As of 2023, the minimum salary of a U.S. National Basketball Association professional player is $953,000 per year, which equates to $220.00 – $330.00 per hour as players work 60 – 90 hour work weeks (e.g. basketball game of 2 – 3 hours, post game interview of 1 – 2 hours, training of 3 – 4 hours etc.)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is perhaps the most educated athlete who ever lived, inspired by his father who was an avid reader. Abdul-Jabbar is also a voracious reader who has written 12 books and has worked as a columnist for Time magazine. Abdul-Jabber spent 20 seasons in the NBA, was an NBA All Star for 19 of those seasons, a 6 time NBA champion, and a 6 time NBA Most Valuable Player. Abdul-Jabbar invented and perfected the “sky hook” which was a high arching shot, a shot which he accredits to his time spent learning the sport of archery in which one must shoot above the target in anticipation of the projectile being pulled down to Earth the second it is launched, therefore acting against that downward pull by counteracting with a shot resulting in an arc