NEW AGE ATHLETES AS SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS: PROPOSING A PHILANTHROPIC PARADIGM SHIFT AND CREATIVE USE OF LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY JOINT VENTURES

11 Wake Forest J. Bus. & Intell. Prop. L. 213

While professional athletes in this country’s four most popular professional leagues have significant player salaries, this article focuses on the National Basketball Association (“NBA”). The NBA players are Exhibit A for an unrealized opportunity. They comprise a group of the world’s most talented employees for this particular industry who, by virtue of both wealth and cultural connectivity, have an extraordinary “giving back” impact on urban America. If the vast majority of those players would establish charitable foundations and pool their funds, they could do something unprecedented— they could have transformative effects on entire communities. Such like-minded players can be termed “New Age Athletes.”