The National Basketball Association Salary Creator

By: Jason Bates

Introduction | Task | Resources | Procedure | Evaluation | Conclusion  

Introduction:

Who deserves to be paid millions of dollars? Do you? Do professional athletes? Does it alarm you that many professional athletes feel their talent entitles them the right to be paid megabucks -- simply for playing a game? As a society we love our professional sports and we admire the talent and ability of many of our athletes. It does take a lot of hard work (and some natural talent) to play a sport at the professional level. But, do they really need or even deserve the outrageous salaries they are awarded. This quest will explore the million-dollar question of professional salaries.

The Procedure (for Summer Web Quest please scroll down after reading)

1. Decide what are the most meaningful common statistics related to basketball players.
2. Next you will need to create a rating system and create a spreadsheet to record your data. To do this, decide upon statistics by priority. For example if your  feel 'scoring ability' is the most meaningful statistic, then that would be ranked #1. Do this until all your stats are ranked from greatest to least. (Hint: it will be helpful to limit your stats to about 5 or 6). Then, agree on rank limit: the highest number a player can be rated. Then formulate how your rating scale will work. ( The player should be rated more for the higher ranking statistics.)
3. Create a spreadsheet to record your ranking data.
1. Construct your spreadsheet to include as many rows as players you choose to do. One row for each player.
2. Construct your spreadsheet to include one more row than the number of ranked statistics. The extra row will be used for final salary purposes.
4. Then based on your rating system figure out a pay scale. Once again, higher rated players should be paid more than lower rated players.
5. Next, decide upon a N.B.A. player(s) in which you want to rate.
6. Using either the NBA or ESPN site gather information on your top two lines and record your data into your spreadsheet. Remember when entering the above web sites use the Back Button, in the upper left corner of your browser, to return to this page.
7. Then using your scale decide what each player should be paid for the upcoming season.
8. Finally, answer the conclusion questions in the Conclusion portion of this web quest. Type your final responses using a word processing application.

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Summer Web Quest Procedure:

Since the  N.B.A. season has recently finished, and there are only 3 weeks to complete this project, a simpler procedure is possible if needed. Use the above procedure, and utilize the following example.

1. Create your pay scale based on statistics per game; for example every point scored throughout the season is worth 5 points, every rebound is worth 2 points, every assist is worth 3 points, each steal is worth 2 points, every turnover is worth minus 3 points, every missed free throw is worth minus 2 points, etc...
2. Create your spreadsheet using the total player statistics for the year and what their points are based on your scale. Example for Kobe Bryant...

According to this system, Kobe's total points would be 160.7. Based on how many dollars you decided each point was worth, you could decide what his salary should be. If I thought each point is worth $10,000, then his salary for last year should have $160,700.

Evaluation:

Your project will be graded using an evaluation rubric. The rubric will consist of the following criteria. Each group member will need to complete an evaluation for their participation in the project. Next, you will need to submit a portfolio containing the following information: the list of statistics which the you used to evaluate your NBA player(s), the spreadsheet containing the recorded data and the answers to the conclusion questions.