where they will get their money. If they take money from people or get any momentary compensation outside of the confines of the NCAA they are penalized. So what are they supposed to do? This is a question that should be answered by the NCAA.
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Shelby makes a great point here that College athletes should be able to have the opportunity to earn a paycheck outside of the university. While it is impeccable that they work hard in their respected sport, it shouldn’t consume their life. In a worst case scenario, an athlete could be injured their final year of eligibility, and are no longer capable of continuing their career in playing sports. In such a case, they are left stranded with no job or professional experience due to the strict restraints the NCAA placed on them during their college career. In conclusion, I believe that student athletes should be able to work and have other opportunities to increase their success aside from their athletic success.
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In his article Kareem Abdul-Jabar argues that collegiate athletes need to be paid. His argument centers on the fact that athletic scholarships do not typically cover the full cost of tuition. Food, transportation, and fun were not covered in his scholarship. Abdul-Jabar had to work summers , spring break and scalp tickets to cover his expenditures. Abdul-Jabar then proceeds to explain how since his time the NCAA has grown into a billion dollar industry and under compensates athletes. They do a little, like paying for likenesses and helping out with injuries but even this falls short. Abdul-Jabar finishes with explaining how the NCAA treatment of its athletes is similar to big corporations, such as Nike, exploiting Asian workers.
I do agree with Abdul-Jabar on the fact that scholarships should cover the full cost of tuition and should also be guaranteed. I disagree on his argument that athletes should be paid. In most Universities only football and basketball operates in the black. The rest of the sports end up costing the university money to put on. The people that make the money is the NCAA but they do not give the scholarships. In order to compensate for them making money the NCAA could better compensate the university so the university could better compensate the athletes.
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I agree with Naz Jack in that athletes should be paid. They put in a lot of time and energy into their sport and are not compensated. Also, their “payment” of a scholarship does not protect them if they get injured. I would like to point out that not all sports bring in money to the University. In fact, most sports run in the red. Football and basketball are typically the only ones that bring in money while the less publicized sports actually lose money. This raises the question of whether some sports should be paid more or at all. I feel this would be a question for the University to answer.
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Although I agree with Madison’s point that college athletes should have opportunities to work elsewhere, I don’t agree that athletics should not be their main focus. Given that most college athletes will not become professionals in their particular sport, I still believe that they should focus primarily on their sport of interest. After all, they have chosen to dedicate four years of their life to play sports on a college level. College athletes should approach their athletic career just like any other career. Most college athletes put in an enormous amount of effort every day and should be compensated justly for the work they put in. By paying college athletes, the NCAA would be able to truly reward these athletes for all the work they put in. College athletes also would not need to worry about seeking additional employment because they would be getting paid for the work they do on the field.
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1) he is saying that college athletes should be paid. he shows this all throughout the article by stating how the athletes put their career on the line each night and by saying that athletes are forbidden to work.2) i think that this weakens his arguments because he is showing that they have to work a lot and barley get paid. but also it shows how the business is making billions and and barley paying their employees so it could go either way. 3) he points out how athletes can not get a job and how coaches can. also that they can not get paid for having their name used in games etc. 4) i have no clue if it is different or not.
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In the article, “College Athletes of the World, Unite” by Kareem Abdul-Jabar, he is explaining his outlook on how he thinks college athlete somewhat get taken advantage of. Abdul-Jabar explains how he was once a college athlete playing basketballs for UCLA barley getting by. Yes, his school was played for and he got training and equipment, but other than that he was finding for himself. Being a college athlete I can relate it’s not like you can go out and work a job, because you job is to go to school and play your sport. You wouldn’t have time for school, your sport and a job it would be close to impossible. I also agree with him when he says that college athletes should get paid a little of the schools income from the sport they are playing. If their sport is making a large profit off of them they should get part of it. I feel it is only fair, I’m not saying they should be paid the amount of a professional but they should definitely receive enough so they don’t have to struggle to make ends meet.
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I strongly agree with the points Abdul-Jabbar made and I believe Abdul-Jabbar is advocating for student, college athletes to receive a higher paying salary for being the main contribution to the winnings of the games. He strongly believes that the executive section of the sports industry shouldn’t make as much money as the players, such as “the president of NCAA, who made $1.7 million in 2012”. Also, it is unjust for the executive section to have a prerogative of being able to work separately for extra money and the college players can not. The college players are the ones risking injuries and putting time and energy into the ascendancy of their team, so they should be granted higher wages for the ability to further pay their tuition and school expenses.
