When you think of a person living paycheck to paycheck, it would never cross anybody’s mind that it would be a professional athlete.
Well, it looks like we all might be wrong.
Portland Trail Blazers shooting guard CJ McCollum told former NBA guard Jay Williams that he thinks 150 NBA players are living “paycheck to paycheck” due to COVID-19.
McCollum told Williams that the NBA is on pace to lose about “23.5 percent of income of this season.”
“I would say there are some guys in the league that are hurting right now because obviously a work stoppage is in place, there could be a pay stoppage. We are on pace to lose about 23.5 percent of income of this season,” McCollum told Williams.
According to Basketball Reference, the median salary of an NBA player as of 2017 was $2.5 million, while the average salary of an NBA player was $6,936,154. For the 2019-2020 season, the minimum NBA salary for a player with zero experience was eligible for an $893,310 minimum salary.
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“I think a lot of guys are going to be hurting especially people on minimums or people that didn’t just budget correctly and didn’t expect this to happen. Maybe they loaned money or paid money to family. Maybe they’re taking care of multiple people and now there’s a work stoppage and for a lot of people in America. — CJ McCollum said.”
“I would say out of 450 players… 150 probably are living paycheck to paycheck,” McCollum added.
The Portland star has openly talked about himself and investing, so he’d have a back-up plan.
“I have been strategically investing,” McCollum said. “Diversifying my portfolio. Learning more about other ventures and things of interest to where I am stable even though the market has been terrible. I’ve diversified enough where it doesn’t really hurt me. Other people need to be forward thinkers. Not just basketball players. Not just people in the sports world. But people in general. Life happens fast. You have to have a Plan B, a backup plan and really figure out a way to have different avenues of income and just avenues of happiness. That is what is really important, being at peace and having that happiness.”
