Physical Education ICT
“To what extent is the motivation of a professional basketball
player or team affected by salary?”
This document for guidance only – please note relevant rules on plagiarism
Ref: Sam Golding
Part One: Introduction
Part Two: Review of Literature
Part Three: Discussion and Conclusion
Part Four: Appraisal
Part Five: Appendix
Part Six: Bibliography
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Physical Education ICT
Introduction
This study will be an investigation into the motivational role of money on the
performance of professional basketball teams and players. My interpretation of
motivation is the willingness of a person to perform an action; this can be
affected by both intrinsic (Competitiveness) and extrinsic (trophies, prize money
etc.) factors.
I have chosen this topic to follow for three main reasons. Firstly, because I have
partaken in the playing of basketball on a recreational and competitive level for
many years, which leads me to inquire into what motivates professional
basketball players to perform to a high standard on a regular basis. Secondly, I
have enjoyed viewing and following NBA basketball for as long as I have been
playing, so I am interested into by what means a basketball player gets motivated
to succeed on when they play s o frequently. Thirdly, motivation features in the
skill acquisition module of A/S Physical education, also salary of performers has
been discussed in the Socio-cultural section.
The topic of motivation is involved in all levels of sport, from school to
professional levels. This is recognised in two forms, intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation. Intrinsic motivation comes from within the performer e.g. reaching
personal goals, self-competitiveness etc. Extrinsic motivation comes from
external factors to the performer e.g. money, trophies, team talks from coach,
expectation from fans and supporters etc. As motivation covers all sports in one
of these two forms, I am going to concentrate on the extrinsic factors of
motivation on professional basketball players.
The purpose of this study is to develop an understanding of the role of money in
the extrinsic motivation of NBA basketball players. It will also briefly explore other
forms and aspects of motivation which affect them.
Source of
Information
Obtained
from…
Topic
Deadline
Textbooks
Obtain
information from
library (School or
Public), Ed-Excel
standard issue
text book.
Through Internet
access at home
or school.
Motivation –
Types/roles of
etc.
On going
Web-sites
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Salary statistics 31/02/2001
of NBA players
and teams.
Information on
motivation types
Date of
Completio
n
31/02/2001
Physical Education ICT
Media –
Magazine/
Newspaper
articles
Backdated and
current issues of
‘XXL Basketball’
and national
newspaper
sports articles.
Corresponden
ce with people
involved in
Professional
Basketball,
Journalists,
Players,
coaches (All if
Possible)
Through e-mail
of a
questionnaire to
magazines /
Journalists,
Players and
coaches through
official web-site
information.
SECTION OF
ASSIGNMENT
Review of literature
Discussion/Conclusion
Appraisal
Completion
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etc.
Coaching styles
Salary deals For
transferred
players.
Uses of money
earned.
Sponsorship
deals.
Motivation-By
What?
How are they
Motivated? Etc.
Questions
based on
statistics of
salary and
performance of
players and
teams for the
season of 19992000
On going
To be sent
by
01/03/2001
Reply time
allowed but
no official
date set for
this,
expected
date is
before
31/04/2001
TASK
DEADLINE
Present gathered data
Discuss the evidence found
relevant to the topic, draw
conclusions
Evaluate study,
How successful was it? Does
it answer set question?
What improvements could be
made?
What further studies could be
made?
Put project together, organise
project, make final
adjustments
Easter 2001
25th April 2001
10th May 2001
May/June
2001
Physical Education ICT
Review Of Literature
Information has been gathered from textbooks, Internet and newspaper articles, I
have attempted contact with many journalists and some NBA players. Each of
these will be discussed in turn during the course of this literature review.
To aid my investigation I decided to find a definition of motivation, in order clarify
the task I had set myself. In the article ‘What is motivation’ by Karlene Sugarman,
she states that “motivation is the psychological force that pushes and drives you
to work hard.” (K. Sugarman 1999). Motivation can be described as the “why of
behaviour”(Gross 1992). Motivation is found in two forms, which are heavily interlinked as stated in Paul Bernhardt’s article in perspectives magazine,
“…researchers talk about two types of motivation, extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic
motivation is based on concrete or overt rewards. Intrinsic motivation is based on
internal rewards.”(P. Bernhardt 1996). He went on to say “Intrinsic motivation
comes from within. …. When someone asks ‘Why did you do that?’ you answer,
‘because I like it.’ That is clearly intrinsic motivation. If pressed you could
probably come up with more specific reasons:..…. the satisfaction of having a
well placed shot……
…Extrinsic motivations are rewards that come from outside our self. Obviously,
money is an extrinsic motive. For some, fame or power might be the main
motives.” It is not as clear-cut as this, with the two separate categories. The line
between the two is somewhat blurred, as a form of motivation which is
categorised extrinsic, may give some form of internal gratification. This is stated
in the article in ‘Perspectives magazine’ “Somehow, the person must find intrinsic
value in the external reward…Money does have unique qualities because it can
be converted to so many other services and wares which might satisfy intrinsic
motivations.”(P. Bernhardt 1996).