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In the article “College Athletes of the World, Unite” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar speaks of his difficult experiences while he was playing on a sports scholarship for the NCAA. The NCAA refuses to pay college athletes, yet does not allow them to make money by using their names in video games and tv broadcasts. Understandably, there are many other ways to earn money instead of through fame, but students on sports scholarships are not allowed to make money other than what they are given. This becomes an issue, because students become unable to make money to provide for themselves.
If there was situation that you felt was unjust, would you fight against it? In the article, it speaks how Nike was giving little pay to cambodian girls to make $120 shoes; this furiated Americans. Except when the NCAA is not paying hard working athletes, we are unaware. As Kareem states in his article, “While such horrific and despicable conditions are rarer in the United States, we still have to be vigilant against all forms of exploitation so that by condoning one form, we don’t implicitly condone others.”
These athletes need to be paid! They need to be able to begin working and making money for themselves. While having these restrictions, they cannot provide for themselves and the supplies they need for school. If the NCAA changed its policies, then it could compensate better to the students, so they can do better in school and life.
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In his article, “College Athletes of the World, Unite,” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar argues against the exploitation of college athletes and in favor of compensation for college athletes. I agree wholeheartedly with his point of view because lack of compensation has a profoundly negative impact on athletes’ daily lives and because athletes deserve a fair share in the money machine that is college athletics.
First and foremost, I agree with Abdul-Jabbar’s argument because the NCAA’s refusal to pay college athletes has a very negative impact on the lives of college athletes. In the article, Jabbar states that he was always too broke to do much other than “study, practice, and play.” He argues that athletic scholarships do not usually cover the full cost of tuition, nor do they cover school supplies, transportation, or entertainment. Additionally, athletes like Jabbar often have to work spring break and summer jobs just to make ends meet. For Jabbar, every semester was a financial struggle despite his extra jobs. Additionally, college athletes should be compensated because they deserve to have a stake in the billion dollar industry that is college sports. Despite the millions that college teams generate for universities and the NCAA, the athletes themselves barely get enough for their basic necessities. According to the article, the NCAA makes nearly $1 billion annually from its broadcasting contract with CBS and Turner Broadcasting alone. In addition, the president of the NCAA made $1.7 million in 2012. By contrast, scholarship money for athletes falls about $3,200 short of what the average student needs. This is exploitation, not much different, as Kareem points out, than that of child labor in Cambodia and Bangladesh. This unfairness and “indentured servitude” of college athletes in the United States needs to stop. NCAA tyranny must come to an end, and college athletes deserve their fair share.
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Abdul-Jabbar is advocating for a refinement in the rules for athletic scholarships. His argument boils down to 1) athletes need to be able to to make money outside of their meager scholarships or the scholarship need to cover more expenses, 2) the insurance for injured athletes needs to prevent lost scholarships due to permanent and non-permanent injuries alike. The support of this is alluding to throughout the passage through references to the actual amount of an athletic scholarship, the salaries of coaches and income of the NCAA, and how many athletes break the rules of the athletic scholarship by making more money outside of their scholarship, along with the fact that many athletes lose their scholarships and positions due to injuries, and receive no reimbursement.
I completely agree with Abdul-Jabbar. College athletes are some of the most underpaid and overworked people I have ever met. When I had the pleasure of meeting several UF volleyball players, several of them admitted they wished they had an academic scholarship due to the limitations of the athletic scholarship (which included financial restrictions of not making outside money, social restrictions by taking social interactions away for hours and hours of practice and games, and dietary restrictions in order to keep the players in shape throughout the year). These limitations put major stress on the players, as they have little control over their lives once they sign their contracts. Also, despite being the major source of income for colleges, athletes can be cut from the team for a minor injury if they prove to be lacking, without any reimbursement or a guarantee that they can keep their scholarship. Basically, imagine if you lost your entire academic scholarship because you had a single migraine during a test. Doesn’t make much sense does it? But what it all boils down to is the NCAA needs to start seeing athletes as people and students instead of disposable objects to make money with.
