D Wade Thinks Players Should be Paid for the Olympics

D Wade Thinks Players Should be Paid for the Olympics

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Dwayne Wade and Ray Allen made waves through sports media when they suggested to Slam Magazine online that players should be compensated for playing in the Olympics. If you missed what they said, here it is below:

Dwayne Wade on being paid for the Olympics

“It’s a lot of things you do for the Olympics — a lot of jerseys you sell,” Wade said after the Heat’s practice on 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.”

Wade said he hasn’t thought about how much players should be paid for their time. But he said there is a demanding schedule that comes with a commitment to the national team. This summer, NBA players whose teams advance deep into the playoffs could have only a couple of weeks of down time before the start of Team USA’s training camp in late July.

Here’s what Ray Allen had to say:

“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 opportunities, 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.”

Related: Dwight Howard Wants Stan Van Gundy Fired

While many will crush Ray and D-Wade for their views and deem them as unpatriotic, remember their body is their commodity, and it’s their main source of income, and the more they use that source the less valuable it becomes. Furthermore who wouldn’t want to get paid for any services they provide? Although we view basketball as a game, for them it’s a job, and though I’m sure they love being patriotic, they’d love to spend time with their families back home and resting compared to going to another country playing for potentially free.

Also, considering all the merchandise that will be sold (t-shirts, shoes, hats, etc) commercials, etc, isn’t it fair that Olympians are paid something? It’s kind of funny that in a capitalistic society, when athletes attempt to, we laud them as greedy overpaid bastards. Yup, sounds just like the great US of A.

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