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"It's a lot of things you do for the Olympics -- a lot of jerseys you sell," Wade said after the Heat's practice Wednesday in advance of Thursday's game against Chicago. "We play the whole summer. I do think guys should be compensated. Just like I think college players should be compensated as well. Unfortunately, it's not there. But I think it should be something, you know, there for it."

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What an ass.

this is exactly why the Olympics should only be open to amatuer athletes

A) He has a point.

but

B) He doesn't have to play

How about the superstars who are making millions of dollars put some of that in the kitty and it goes towards the college kids or toward more program development.

Freaking primadonna.

Breaking news

Dwyane Wade is whining about something again

1. How much money is generated by the Dream Team (in jersey sales, advertising during games, tickets to exhibition games, etc.)?
2. Where do profits go? Players? US Olympic Organization?

Yea, because he of all people needs the money.

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"It's a lot of things you do for the Olympics -- a lot of jerseys you sell," Wade said after the Heat's practice Wednesday in advance of Thursday's game against Chicago. "We play the whole summer. I do think guys should be compensated. Just like I think college players should be compensated as well. Unfortunately, it's not there. But I think it should be something, you know, there for it."

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he makes the EXACT same argument as many here do for compensating NCAA athletes

Except NCAA athletes don't make 10s of millions of dollars in their day job.

Why is so hard to grasp the concept that those who generate sizeable profits are entitled to some share of said profits? Why should the CEOs of Olympic committees get rich off the work/abilities of others?

I think it makes sense. Wade does have a point. They should receive a portion of the sales of items associated with it, such as jerseys. They shouldn't be given a paycheck, but he has a point.

Stating that he already has millions of dollars is irrelevant.

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The absurd: the USOC was paying three CEOs in 2010: Blackmun, Stephanie Streeter and Jim Scherr.

The sublime (at least by comparison to 2009): Blackmun's total compensation ($638,407, which includes a salary of $425,995) plus the final chunks of severance due Streeter ($163,522) and Scherr ($116,252) still add up to less than. . .

. . . the absurd $1,006,336 that Streeter collected for working 10 months in 2009, when she was part of a USOC board of directors that engineered Scherr's ouster and then put her in place as interim CEO, a job for which she could not have been more ill-suited and overpaid.

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http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/sports_globetrotting/2011/05/usoc-revenue-tax-filing-2010-three-ceos.html

79 people make over $100,000/yr working for the Olympics, with multiple people making $500k+


http://assets.teamusa.org/assets/documents/attached_file/filename/43052/USOC_-_PUBLIC_DISCLOSURE_COPY_990_10.PDF




But those greedy athletes!!!

They should receive a portion of the sales of items associated with it, such as jerseys
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and then wade is gonna start *****ing that they should not split up the profits from jersey sales evenly because he sells the most jerseys

100k a year planning the worlds largest sporting event seems like they are being underpaid.

If y'all are going to bash Wade, then you need to be bashing Ray Allen even more. He's the one that suggested it.

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"You talk about the patriotism that guys should want to play for, but you (need to) find a way to entice the guys," Allen said. "It's not the easiest thing in the world if you play deep in the playoffs and then you get two, three weeks off and then you start training again to play more basketball where it requires you to be away from home and in another country. It's fun, but your body does need a break."

"Everybody says, 'Play for your country.' But (NBA players are) commodities, your businesses. You think about it, you do camps in the summer, you have various opportunities to make money. When you go overseas and play basketball, you lose those opportunties, what you may make… If I'm an accountant and I get outsourced by my firm, I'm going to make some money somewhere else."

"If it's licensing," Allen said. "(The players) are wearing jerseys and (others, but not the players, are) making money off it. Something (should be done) just to say to the guys, 'Hey, you guys are spending this much time, 40 days, playing basketball, we're paying for some type service that you provide, that you're getting some kind of kickback'… I know that you sell unlimited jerseys so I think the players should get some piece of that."

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100k a year planning the worlds largest sporting event seems like they are being underpaid.

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Pretty un-patriotic, if you ask me, to expect monetary compensation for serving your country.

That's why I've always said they should get business majors to perform all these duties.

Wouldn't the kickback from jersey sells be minimal? Maybe I'm out of the loop but team USA jerseys don't seem like a huge sell.

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Wouldn't the kickback from jersey sells be minimal? Maybe I'm out of the loop but team USA jerseys don't seem like a huge sell.

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at $150 a pop, it adds up



if there's a whole website dedicated to making money off the Dream Team, I'm sure there's plenty of cash being made.

http://usabasketball.shop.sportstoday.com/

Right, cause you don't make enough millions in the NBA for doing what is essentially manual labor.

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Right, cause you don't make enough millions in the NBA for doing what is essentially manual labor.

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What does this have to do with rightfully distributing profits generated by the Dream Team?

That he's a whiny prima donna, whining about money when he's an already extremely overpaid athlete.

He should consider it a privilege to be asked to be on the USA Olympic basketball team.

My favorite basketball quote since Patrick Ewing's immortal "“Sure, we make a lot of money, but we spend a lot, too."

I think there's some validity to the licensing aspect of this. Profit is being made... that profit is tied to the popularity of the players. Where's the money going?

