How much do the Brooklynnettes make? Not a lot, says Post

The New York Post is out with an expose' on what the Brooklynnettes and Knick City Dancers make for entertaining fans at NBA games.  The answer, says the Post, is little.

Cheerleaders — or dancers as they are called — for the Knicks and for the Brooklyn Nets will pull in $200 or less a game and receive no health insurance coverage from their teams, The Post has learned.

Well, that's not a lot, particularly considering that the lowest paid Nets -- Markel Brown and Cory Jefferson -- make more than a half million a year.  But it's not about the money, says a former member of Team Hype.

"You’re choosing to put on those shorts where you’re bottom’s hanging out, and a push-up bra, and that makeup," she said. "You’re there because you love to dance," Cherielee Passalaqua said.

“We provide our highly-trained entertainment team members with professional pay for all rehearsals, performances and appearances,” Barry Baum, a spokesman for the Brooklyn Nets, told The Post.

A team insider says there is compensation beyond the games, that the dancers get paid per appearance, meaning any visit to a sponsor or NBA event results in a pay check.

In the past, the Nets have refused to say anything but the most basic information on the record. In ads for audition, under compensation, they've noted, "Professional pay provided."  And in 2012, Kimberlee Garris, who was a Knick City Dancer and is now the Nets Director of Entertainment Marketing, described the pay this way: "They are among the highest-paid professional dancers in the league," without getting into details.

Of course, they do get perks like traveling to China and Mexico, and most have other jobs or are in school.

• NBA dancers low-balled in ‘rah-rah’ deal - Kevin Dugan - New York Post