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In “College Athletes of the World, Unite,” Basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar states his position that college athletes are being taken advantage by the NCAA because they refuse to provide money to athletes for their work. Abdul-Jabbar begins his article by telling his experiences as a college athlete. He explains how even his jobs over the breaks and selling his season tickets did not get him enough money to provide for his needs. He mentions that people with sports scholarship would lose it if they were injured and could not play anymore. He then argues that, even though the NCAA would compensate when injured, it was only if their medical bills were over $90,000, or the injury was so great that the athlete wouldn’t be able to play again. The two situations were probably not going to happen, forcing the athletes to provide for themselves. Abdul-Jabbar also explains how the NCAA and the coaches gets millions of dollars while the players get little compared to them. The players weren’t even allowed to earn their own money as they had restrictions.
I believe that athletes with sports scholarships should receive money or some type allowance. Their hard work and dedication deserves a certain payment since they aren’t able to make their own money specially people who aren’t as privileges as others. Athletes are people too and they also have needs and wants of their own, and only making a small amount of money will not let them achieve that. If the problem for the athletes is money for the essentials for life such as housing, food, and clothing; the NCAA should at least provide the neccesary needs for their players. They don’t need to overwhelm the players material wise but they should give the proper treatment and care for dedication and hard work. I believe that athletes should be paid as they contribute so much of their energy to the NCAA.
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In the article, “college athletes of the world, unite”, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says that college athletes should be paid. I agree with this statement as college athletes are deserving of money. Many of the reasons that professional athletes have high paychecks apply to college athletes as well. College atheltes need the money to live, and and earning the money for the school with risk of injury.
College athletes need money to live. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar describes his struggle as a college athlete. Athletic scholarships do not provide for school supplies, transportation, or entertainment. Also, athletes are not allowed to work extra jobs during the year, limiting them to working during breaks to earn money for the year. College athletes are exploited when they are not paid. They are earning millions of dollars for the NCAA. Even worse is that athletes can lose everything due to injury. Athletic scholarships can be taken away if the player is injured and can’t contribute to the team anymore. Each day, the athlete is risking paying for their education and their medical bills. It is logical the college athletes be paid, just as professionals.
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In “College athletes of the World, Unite,” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar argues implicitly for a change in NCAA rules regarding how to pay college athletes. He sighted income statistics, revealing that the colleges are making larger profits from their student athletes now more than ever, so much that they could afford paying every athlete handsomely. Abdul-Jabbar also went on to criticize why scholarships and medical treatments are not enough. He shows the shortcomings and restrictions of each, revealing that the scholarships do not pay for everything in college and that the athletes are not allowed to have another job. In doing so, the students lack money for whatever their scholarships do not cover. NCAA colleges do not pay for many medical expenses, meaning the students need even more money not only to pay for whatever their scholarships don’t but also just to ensure health. In the end, there an abundant reasons to pay college athletes for their work and no excuses not to.
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The article discussed how not paying college athletes is unfair. the athletes are being exploited and earning millions for their university but the athletes barely have enough money to survive. college athletes are not allowed to earn extra money and if they become seriously injured they can lose their scholarship and still have the hospital bills to pay. the article sheds light on the situation and i agree that college athletes should be paid for their hard work and dedication to their sport.
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Although Mr. Jabbar does bring up some good points, and he may be right when he says they deserve to be more taken care of by their school, there is no reason for college athletes to make money from endorsements while still in school. It seems to me that he is misplacing the blame as to who should have stepped in to ease his hardships. With the help of the school, he should be able to more than thrive while playing for them. Otherwise there is really only one foreseeable outcome, 18-21 year old athletes toting more money than some people will make in their entire lives. Can this really be a good thing?
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In the article Kareem Abdul-Jabbar argues the point that college athletes need to be paid for what they do for the schools. College athletes generate millions of dollars for the university’s and they don’t get any of the money for themselves. According to Jabbar the college scholarships don’t really cover much stuff besides the general schooling. If an athlete needs money they aren’t allowed to get jobs so what are they suppose to do for food? Most athletes don’t have secure financial situations at home. Some athletes will sell thing to get money. You always here on the news that some college player is selling his autographs. Most of them don’t have a choice because besides the money the players are getting for their scholarship they have no other income. He also goes into how the colleges won’t cover any of the students medical expenses, so that means the expense has to be covered fully by the athlete. College athletes should be paid because they generate so much money for the university and could really use financial help outside their scholarships.
