Popular Economics: What the Rolling Stones, Downton Abbey, and LeBron James Can Teach You about Economics by John Tamny

Author:John Tamny [Tamny, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781621573920
Publisher: Regnery Publishing
Published: 2015-04-12T21:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Comparative Advantage: Could LeBron James Play in the NFL?

. . . we must never lose sight of this maxim, that products are always bought ultimately with products. It is most for our advantage to employ our productive powers, not in those branches in which foreigners excel us, but in those which we excel in ourselves; and with the product to purchase of others.

—Jean-Baptiste Say, A Treatise on Political Economy

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James is currently the best basketball player in the world. A nine-time NBA All-Star, four-time league MVP, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and two-time NBA champion, James is the Michael Jordan of his era. Looking back even further, he is the Oscar Robertson or Elgin Baylor of the modern NBA.

At six feet eight inches and 250 pounds, James has the size, coordination, and jumping ability that would make him a successful NFL receiver. Indeed, more than a few professional football players have gone on record as saying that James could play, and perhaps even star, in the NFL right now.1 Tight end is most often mentioned as his ideal position. But if James were to “take his talents” to the NFL, he would violate the economic principle of comparative advantage. James might be able to play in the NFL, but he would do so at the expense of his reign as the world’s best basketball player.

From an earnings standpoint alone, it is a lousy idea. The Patriots’ tight end Rob Gronkowski, one of the best at his position in the NFL, is paid roughly nine million dollars per year for his services.2 James—who some say is underpaid—earns $19 million per year on account of his being the best.3 Of course, a comparison with Gronkowski assumes that James would rank as a top tight end. The twenty-fifth-highest paid tight end is the Detroit Lions’ Brandon Pettigrew, pulling in $1.2 million,4 and many others earn even less.

If James were to split his time between the two sports, his total annual pay would probably decline, even with salaries from two teams. No NBA team will give a big contract to a player putting his body at major risk each NFL season. Moreover, professional football and basketball players generally use the off-season to refresh their tired legs. James’s body would be worn down for each new NBA season even if he emerged from the sixteen-game NFL season uninjured.

The idea of James’s playing in the NFL is even worse when you take into account his outside income. He reportedly earns another forty million dollars per year for product endorsements from Nike, Coca-Cola, Samsung, and McDonald’s.5 He commands these kinds of fees because he’s the world’s best basketball player. He wouldn’t be if he were also playing football.

On the other hand there’s Tony Gonzalez, who retired from the NFL after the 2013 season. A fourteen-time Pro Bowl tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons, Gonzalez is a nearly certain first-ballot pick for the NFL’s Hall of Fame in 2019.

Gonzalez played college football for the Cal Bears, and he also starred on the basketball team.

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