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I lost all chances to make the NBA when I was hit head-on in a multiple car pile-up. Will I receive damages for the loss of my dream career?
Yes, you will, if you can prove that you would have made the NBA and, you’ll get a lot more if, secondarily, you can prove that you would have been a successful basketball player. How can you do that? With lots of good documentation and witnesses, a great, experienced attorney to allow you the opportunity to tell your story, and a forensic economist who knows how to put together a package of figures for what might have been.
Let’s talk about your chances to make the NBA. One question your attorney will have is where were you in the process? Were you already being sought out by the NBA? Were you a successful high school or college player being scouted? Had a team already made you an offer? Your attorney will want to speak to anyone and everyone who has been involved in your budding career who will help you prove your case, like high school, college and professional coaches, teammates, your agent, team managers, team owners, etc. to determine where you were and what the next step was to be. Very few players make the NBA.
Assuming all of the testimony and documentation proves that you would have made the NBA, the next question is how much money you would have made. Superstar or not, virtually every player makes multi-millions after three years or so when they become a free agent. This is where the speculation comes in and how well your attorney advocates for you. Also, are you able to do any other kind of work now?
You didn’t say what your injury was. Perhaps you can do something else with the NBA, or maybe something else sports-related, such as sports broadcasting. The salary from any other work you could potentially do will be deducted from what you would have earned had you not been injured. Your forensic economist will provide numbers for this as well, based on what a vocational rehabilitation specialist determines your present transferable skills are.
Further, if you would have become super successful as a player, and you have the looks and personality, you might have gotten endorsements from sporting goods manufacturers like Nike and Reebok and you might have done commercials like Shaq and M. J. Your attorney will have to make a very creative and persuasive argument to convince a jury of this.
So, let’s look at a hypothetical set of numbers, assuming you can prove you would have been an NBA star:
| Lost wages (if presently working) |
$ 35,000 |
| Loss of future contract with NBA (first year) |
$ 800,000 |
| Loss of Income (years 2 and 3) |
$1.6 mil |
| Loss of Earning Capacity (Income per yr. x number of years able to play) |
$90 mil |
| Income from alternative career (e.g., front office NBA) |
($ 6.8 mil) |
| Loss of additional potential income from endorsements/commercials, etc. |
$10 mil |
| Total loss of earnings/ Loss of earning capacity |
$97.64 mil |
As indicated above, a lot of this is speculative based on what you and your attorney are able to prove convincingly to a jury. The numbers have not been adjusted for inflation, which is something the forensic economist will do for the jury.
This example is based on fictitious facts and figures. Your individual case may vary from this substantially. For information on how to value your specific claim, contact an attorney who is familiar with large lost earning capacity cases. Don’t be afraid to ask the attorney how he would go about proving your losses. |
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