What are the odds of becoming a professional basketball player?

Slim.

There are 360 NBA players. It is estimated that only 2% of high school players will make a college team. And 1% of the college players will make a NBA team. (The odds get worst when you include international play.)

It is a very elite group. Each level relies on talent—the stuff that you are born with like being 7 feet tall.

And yet…

Yet, it has been reported that in extreme cases some families will spend 10% of their income on youth sports.

The question is, why spend tens of thousands of dollars a year on coaching, when it could be put into a savings account? Wouldn’t parents be better off sticking it away for college?

The answer is simple: People misbehave all the time to fuel an internal narrative as they see the world.

In this case, parent don’t see these types of prices as costs but rather an investment. We don’t purchase things because it makes financial sense, we do it because of how it makes us feel.

It’s no wonder we see a rise of unsportsmanlike conduct with so much being put on the line.