Shaq Gets What Market Will Bear

I was amused by your letters regarding the salary of Shaquille O’Neal in relation to the income of other people. Sports celebrities seem to bear the brunt of this sort of resentment. One letter-writer calculated that Shaq made the exorbitant amount of $3,364 per hour, every hour. A similar calculation for Bill Gates reveals that he makes $2 million per hour, every hour.

STEFEN MALONE, West Hollywood

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I am tired of the ignorant, unhappy sports fans who feel they must explain the decay of society every time an athlete signs a big contract.

Shaq is in the entertainment business, where some salaries in 1999 include Jerry Seinfeld, $267 million; Oprah Winfrey, $125 million; Tim Allen, $77 million; Celine Dion, $56 million; Robin Williams, $56 million; Spice Girls, $49 million. Now if you still think Shaq doesn’t deserve his salary, then you haven’t seen these people perform.

A teacher has a noble and thankless job, but to be honest, anyone can be a teacher. There is only one Shaq!

ALVIN M. OKAMURA, Encino

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To the trio of folks (and probably more) who wrote in to complain about Shaq’s salary vs. those of teachers, etc., the solution is simple: Stop going to the games, stop watching the games on TV. If everyone stopped wasting their time and money on the NBA and its overpaid stars, there’d be no justification for the high salaries.

SCOTT LENZ, Los Angeles