Although NBA basketball is not covered to a great degree In the media, I was
able to obtain two articles from the ‘Daily Express’ covering the NBA. The first of
which displays an argument against the view that money is the main motivational
source for professional basketball players. The article explains about a basketball
player who recently signed a multimillion-dollar contract, but instead of splashing
out on luxuries for himself he plans to build a hospital. “Now he has signed a
contract with his architect and builder, not for some grand Mansion for himself
but a $14million, 300bed hospital in Kinshasa in his home town in the
Congo…has already bought land for the land for the hospital, and with or without
an NBA title, will be back in Kinshasa in September for the ground breaking.” (D.
Purgavie, 2001). The Second, talks about British basketball player who turned
down a deal for $12million with the winners of the NBA from the previous season,
in order to repay his gratitude to his current club. “I owe the Magic a great debt of
gratitude and I am repaying that debt. To leave the team would have been poor
on my part. You can’t be a man of principle some of the time.” (J. Amaechi,
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Physical Education ICT
2001). Both articles show signs of very different motivational factors to the value
of money.
As I was unable to receive any replies from the questionnaire sent out, I am
having to base much of the project on statistical data. I decided to use the data
from two highly contrasting teams, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Orlando
Magic. The Lakers who in the season studied dominated throughout with their
highly paid squad, compared with a surprise team in the Orlando Magic who
performed unexpectedly well with their team of considerably lower paid team of
unknowns.
Table 1: LA Lakers.
Player
One years
salary
Shaquille
O’neill
$17,142,858
Kobe Bryant
$9,000,000
Glen Rice
Robert Horry
Derek Fisher
Rick Fox
Travis Knight
Ron Harper
AC Green
Tyronn Lue
Devean
George
Sam
Jacobson
John Salley
Byron Scott
$7,000,000
$4,800,000
$3,000,000
$3,033,000
$2,800,000
$2,000,000
$1,700,000
$809,280
$790,440
League leaders List
+ Position in list /
Season team
Points per Game – 1st
Points Total – 1st
Rebounds per Game
– 2nd
Rebounds Total – 2nd
Blocks per Game – 3rd
Blocks Total – 3rd
All-NBA First team,
All-Defensive Second
team
Points per Game –
12th
All-NBA second team,
All-Defensive First
team
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
$721,080
N/A
N/A
$510,000
$510,000
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
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Position in League
Salary List
1st
30th
53rd
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Physical Education ICT
Brian Shaw
Shea Seals
John
Celestand
Andy Panko
Team
$510,000
$385,000
$301,875
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
$5,000
$54,123,533
N/A
League wins – 1st
Playoffs – 1st
N/A
4th
Table 2: Orlando Magic
Player
One years
salary
Darrell Armstrong
$4,125,000
Armon Gilliam
Derek Strong
Chauncey Billups
Gerald Wilkins
Ron Mercer
Bo Outlaw
$3,707,200
$3,159,000
$3,100,080
$3,000,000
$2,298,840
$2,000,000
Terry Davis
Yinka Dare
Michael Smith
Michael Doleac
Corey Maggette
Harvey Grant
Johnny Taylor
Matt Harpring
Tim Legler
Anthony Johnson
Anthony Parker
Pat Garrity
Ben Wallace
$1,925,000
$1,893,500
$1,660,000
$1,357,320
$1,259,400
$1,200,000
$1,172,400
$1,163,760
$1,119,000
$1,100,000
$980,280
$952,800
$893,750
Rodrick Rhodes
Monty Williams
$600,000
$510,000
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League leaders
List + Position in
list / Season team
Assists per game –
16th
Assists Total – 14th
Steals per Game –
3rd
Steals Total – 2nd
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Blocks per Game –
14th
Blocks Total – 12th
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Rebounds per game
– 20th
Rebounds Total –
19th
N/A
N/A
Position in League
Salary List
All players in this
team fell under the
$5million mark and
so it is difficult to say
their exact position
in the list
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Physical Education ICT
Jeff McInnis
John Amaechi
Chucky Atkins
$460,000
$385,000
$385,000
Makhtar Ndiaye
Miles Simon
Dominique Wilkins
Earl Boykins
Kiwane Garris
Louis Bullock
Team
$385,000
$385,000
$250,000
$88,324
$61,147
$10,000
$41,586,801
N/A
N/A
All-Rookie Second
team
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
League wins – 16th
Playoffs – Out first
round
Table 3: Top Ten highest paid Players
Number
Player
Team
1.
