OT (maybe)Should star players have insurance for career ending injuries

[jplotinus]

I post this with the gruesome injury to South Carolina running back, Marcus Lattimore in mind. Trust me, if you are in the least bit squeamish, you do not want to go on YouTube for that one. Football is not WCB, and the WNBA doesn't have the pay scale of the NFL or NBA. But, women can earn a living playing pro ball, especially if they play year 'round.

Thus, if a player, like, say, our very own CD suffers multiple knee injuries, should she or they be allowed to have career ending insurance protection?

I think there is precedent for this. If memory serves me correctly, Willis McGahee of UMiami and some other hurricanes had insurance provided to them.

Just axin :-/

 

[stamfordhusky]

Large number of elite college athletes in football, basketball, baseball, and hockey purchase insurance for career-ending injuries through a longstanding program. To qualify, a player must be eligible for the next draft in his/her sport and be projected to be a relatively high draft pick. Perhaps Lattimore had already purchased some, although his prior injury might have made it expensive.

It's very unlikely CD could purchase insurance since she is unlikely to be viewed as a 1st round WNBA pick, plus her injury history and significant probability of further injury might make the price prohibitive anyway.

 

[Alydar]

I've always had a problem with the ncaa allowing players to borrow money to buy insurance based on their future earning potential while at the same time banning players who allow someone to buy them a meal or a plane ticket home. The hypocrisy is laughable. I learned about this back when Ewing was at Georgetown and during a game the announcers praised him for staying in school for 4 years. My brother who went to GTown told me he got a 50K loan to buy 1 mil in insurance. The ncaa is willing to allow professionalism as long as it helps them keep players working for them while at the same time wrapping themselves in the cloak of a protector of "amateurism".

 

[Vowelguy]

It would difficult to implement such a system for WBB because it's still not all that lucrative a sport.

What was Doty ranked in HS -- #10? How much does the average #10 HS player make in the pros? Maybe 100-150k. If that. I dont see an insurance market working under those conditions.

I suppose insurance comps could limit it to the top 1 or 2 players each year, but then I'm not sure if it's worthwhile for the company to invest the time to understand the players, the risks, etc.

 

[John Glass]

the average #10 player 100 -150k per year ? not in the WNBA

 

[Vowelguy]

the average #10 player 100 -150k per year ? not in the WNBA

Total. WNBA + Foreign + Endorsements (if any)

 

[jplotinus]

Total. WNBA + Foreign + Endorsements (if any)

100k here, 100 there, pretty soon you're talkin several times the national median income of people who still have jobs. Plus, lower potential income means lower premiums and a bit less insurance coverage, right?

 

[stamfordhusky]

It would difficult to implement such a system for WBB because it's still not all that lucrative a sport.

What was Doty ranked in HS -- #10? How much does the average #10 HS player make in the pros? Maybe 100-150k. If that. I dont see an insurance market working under those conditions.

I suppose insurance comps could limit it to the top 1 or 2 players each year, but then I'm not sure if it's worthwhile for the company to invest the time to understand the players, the risks, etc.

The NCAA program is available to anyone who is projected to be drafted on the first round. However the amount of available insurance is based on earnings potential, so clearly WNBA prospects won't qualify for nearly as much as would a men's player.

Doty, regardless of where she was ranked in H.S., would not qualify for any insurance unless she was projected to go on the first round this year.

 

[UcMiami]

Insurance companies will insure just about anything. The question is whether the insurance cost vs. the potential benefit is worth the cost of the insurance. For players with huge paychecks coming down the road if they remain healthy, buying the insurance is worth it. For players without that prospect it probably isn't, because the cost of the insurance is not going to be reduced based on earning potential as the risk of injury doesn't change. Of course, the payout is not a fixed number either so for a payout of $100,000 the cost might be worth it.
This is really nothing different from buying life insurance - the company is betting you will live and you are buying a payout to your family if you don't - and it is all based on tables. The problem with specialized insurance is that the company is betting on a one off situation and the 'tables' are not based on thousands of similar policies - so the 'premium' they charge is going to be much larger.
And yes - with a player with the medical history of Doty she would probably have to pay $50,000-$70,000 in insurance for a one year policy with a payout of $100,000 if she were to get injured - probably not worth the cost.

 

[jplotinus]

Speaking of knee injuries, I recall Geno describing the one Ashley Battle suffered as being one where every grouping of initials used to describe knee injuries applied to hers. Last I checked, Ashley was playing in the WNBA in that league's season and playing overseas and getting some endorsements.

And, while I'm not sure whether Mel Thomas ever got a spot on a WNBA team, I recall her playing in Europe--if you consider Ireland a part of Europe that is--when she wasn't otherwise busy writing books and such

Neither Battle nor Thomas were 1st rounders, but their careers were worthy of ins cover IMHO.

 

[VAUConnFan]

I do not recall Ms Battle suffering any knee injuries. Her injury, I believe, was to her elbow early in the 2001 season.

 

[jplotinus]

I do not recall Ms Battle suffering any knee injuries. Her injury, I believe, was to her elbow early in the 2001 season.

Quite right. My mistake. Right name for the knee injury is Kalana Greene.