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I agree with Abdul-Jabbar that college athletes should be paid for their work done. Because of this article I have learned a lot about college athletes and some of the struggles that they face and am amazed that this issue has not been properly fixed to be beneficial to the students playing sports for college teams. One change that i believe should be made is that even if student athletes are injured and cant play for a while that they should be able to get financial ad to help them finish their education.
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In “College Athletes of the World, Unite,” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar argues that athletes like him have been taken advantage of and should get paid. He uses his own difficult experience as he speaks about playing on a sports scholarship for the NCAA. College athletes should get paid more because the lack of money truly creates a negative impact on athletes and the health policies are severely flawed.
I believe Jabbar is correct when criticizes some of the the NCAA’s policies. Jabber states that he was too broke and the only things he could do was sturdy practice, and play. He had to get summer and spring break jobs to constantly pay fees. This should not be happening. A scholarship athlete works so hard and puts so much effort and time into the sport they love they should not have to be scrambling together different jobs just so they can survive. Similarly, the health policy is ridiculous. Athletes can be cut from the team due to a minor injury if they prove to be lacking, without any reimbursement or a guarantee that they can keep their scholarship. So on top of being cut from playing and supporting their teammates, athletes are left with a huge bill to pay. NCAA is essentially leaving the “not as talented” athletes in the dust as they continue to make millions and millions of dollars each year. The NCAA needs to drastically change their policies because athletes are people too and they deserve the wonderful life they have worked hard for.
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In “College Athletes of the World, Unite,” former Basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar argues that college players are being exploited by the NCAA because they refuse compensate them for their dedication and hard work. Kareem, formerly being in their situation, understands what they are going through. I agree that they should be paid some monetary value to help compensate for their hard work and to fulfill the basic necessities. These players work their bodies off almost everyday along with lots of studying. They put their lives into practicing and playing yet can’t make even a penny to spend on basic necessities. Opponents of this view point may argue that they receive academic scholarships and special training worth about $125,000. But that doesn’t cut it. This money doesn’t cover their place of living and food costs. In fact, they are not allowed to earn beyond this. Coaches make over millions of dollars yet the NCAA can’t even make small payments for athletes hard work and determination to cover their shelter and food costs.
Management may argue that the players chose to play own their own risk and therefore they don’t have to change their rules. However, are they not human beings too? Don’t they need to eat and drink to live? These things never cross their minds. They feed off of these college athletes’ hard work yet can’t even pinch a penny to make their college experience a little smooth. With this evidence I do believe that the NCAA should pay its college athletes money to compensate for their hard work and to help them pay for necessary expenses.
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I completely agree with Kareem Abdul-Jabar. College atheletes work hard and schools earn a a lot of money from them. Their scholarships should cover all of their needs. Kareem shares personal experiences to make the topic relatable. A student athlete shouldn’t have to worry about making ends meet. Colleges should take care of those needs. College athletes also deserve to be payed for their hard work. If they can receive money from outside resources, they shouldn’t be penalized. They have earned that money and deserve to keep it. Hard work deserves to be awarded. College athletes deserve to be awarded.
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In “College athletes of the world, unite”, kareem Abdul-Jabar argues how he thinks college athletes should get paid. I disagree with Abdul-Jabar mainly because athletes are entitled to having the opportunity to attend college at a discount or even free. I believe if an athlete is able to get there college education for free than I think that is more valuable than being paid for being a college athlete.
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I agree with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in that college athletes should be compensated for their hard work and their grossing of revenue for the school. I understand why some argue against this; because they are students foremost and play for the school. But many college athletes give up their education to play the sport they love, are exploited for their talents to make millions of dollars for their schools, and on top of not getting paid many must work other jobs just to fund their time playing their sport. This simply is not right. Why would one of the most lucrative parts of the schools no even pay the people grossing the money when they require enough hours a week to be detrimental to their education and future? These people rely on their sports for a living in life, and to not pay independent adults for their contribution to the school is wrong.
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In “College Athletes of the World, Unite,” Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar writes in Jacobin on the exploitation of college athletes. Although he had an amazing career in NBA, he still remembers his rough time during his college years due to the NCAA’s rule. In the article, he criticizes NCAA for not providing compensation to the hardworking college basketball players. I agree with Kareem’s criticism and believe that college basketball players deserve to receive compensation from the NCAA. The source tells that student-athletes receive academic scholarships and special training worth about $125,000, but with restrictions such as the right to take away Athlete’s scholarship if the player is injured and can’t contribute to the team anymore. It seems unfair that these players practice everyday and that one injury can determine their lives for future. Also, I believe that $125,000 is not enough for every players because their payments for education, housing, food, rents, and etc. may cost more than the scholarship. In addition, the players who have failed to get drafted in NBA would have a tough time to find jobs and live theirs lives with just $125,000. It may be true that these players risked their choices to become NBA basketball players, but they still deserve to be treated as humans, who deserve sympathy and care.