Player Salary
Shaquille O'Neal Los Angeles $17,142,858
2.
Kevin Garnett
Minnesota
Alonzo Mourning
Miami
3.
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N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
20th
Accolades
Points per Game – 1st
Points Total – 1st
Rebounds per Game –
2nd
Rebounds Total – 2nd
Blocks per Game – 3rd
Blocks Total – 3rd
All-NBA First team,
All-Defensive Second
team,
Regular season and
playoff Most Valuable
Player
PPG – 8th
Points Total – 10th
RPG – 4th
$16,806,300
Rebound Total- 3rd,
All-NBA First team,
All-Defensive First team
PPG – 15th
Points Total – 12th
RPG – 12th
Rebound Total – 12th
$15,004,800
BPG – 1st
Block total – 1st,
All-NBA Second Team,
All-Defensive First team
Physical Education ICT
4.
- out for much of the
season due to injury
5.
Juwan Howard Washington $15,000,000
6.
All-Defensive second
Scottie Pippen
Portland
$14,795,642
team
7.
- out for much of the
Hakeem Olajuwon Houston
$14,302,001
season due to injury
8.
Karl Malone
Utah
$14,000,000
9.
RPG – 1st
Dikembe
Rebound total – 1st
Atlanta
$12,820,249
Mutombo
BPG – 2nd
Block Total – 2nd
10.
- out for much of the
Jayson Williams New Jersey $12,375,000
season due to injury
79 players earned over $5million Dollars in the NBA in 1999-2000 season.
Patrick Ewing
New York
$15,000,000
The evidence from these tables does suggest that being highly paid induces
good performance in a player. Much of the first 40 players featured in this salary
list feature in many of the statistical lists.
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Physical Education ICT
Discussion/Conclusion
The information presented in the literature review will now be discussed in order
to draw conclusions on the subject.
A definition of motivation and the types of has been offered. All of the sources
agreed that there are two categories of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic
feedback. Intrinsic motivation; gaining internal rewards. Extrinsic motivation is
based on receiving physical or external rewards. Two of the sources (P.
Bernhardt 1996) and (K. Sugarman 1999) stated that there was no clear
distinction between the two types of motivation for example, a performer can gain
intrinsic rewards through an external reward, or a performer may receive external
gratification from an intrinsic motivational source. It is generally agreed that this
crossover of ideas is essential for ultimate success in a given activity, the
combination helps to achieve optimum performance (Edexcel, Advanced PE,
2000). Although when motivated completely intrinsically good performances can
be produced, it is only when an incentive is given that the performer will produce
their best. The same goes with extrinsic motivation. If the motivation I solely
extrinsic then a good performance may occur, but if they are not enjoying the
activity then the performance may not be as high as it could be. Motivation of
either variety is essential when taking part in all activities, as if we were not
motivated to them we would not take part in them at all.
The Cognitive dissonance theory suggests that if we do a job in which we are
paid poorly, we must enjoy doing it, otherwise why would we do it? And the
reverse, if we do a job in which we are receiving a high salary, then we must only
do it for the money. So this could apply to basketball players, the lower paid
players such as the rookies play well because they enjoy to play. Whereas highly
paid players may perform to a high standard because of the money.
In two newspaper articles I found evidence to argue against the extrinsic role of
money in the motivation of Professional Basketball Players. The first article by
(D. Purgavie, 2001) titled “Why Mutombo Walks Tall” was about a former native
of the Congo’s use of the money he acquired in a multimillion-dollar move
between two teams involving a swap of four other players in exchange for him.
