Nets’ Hollis-Jefferson has roommates, could become 1st player to live in Brooklyn
NBA rookie salary rules determine how much every first-round pick can make, but that money goes different lengths in each NBA city. The No. 15 and No. 16 picks may earn similar pre-tax figures each pay period, but the latter will take home more in Texas than the former will in California. That’s to say nothing of the basic cost of living, particularly when it comes to rent and other major expenses. Such are the vagaries of an interstate business with ever-shifting standards of fairness.
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Brooklyn Nets rookie Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is experiencing this system the hard way. The Pennsylvania native is set to make a cool $1.33 million in his first season, but that figure doesn’t look quite so lucrative for a player who has to live in New York City. So, in order to save for the future, Hollis-Jefferson is living in New Jersey (with roommates) and may end up moving to Brooklyn. From Alex Raskin for the Wall Street Journal:
“When I saw the check, I saw half of the money was gone,” Hollis-Jefferson said, referring to the taxes and other dues extracted from his paycheck. “And being in New York, more than half was gone. I was like, ‘Who do I call here? What’s going on?’ ” […]
“You can live in a nice, three-bedroom condo with all that in Dallas for like two thousand bucks,” Hollis-Jefferson said. “Three bedroom, three-bathroom in New York, you’re paying eight grand. It’s ridiculous.” […]
Currently, Hollis-Jefferson shares a Northern New Jersey rental with a friend and Rahlir, who played basketball in college at Temple and professionally in both Europe and the D-League. The area is so new to Hollis-Jefferson that he admittedly uses a navigation device to guide him along the 25-minute commute to the team’s practice facility in East Rutherford, N.J.
His new routine will change at the end of September when the Nets hold training camp at Duke University in Durham, N.C., and will be further altered in February when the new HSS Training Center is scheduled to open in Brooklyn’s Industry City.
Hollis-Jefferson is considering becoming the first Brooklyn Nets player to move to the borough because, as he continues to learn, traffic congestion in and around New York is constant. “It’s really every day.”
Hollis-Jefferson is not the only Nets player to make a salary around $1.33 million, even if Mikhail Prokhorov’s recent spending history would suggest otherwise. He’s also probably not the first player to realize that he can save a little money on rent by not living in Manhattan, where $1.33 million would make him a mid-level resident in many buildings.
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However, he is (as far as we know) the first player to take such a conservative view of the problem of playing in a city with such a high standard of living. Brooklyn is by no means a cheap place to live, but it’s a great deal cheaper than Manhattan. That’s especially true if he continues to keep roommates. Good luck on Craigslist, Rondae!
Plus, while this choice seems to be a matter of convenience right now, he should be perfectly happy across the bridge. New York’s hottest borough houses many more wealthy 20-year-olds (via their parents, but still) looking to enjoy life. Maybe he can even convince some of them to root for the Nets.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
