Are Today's Professional Athletes Given Too Much Too Soon? [View All]

I began to think about it when sports reporters began to complain about the supposed lack of progress from Kevin Durant. During the middle of the NBA season some sports reporters began to claim Kevin Durant's defense had not improved enough during his first year in the league. I began to think about it again when, recently it was revealed that Vince Young considered retiring after his first year in the NFL. It seems to me that it is very easy to consider retiring from a sport or just not progressing when you have already earned $20-$70 million dollars your first year in a league. I contend some people could make the argument that Lebron James has not progressed in the way that he should have. Even if you think he is great there are some who point out that there are a number of things he still cannot do even after five years in the NBA. It seems that if someone is given a hugh contract to start their career they can think even if they get cut tomorrow for not making progress they are still set for life, or if they retire and spend their money wisely they have nothing to worry about. It seems to me that if guys were given less to start with they would be willing to work harder and not consider retiring early. I realize it would be hard to go back to a day of lower salaries and lower endorsement levels, but would things be better if athletes had to wait to gain so much money from their contracts and endorsements?

I realize that Tiger Woods does not seem to have let go of his will to win even though he makes large sums of money. So, maybe it is that guys like Micheal Jordan and Tiger Woods just have something inside of them that does not let them give up or reach for something less than greatness. With Woods and Jordan it does seem; however, that they at least to a degree had to earn their hugh endorsement deals. Neither Jordan nor Woods started their careers making large amounts of money from endorsements. Woods was not going to get as much money if he did not perform well. It may be possible that if they had been given great amounts of money they would not have progressed as they did, but maybe they still would have. So, what do others think?