Although this would be categorised as an extrinsic motivational factor of money,
it was not greed, or the money itself that was motivating him, but more what he
could do which would be worthwhile cause. He had vowed to use it to build a
300bed hospital in his home town of Kinshasa in the Congo. From this act
although it is an extrinsic motivation, he receives an intrinsic reward from the act.
To prove the effect of this motivation, his team the Philadelphia 76ers finished
top of the Atlantic division and Eastern Conference with the joint second total
wins of the regular season, and Mutombo himself was named defensive player of
the year. The end of the article, in which this story was found, finished “Nobody
seems to have told him he is supposed to be greedy and arrogant and hang
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Physical Education ICT
around in strip clubs.” (D. Purgavie, 2001), suggesting that he is an exception,
and that the stereotypical Pro-Basketball player would be what is described.
The Second of the articles by (M. Ogden, 2001) titled “Megabucks Can’t Sway
Amaechi”. This article was about a British player in the NBA who turned down the
opportunity to move to the Playoff Winners the LA Lakers which involved an
upgrade of salary from $385,000 to in excess of $2million a year. This vast
increase in salary could not persuade him into moving due to his sense of loyalty
to his current team, so he accepted a £465,000 one year deal from his current
club instead. This showed that he had good intrinsic motivation, as he did not feel
that he required that sum of money to perform, his main source of motivation was
his loyalty. These articles both show evidence of intrinsic motivation, or at least
received internal gratification from their external rewards.
As I did not receive replies to my questionnaires I was forced to base the main
bulk of the investigation on statistics. I began by Comparing the Salaries and
performances of two very different teams. 1. LA Lakers and 2. Orlando Magic.
Table 4:
Team
Total Team
Highest Paid Highest
Final
Salary
Player
Player Salary Positions
Los Angeles
$54,123,533
Shaquille
$17,142,858
Regular
Lakers
O’neill
Season – 1st ,
Playoffs –
Winners
Orlando Magic $41,586,801
Darrell
$4,125,000
Reg. Season
Armstrong
– Overall 16th,
Playoffs – Out
First Round
A Huge difference is visible between the salary and season performances of both
teams (displayed in tables 1, 2 and 4). LA with a vastly larger overall Salary, and
a just below $13million difference between the salaries of the highest paid player
of the respective teams. This initially shows a trend in the role that these external
incentives play on the motivation to succeed. But when you consider the
differences in the salary and expectation on either team, the picture becomes
less clear. Where the Lakers with their big name, big price-tag players had an
expectancy to succeed. Whereas, Orlando with their relatively low paid
unknowns, by far exceeded all expectations.
Orlando the previous season had failed to qualify for the playoffs in many years,
and subsequently went on to lose their most well known and talented player in
the following summer. So, in this following season they had no more big name
talents, and were not even expected to get close to qualifying for the playoffs.
This shows the amount of intrinsic motivation collectively held by the team.
The Lakes, However finally managed to reach their full potential in this season,
after 2 years of under achieving, the extrinsic pressures placed upon them by
their price tags were increasing. So here their motivation through their combined
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Physical Education ICT
intrinsic motivations and extrinsic motivations of salary came through to help
them to succeed.
Surprisingly more different players, from Orlando were in the various league
leaders lists and All-NBA teams, although the total count for inclusion in the
various lists was larger for LA. But for the Lakers only two separate players were
responsible for these, compared to Orlando’s 4.
It could be argued that the Orlando players could still be motivated by the money,
as although considerably lower than that of LA, the sums of money were still on
the whole considerably high.
Five of the ten highest paid players failed to make a single league leaders list, or
All-NBA team. Although three of these had ongoing injuries, the remaining two
may appear to be motivated only by the money and so are letting their
performance slip. Where younger players who are doing consistently better than
these are getting paid considerably less.
From my investigations the following conclusions have been formed:
 Motivation is the “why we perform” an activity.
 There are two main types which are very inter-linked, Intrinsic from within,
extrinsic motivation through a possible external reward.
 For optimum performance, there must be a combination of both extrinsic and
intrinsic motivational forces.
 A performer should not concentrate on one either intrinsic or extrinsic factor
for motivation, otherwise they either take the task too seriously or not take it
seriously enough. Both leading to a decline in the quality of performance.
 Although much of the motivation for NBA players comes extrinsically, it is not
always from money, it can be from what good they can do with it.
 Performance is not always reliant on the salary of the player, e.g. Ben
Wallace of Orlando, appearing in the league leaders list for rebounds, yet
earning under $1milion which is considerably lower than others featured in
the list.