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In Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s “College Athletes of the World, Unite,” he writes about the exploitation done by the NCAA to the college athletes. Being a college athlete himself, Kareem remembers the struggles he faced back then. Since the college did not pay for his expenses, Kareem had to work jobs over breaks to acquire money to spend for food,payments to education, housing and more. Although it has been awhile since Kareem was in college, the situation for the college athletes have not changed. I agree with Kareem and believe that the athletes should be paid for what they are doing. These students are seen as “student athletes,” they dedicate their lives playing their designated sport for a chance to make it to the pros. Although this might seem like a great opportunity, (to get a chance to be a professional athlete and get a $125,000 worth of scholarship and training) the truth is that only a small percentage of college athletes make it to the pros. $125,000 might seem a lot but this amount could be revoked anytime an athlete gets injured. What makes it worse is that these athletes practice often and every time they go into practice, they risk themselves for injury. It is unfair that college athletes do not make any money for what they’re doing. Unlike other scholars, they are not allowed to make money outside of their scholarship. This results to problems for paying their expenses. The student athletes are being used as “cash-cows”. While the athletes don’t make any money and work their butts off, the NCAA makes almost a billion dollars for what these athletes do. I think it is just fair for the athletes to be paid. If the NCAA could rake these amounts of money, I do not see any reason why the student athletes should not be paid. Like all of us, they are also human. They are not just entertainers whose use is only of their expertise on a sport.
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I agree with Kareem Adbul-Jabbar’s point of view on the injustice college athletes suffer at the hands of the NCAA and institutes of higher learning.The exploitation of poor college students stands as an unfair, terrible action of the system, especially one that pays its coaches and higher-ups millions of dollars each year when athletic-scholarship players barely manage to cover the cost of schools and living. The organizations ride on the backs of these students for their profit and fame; therefore, they should shell out money, or at the very least, give the right earn their money independently, to these players, something easily affordable looking at their incredible wealth. With the abundant profits garnered by the officials, not even letting their workers form a union seems like an avaricious, greedy move.
Even more, the scholarship program for athletes fails to provide even close to enough help to the poor. Their entire funding is at risk in every game, and any injury under the incredible amount of money set by the program comes from their pocket and family’s pay and savings. With a salary, athletes gain the ability to help offset these risks with their profit added to their savings. Payment provides much more well-earned benefits for athlete, helping them cover the additional cost not covered by the scholarship money and injuries and , furthermore, a higher quality of life above the bare living minimum for economically disadvantaged players. With the sports organizations and NCAA garnering eye-popping amounts of profit, the lack of support and pure exploitation of their money-making athletes should enrage Americans enough to call on for the justice of the young athletes that provide them with entertainment so many nights in games. Although the comparison to exploited children in work for a few dimes in poor countries taken advantage of by multinational companies looking to make capitalist profit for minimum cost is going a bit overboard, I strongly agree with Abdul-Jabbar’s desire for change.
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An excellent role model
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At first glance, teenagers might say that it would be a privilege to have an athletic scholarship and be a college athlete. But on closer inspection, an athletic scholarship is not as rewarding as an academic one. Kareem writes the disadvantages that an athletic scholarship has such as, not being able to earn extra money, it not going towards school supplies, transportation, or entertainment, it being taken away if the student gets injured, etc. These are all things that the academic scholarship would provide. Ultimately, what is at stake here is the students who have a lot going for them, but don’t have enough money to take the extra mile.
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar makes great points in this article regarding college athletes. Through Kareem’s personal experience, we can tell how much hard work college athletes put in and the struggles they go through, financially. Yet, athletic scholarships have unfair restrictions which harm the students more than they help them. For instance, it sounds bizarre that every time a college athlete plays a game and gets an injury, they would have to pay for it. Whereas scholarships should be protecting the students, they are being left all alone with a huge financial problem. These findings have important implications for the broader domain of the financial state of athletes. Students should only focus on putting in hard work and effort in becoming an athlete, not about how they are going to pay off their medical expenses.
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