Letting Everyone In on NBA’s Pension Secret

I would like to commend Earl Gustkey on his article, “The NBA’s Dirty Secret” [Oct. 28]. I cannot remember the last time that I cried over an article, but I’ll never forget this one. I can never watch an NBA game again.

ERIC HOUSEHOLDER

Tujunga

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As an attorney who specializes in elder abuse litigation, I was outraged and saddened by Earl Gustkey’s expose.

How can this happen in the NBA’s land of plenty? Surely the NBA can find some spare change for its founding fathers within the $3 billion that was grossed from last year’s merchandising madness. Common sense and morals dictate that this problem needs an immediate fix.

KEITH D. WISBAUM

Laguna Beach

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Earl Gustkey’s article expresses one of the existing attitudes that is helping to lead this country down the road to destruction--that individuals don’t have to be accountable for their mistakes and failures, and society should always be there to bail us out.

Apparently, Elmore Morgenthaler, who Gustkey tells us played in a whopping 31 games over two seasons, never made much money in basketball and now lives on a $618-per-month pension. Instead of asking Morgenthaler what he thinks of Michael Jordan making $30 million a year, it might have been more appropriate to ask him what he did (or didn’t do) the past 55 years that left him with no savings and a lousy pension.

Surely basketball wasn’t the only job Morgenthaler ever had. If the NBA promised him more money than he received, he should have sued a long time ago.

JOHN PLATTER

Calabasas