 There are many factors involved in the motivation of basketball players, other
than money.
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Physical Education ICT
Appraisal
The Process of researching this topic was to enable me to learn more about the
topic of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic. It was also to show the effects of these
forms of motivation on top sports professionals in addition to natural skill and
ability. Previous to starting this project I had some knowledge of the topic of
motivation, although limited, as it had been covered previously in the course.
Some of the difficulties in encountered upon gathering research for this study
were:
1. There is a vast number of teams and hundreds of players in the in NBA, so it
would be far too time consuming to study statistics for all of these. So only
small sections were possible for comparing and contrasting which could give
a limited and possibly inaccurate overview of the NBA as a whole. Also
finding this statistical information and salaries of teams/players was a difficult
task.
2. Basketball as whole is featured to a very little extent in the media in the UK,
and when it is reported it is usually only on British league stories. The only
times that newspapers print stories on the NBA is usually to report the winner
of the Playoffs at the end of the season, or features on British/European
players in the NBA. There is little television coverage on the NBA except for a
30minute magazine program on Saturdays on ITV. When the coverage rights
were owned by Channel 4 the coverage was more extensive. Including two
one-hour shows, one 30minute show and one live match per week. Although
ITV does have more extensive coverage on its Digital channel, ITV2,
unfortunately I am not able to view this, as I do not receive digital television.
3. I decided to send out questionnaires to John Amaechi (the only British player
in the NBA) and Vlade Divac, both NBA players. I sent them questionnaires to
get an inside view into what motivates them to perform in order to obtain
evidence from within the group I am studying. This could not be carried out
with British or European league players as they are not under the same
pressures and demands of popularity and salary as NBA players. I also sent
out questionnaires to various sports Journalists who deal specifically with
basketball, as they have strong views about and a vast knowledge of the
subject. Unfortunately, I am yet to receive a reply from any of these sources.
This limited my resources to statistical evidence and knowledge of results.
Answers for these questions would have been of great benefit to my study.
Therefore, this investigation has had large limitations due to the lack of and low
quantity of literature and information specific to this subject. Much of the
motivation information came from articles on which were general to many sports,
or from the issued textbook which was not specific to the subject of the project.
Opportunities have been opened for further investigation in this topic. The topics
raised in this investigation could have been broadened by investigating roles of
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Physical Education ICT
different types of motivation on all levels e.g. Recreation, School, county/state,
college, National/European and NBA levels. Another investigation that could
have been made is how do performers respond to specific types of motivation
e.g. Extrinsic, with the promise of money or chocolate in younger performers.
Appendix
1) Advanced PE for Edexcel:
 Intrinsic Feedback – From within the performer.
 Extrinsic Feedback – From an external reward.
2) “Motivation” article by P. Bernhardt: see attached
3) “What is Motivation?” by K. Sugarman: see attached
4) Questionnaire sent out as part of research: see attached
5) “Why Mutombo Walks Tall” by D. Purgavie – Daily Express: see
attached
6) “Megabucks Can’t Sway Amaechi” by M. Ogden – Daily Express: see
attached
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Physical Education ICT
Bibliography:
 F. Galligan, C. Maskery, J. Spence, D. Howe, T. Barry, A. Ruston, D.
Crawford(2000) – Advanced PE for Edexcel
 XXL Basketball magazine (1999-2001).
 D. Purgavie (march 7th 2001) – Daily Express ‘Why Mutombo Walks Tall’.
 M. Ogden (March 7th 2001) – Daily Express ‘Megabucks Can’t Sway
Amaechi’.
Webliography
 www.nba.com/history/stand19992000.html – Statistics on performance tables,
salary and team results.
 www.nba.com/lakers/stats/index.html – team statistics (LA Lakers)
 www.nba.com/magic/stats/index/html – team statistics(Orlando Magic)
 www.insidehoops.com/nba_salaries_prefic.shtml – League statistics
 www.sportsbusiness.about.com/sportsbusiness/library/salary/nba – Salary
Statistics
 www.geocities.com/kobenicpmal/teaminfo/salaries.html – Team Salary
Statistics
 http://mentalhelp.net/perspectives/columns/be0596.htm – Article on
Motivation for “Perspectives” Magazine by Paul C. Bernhardt
 www.e-sports.com/article.asp?Article_id=2106 – Sports Psychology Article by
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