Now, paying for participation I'm opposed to. If the players don't want to play, don't. That's fine with me too.



[This message has been edited by heavens11 (edited 4/11/2012 5:54p).]

Nonsense. He gets plenty of free publicity for Gatorade, Nike, etc and other companies that he endorses while playing for the USA.

Plus, Wade and teammates will not honor the deals that USOC signs anyway. If Nike is official uniform for US team, the guys with Reebok or Converse will cover up Nike logos.

And it's presumptuous to take credit for all the jersey sales. I've seen USA jerseys since the 1970s when it was truly amateur sports. Not sure how many extra are sold because some NBA players are competing. Lots of people like basketball and are patriotic.

[This message has been edited by birdman (edited 4/11/2012 6:56p).]

I agree with D. Wade. Doesn't have to be millions, but some sort of compensation should be provided.

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And it's presumptuous to take credit for all the jersey sales. I've seen USA jerseys since the 1970s when it was truly amateur sports. Not sure how many extra are sold because some NBA players are competing. Lots of people like basketball and are patriotic.

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Please. That was before professional athletes were competing in the Olympics. Nobody was buying Christian Laettner Olympic jerseys. Everyone was gunning for that number 9 jersey. I couldn't tell you who was playing for that '84 or '88 team. But I sure as hell know who was on that '92 team.

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Why is so hard to grasp the concept that those who generate sizeable profits are entitled to some share of said profits? Why should the CEOs of Olympic committees get rich off the work/abilities of others?

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This is pretty much the most logical post in this thread. Everyone should be fairly compensated for the amount of revenue they contribute to bringing in.

It's easy to say that NBA players are paid millions and should be happy to receive what they get for "playing a kid's game."

In reality, many players are underpaid for what the actually provide in terms of revenue for a team.

I remember reading an article which estimated Kobe Bryant's earning power in terms of team revenue was in the ballpark of $90 million for the Los Angeles Lakers despite getting paid "only" $25 million in salary. Yeah, $25 million is unfathomable for us mortals, but if he's responsible for that much (which isn't hard to imagine), then ask yourself: Are these guys really overpaid?

Probably not.

Here's the article:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-wojnarowski_dwyane_wade_nba_lockout_093011

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He’s right, and there’s still a compelling case that it wouldn’t properly compensate what a Kobe Bryant, a LeBron James, even means far beyond his own team. Privately, Jerry Buss has told people that Bryant – who will make a league-high $25 million this season under his current contract terms – is worth perhaps $70 million a year to the Los Angeles Lakers. James has been the most prodigious talent – the compelling serial character – the sport’s manufactured. This list is short, but the impact is immense. This is the largely unspoken truism of labor talks: The superstars are wildly underpaid, and the largely interchangeable rank-and-file players make far too much money.

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To say that any athlete, not just these NBA players, are unfairly compensated when performing at the Olympics, the most visible sporting event on the planet, is an understatement. These are the athletes that we want representing our respective countries. As such, we should treat them that way. Pay them.

Jerry Colangelo commented on Wade's comments, and I think he made some valid points. Also, I would add that the USOC spends more money per person on accommodations/travel/security on the basketball team than any other.

All of the money that is generated from our participation and the competitions the senior teams participate in in effect subsidizes and pays for the entire U.S. Olympic (basketball) programs and that includes all of the junior programs where most of these players came from ... Most of them all started there, men and women.

When I took over the program in 2005, they were in a terrible losing situation financially ... During the next four years, I quadrupled the revenue, but that only brought us to break even. That covers all of the expenses for the men, women, boys and girls, all the way down. We sell sponsorship, sell tickets to exhibition games.

Another reality is, most of the players, and in fact until this comment today, I would have said 100% of them, understand that there's some great value to them individually for participating if they so choose to ...

... The opportunity to represent your country is a privilege without anything further said, that's No. 1 ... No. 2, the experience broadens individuals in every regard and every respect because you experience things you would not have under any other circumstance -- the travel, the people you meet.

Thirdly, the brand. We will live in a global economy. All of our players have shoe contracts and apparel contracts and they're little mini-business onto themselves and in some cases, they're not mini-businesses, they're quite substantial.

During the next four years, I quadrupled the revenue, but that only brought us to break even. That covers all of the expenses for the men, women, boys and girls, all the way down. We sell sponsorship, sell tickets to exhibition games.
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so now d-wade wants to take away money from the children..... what a swine

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In a statement Thursday, Wade said, "I do not want to be paid to go to the Olympics."

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Did they interview Manu and Yao as well? both of them have broken down earlier due to all of their international play, but I bet they wouldn't be *****ing about it.

If you don't want to play, then don't. It's an honor. Not a paycheck.

The issues around the USOC and other idiots being under-qualified and overpaid are separate issues.

There's a story in USA Today where they talked to Gilbert Arenas about the gun incident, and him trying to separate himself from that time, his Agent Zero image, etc. Anyways, the perspective he has now reminded me of this thread, especially this quote at the end.

"Forget everything else, it's the NBA," Arenas said. "You have the best job in the world."



http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/story/2012-04-11/Arenas-happy-with-Memphis-blues-over-Agent-Zero/54188368/1