Why do black basketball players work more for less money?

We explore Kahn and Sherer's finding that National Basketball Association players' salaries are lower fur black than white players. In general, we do not find evidence that this salary differential is due to the racial preferences of fans. Specifically, we observe that black players actually play more than comparable white players. We offer a theory of price discrimination based on relative supplies and supply elasticities, in lieu of the racial discrimination argument, as an explanation for the black/white wage differential, (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. JEL classification: J15.