Middle- To Upper-Class Families Producing More NBA Players

An African-American child raised in a lower-class family is 37% less likely to become a professional basketball player than is an African-American child raised in a middle- or upper-class family, according to Joshua Kjerulf Dubrow of the Polish Academy of Sciences and jimi adams of Arizona State. Contrary to the popular stereotype, most black professional basketball players come from the middle class and above, the researchers say, and economic advantage improves players' likelihood of being selected into the NBA.