If you saw the 2008 NBA Championship you know what I’m talking about! , from the Celtics: Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen all sacrificed their top individual status in chance for a NBA Ring! This trend is not new in sports and in the NBA, I begin to notice when Karl Malone opted for a lower contract in hopes to get a ring with the L.A. Lakers back years ago. Many players are now seeing the value in the overall goal as opposed to just money. Of course, in the NBA things are different as they can pretty much afford to take a pay cut and never notice.

But in real life, in most professional sports it is becoming a trend and positive. In team sports, individuals who win awards are given credit but at times, they don’t produce enough to get the team to the top.

My advice, if you’re at the end of your career and you’ve garnered everything but a nice championship, think about your next move and possibly take a pay cut to get more attention and satisfaction in the end!

Summer is right around the corner and if you’re playing in any type of organized basketball team this summer, I’m pretty sure you have to raise money for traveling and lodging I suppose? Its been a long time since I’ve had to do any fundraising, but I sure did love doing it. I believe that I wrote an article previously of how I got started when playing AAU basketball but I won’t bore you again. Right now I’m going to explain more in detail a website which offers unique fundraising ideas and products for anything your group needs. If you’re starting sports fundraisers for basketball or any type, you should have a budget and an idea of what type of people you would like to target.

Of course, if you’re trying to target youth or kids, the easiest is candy. For elderly, it would be smarter popcorn, nuts or fruit baskets. At EZFUND, which has been around since 1996 helping with all types of fundraisers has many products and ideas to get you started. For funding sports here is list of products that they offer:

• Sports Pops Lollipops - shape of sport balls (basketball, football, soccer ball etc)
• Gourmet Snacks - trail mix, nuts, caramel corn etc
• Popcorn - comes in theme bags
• Chocolate bars - this is more common for any type of fundraising

I like this website because it offers a wide variety of fundraising products and ideas all at one. Its not limited to only sports, but if your group such as a church fundraising or school fundraisers, you’re able to use this company. When you head over to the site, each product has in red the amount of profit that you are expected to earn. So get your budget together and think of ways to promote your fundraisers. If you’re not in a group, you can still benefit for any occasion, especially to help with kids or someone ailing with medical bills!

Good luck!