Professional Athletes Don't Deserve What They Earn Wouldn't it be great to earn $31.3 million a year and another $47 million in endorsements simply for playing ? Michael Jordan, along with many other professional athletes, thinks so. In the 1996 season, playing 3,106 minutes, Michael Jordan earned $170,000 per day, or $160.97 per second. Even more incredible are Mike Tyson's wins in his match with Peter McNeeley. In just one second he earned $281,000 ("Professional AthletesÉ"). Do these athletes really deserve all that money?"Professional athletes earn too much money in a society where salaries and wages are traditionally based on the value of their work" ("Professional AthletesÉ"). In today's society, a person will be paid more if his job is more economically important. However, teaching is one of the most economically important occupations because our future economy relies on educating young people, yet teachers are paid far less than the average professional athlete. The President of the United States makes decisions that affect our economy yet only makes $250,000 a year (Turner). Professional athletes do not play as vital a role in the economy as the president, but their salaries reflect the opposite. These games should be played for fun, not for millions of dollars. Opponents of this point of view say that payment is received for a service, therefore professional sports is a business. Many people believe that athletes get paid for little work, but in reality they work harder than anyone else. Not only do they work during their particular season; they also work in the low season. Most professional athletes train alone trying to improve. They also attend miniature camps and seasonal training camps. These athletes work all year round to earn their high salaries. Becoming a professional is not an easy thing to do. It takes a huge number of hours of hard work and dedication every day to earn a job in professional sports. These athletes sometimes suffer fatal injuries for the love of the game. Considering this, you might think that these athletes do it for the love of the game and not for money. According to Gerald Sim, "The odds of someone becoming a neurosurgeon are higher than an NBA player, so it makes no more sense for the professional athlete to be paid more than a neurosurgeon?"?