It’s no secret that professional athletes likely earn more money in the span of a few years than I’ll make in my whole life. With the offseason upon us we all get to hear the insane amounts of money that professional athletes are going to make in the next 4 to five years. From Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors who became the first NBA player to sign multiple contracts worth $200 million dollars. To Luka Doncic who is currently only 4 years older than I am at the moment just signing a contract that will earn him over $200 million dollars over the course of five years.

The real question is. Do these athletes really need to be paid this much? Many people have differing opinions as some believe that since they’re in the top 0.01% of people who play their sport they deserve to get some massive contracts. While others say that they’re are plenty of other jobs such as surgeons and police officers that make more of a difference in the world and thus deserve to be paid more than athletes. When asked how he feels about the massive salaries of professional athletes FMHS senior Sean Redeker said, “I feel that the athletes deserve the money because they’ve pretty much dedicated their whole life to that sport, however I do feel their salaries have become a bit outrageous as of late.”

The salaries of professional athletes will likely only continue to grow, as teams salary caps grow nearly every year. But, it does make you think and ask the question if being a  professional athlete should really be the highest paying job in the United States.