“Send one bottle to him!” NBA all-star recalls competing with NFL superstars at strip clubs
Former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas clarifies NBA stars will win the money battle against NFL players any day.
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Gilbert Arenas believes NFL stars cannot compete with NBA players in terms of earnings
NBA vs NFL player debates have raged on for quite a while. Many NFL players shut down the notion that NBA players can play football at the highest level. That left basketball stars reeling as they did not have a winning point. But former All-Star Gilbert Arenas brought out a point where NBA stars win easily.
The obvious differences in physicality make for a compelling argument that football players are built differently. Their agility and strength make them unique freaks of nature. On the other hand, basketball players have their height to boast upon.
The athletic features aside, when it comes to the finer aspects of life, Arenas feels basketball stars are leagues ahead. While on a sit down on his podcast Gil’s Arena, the panel were discussing former NFL MVP Cam Newton‘s comment about going to strip clubs to ‘compete with other men’. On that note, Arenas said this.
He must have never went in there with an NBA player. C’mon brother, you ain’t got what we got. Blow you out of the water. It started off we got out little shot, we doing our little thing. Then, football want to come in and want to take their shirt off. They want to throw 4 or 5 bottles, do all this stuff. He wanna order some, give me 50 of those and send one bottle to him so it look different.
Gilbert Arenas on Gil’s Arena
NBA vs NFL Players at the Strip Club 🍾😂🫣 pic.twitter.com/dsWscvbICg
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) December 22, 2024
By this Gilbert Arenas meant that in a club when an NFL player starts to show off their physique and throw some money around, NBA players can do 10 times as much. It is that one area where basketball players have a much bigger advantage.
NBA vs NFL income disparity is massive
The average NBA player always earns more than their NFL counterpart. As the CBA helped teams pay their players more and more, salaries have continued to rise. This season, the average salary in the professional basketball league is more than $11 million.
That is in stark contrast to the NFL, where the average salary hovers around the $2.8 million mark. Sure, there have been players who have annual salaries close or more than some NBA players. But the number of players and the salary cap in the NFL ensure the overall average stays low.
As per Gilbert Arenas’ logic, unless an average NBA player is battling for financial supremacy against one of the better paid NFL players, they are way better compensated. Now with the new media-rights deal set to start after this season, the chances of a new CBA being negotiated is higher.
Even if it does not happen, basketball stars have started to leave top NFL earners in the dust. It also helps them that basketball players on an average play longer and thus earn more over the course of their careers. This goes on to increase that disparity in lifestyle.
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Joseph Varghese
(2163 Articles Published)