40 million dollar slaves

I have yet to finish reading "40 Million Dollar Slaves" by William C. Rhoden book I heard about a couple years ago. This book goes back to compare the playing field-team (Owner)-athlete to plantation-master-slave and the obvious difference is that athletes are paid big. These athletes are paid big to perform, but the moment they do not perform good, get hurt, get in trouble, or get old they are let go without giving the athlete any chance to adjust. I see the point Mr. Rhoden shares in his book, for instance, all athletes are under contract by the owner which means that these athletes are controlled by the owner. Athletes are restricted to do some of the things they want to do after or before playing because their contracts say so. Where is the "freedom" in an athlete? Also, these athletes are not taught how to invest their millions of dollars. Most of these athletes come from low income families. As soon as they start getting paid, they are spending their money on expensive cars, a certain percentage to their agents, alcohol, partying, fast women, expensive homes, and then give some money for their friends and families. Allen Iverson is a good example that was just let go and went from fame to shame. Now he has lost his house, plays in China, and has not money. Jamarcus Russell drafted number 1 by the Raiders a couple of years ago signed a big bonus that was guaranteed, showed up to camp overweight, complained, was lazy, and did not take his job serious. Now he has no job, just lost his house, and has been caught using illegal drugs.

Owners of all sports are billionaires and does not hurt their pocket to pay these athletes millions of dollars. They get about 10 times more than what they pay their athletes. You hardly see the owner at any of their games, they hardly deal with media, are not athletic, but are great businessmen/women. They use these athletes to get paid for their team, kind of how the masters used their slaves to work for them on their plantations. It is sad to see how media makes it seem that being an athlete is the best job to have when they sacrifice their bodies for these owners as these athletes are making the owner more wealthy.