Saturday
Jan232010
A Look At Giving
Andrew R Tonry | Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 4:18PM 
Tyreke Evans
$3,610,080
Pay per game: $44,025
Points Scored Friday: 19
Donation: $19,000
Donation as % of per-game salary: %43
Donation as % of annual salary: %0.5
Pau Gasol
$16,451,250
Pay per game: $200,625
Points Scored Friday: 20
Donation: $20,000
Donation as % of per-game salary: %10
Donation as % of annual salary: %0.1
Derrick Rose
$5,184,480
Pay per game: $63,225
Points Scored Friday: 32
Donation: $32,000
Donation as % of per-game salary: %50
Donation as % of annual salary: %0.6
Joe Johnson
$14,976,754
Pay per game: $182,643
Points Scored Friday: 19
Donation: $19,000
Donation as % of per-game salary: %10.4
Donation as % of annual salary: %0.1
Antawn Jamison
$11,641,095
Pay per game: $141,964
Points Scored Friday: 8
Donation: $8,000
Donation as % of per-game salary: %5.6
Donation as % of annual salary: %0.06
Danilo Gallinari
$3,089,040
Pay per game: $37,671
Points Scored Friday: 20
Donation: $20,000
Donation as % of per-game salary: %53
Donation as % of annual salary: %0.6
Jordan Farmar
$1,947,240
Pay per game: $23,746
Points Scored Friday: 9
Donation: $9,000
Donation as % of per-game salary: %37
Donation as % of annual salary: %0.4
Russell Westbrook
$3,755,640
Pay per game: $45,800
Points Scored Friday: 8
Donation: $8,000
Donation as % of per-game salary: %17
Donation as % of annual salary: %0.2
Kendrick Perkins
$4,250,000
Pay per game: $51,829
Points Scored Friday: 4
Donation: $4,000
Donation as % of per-game salary: %7
Donation as % of annual salary: %0.08
Spencer Hawes
$2,332,800
Pay per game: $28,448
Points Scored Friday: 8
Donation: $8,000
Donation as % of per-game salary: %28
Donation as % of annual salary: %0.3
Now, check this:
My $10 text message donation as % of last year's salary: %0.06
Which means, thanks to Antawn Jamison's ice cold, four of 14 shooting Friday night, I'm as charitable as an NBA player. It's sort of sad when taking into account I live a life almost completely removed from discretionary spending.
Reader Comments (12)
Wow. Thanks for reminding me that I'm a 5'11 white guy that makes less in a year than Danilo Gallinari makes in ONE GAME. Yes, I was screaming that last part. It makes me not want to spend $85 for a ticket anymore.
What's sad about Antawn's contribution?
I seriously doubt he had an off-night just because he was going to donate money based off his point total. Most donations aren't announced publicly, so he may have donated beyond this particular gimmick-donation night, and we'd never know.
Besides, he donated $8,000 in one night. Is this really a reason to call him out? It's in no way "sad" that he made a sizable donation, regardless of his overall percentage of salary. Personally, I can appreciate his willingness to join in his agency's promotion, no matter the cost.
It didn't seem like he was calling anyone out.
What sounds more impressive: Giving $10 or $8,000? Anyone would say $8,000. Andrew's $10 is the same percentage of his annual salary as Antawn giving $8,000 - but I'm not reading any articles about Andrew. That's the sad part.
Perhaps Andrew needs a better agent. :)
But seriously, regardless of the percentage of salary, they made BIG donations compared to most folks. THAT is what will always get you in the news. And remember, the only reason we're hearing about this is because the players' agency set this up, not the players themselves.
I don't mind them getting a little press if they're donating a fair amount of money. And again, this may not even be the total extent of those players' donations. Other donations may simply be done privately, as opposed to this agency-staged event.
My cost for my last Blazer ticket:: $85 (0.29% of my annual salary)
Using the same percentage - Antawn would pay $33,759 for the same ticket.
That's sad.
Antawn went into a highly-skilled, very competitive field, succeeded, and got paid well for it. It happens in many walks of life. No reason to punish him for that. He took a big risk and succeeded. Many players have tried to do the same, failed, and likely make less than you now.
For that matter, homeless people and folks in third word countries would think it's sad that you make as much money as you do, and can afford a computer and Internet access to complain on a blog. They wish they could afford the ticket you bought, and dream about having the discretionary income to do so. Should they get tickets for free or extremely low-priced, since that's 0.29% of their income?
If your problem is that NBA players are overpaid in general, show them your feelings by not buying tickets, merchandise, or things like League Pass. Until then, they succeeded in a big-money sport, fair and square, and are rewarded. I'm glad they made an effort to donate to a cause they care about. If your problem is simply "life isn't fair, and people aren't paid equally", well there's not much to argue there.
Look, I don't particularly like the salaries of NBA players either. It's absurd. But there are many absurdities in life, and I'm trying to prioritize here. There's nothing sad that someone donated $8,000 to charity, no matter their income.
Good points. I definitely cannot afford $85 every game and I realize there are millions of people who can't afford their daily food. It's a luxury for me and most people that go to the games. We all feed into the rising cost of everything. I just think that it's not fair we glorify a larger donation from a person who makes a ridiculous amount of money more than a $10 donation from someone who could really use for gas, food, etc.
I appreciate the civil conversation.
I enjoy the conversation as well, thanks for joining in.
I forgot to mention, there have been a bunch of stories about the number of 10 dollar donations that have been made by Americans. So, while Andrew won't get individually named, they're certainly not being ignored by the media. It's been a popular story.
But all that happened here was that the agency came up with the idea, sent a press release, and the news media reported it. Considering the combined total of their donations, I have no complaints that it got some press. They could have just stuck their hands in their pockets Friday and not donated anything.
I really like PRS so far. But I found this post to be misguided. The players did a nice thing. they got some press for it. No biggie.
Any money that's donated is a good thing. I thought the post was interesting, captured my attention and spawned a nice conversation. PRS has been great so far.
Uh, you might want to read your news a little more carefully before you post this kind of defamatory analysis. Those players are donating one thousand dollars PER POINT THEY SCORED. So you'll want to post an update, updated table, mea culpa, and like that...
^ ^ DAMN. Actually, you did get it right. Fell on my own knife again. Mea culpa and apologies.
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