NBA Salaries vs. The Concept of Winning
Thu, Jul 9, 2009 by Adam Sedie
The free agent signings of Jason Kidd, Hedo Turkoglu, and Trevor Ariza beg the question: What’s up with NBA players turning their back on winning for money? Especially guys that have already had monster contracts. We’ll give Ariza a bit of a break because he won a ring with the Lakers last month and had yet to score the monster payday, but Kidd and Turkoglu are different stories, especially Kidd.
Kidd has earned $158 million in salary alone over the course of his career. $158 million. How much more freakin’ cash does he need? Does he live that “high on the hog” he’d go for the scratch instead of a real chance at winning? Does he drive a fur-lined Countach? Seems like a future Hall of Famer would like to close out his career with some hardware. Is this guy feeding all of his hometown of Oakland? And Latrell Sprewell’s family? Could be the alimony payments to Joumana.
Turkoglu has earned $35 million over the course of his career. The difference between the Blazers offer ($50 million) versus the Raptors offer ($53 million) is more than most of us will ever make, but he traded a great opportunity for team success in Portland for keeping his wife happy in Toronto.
If you analyze any other career in the world you will notice that compensation is performance based. If you fail to perform you inevitably fail to retain your position. It is a sad state of affairs within the NBA when players can go to a team with no chance of winning simply to make more money. It should go against the ideology of being a professional athlete.
Magic and Bird are true professionals by definition. (Credit: vurbmoto.com)
Have they any pride? Isn’t a professional athlete’s job supposed to be winning? Seems like it’s become more about the groupies and hangin’ in the champagne room of whatever strip club in whatever city they happen to be in that night. And why are guys on opposing teams so buddy-buddy with each other? That’s truly nauseating. Watching dudes hug and giggle with one another in the midst of a game isn’t supposed to happen. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird had tremendous respect for one another, but were the fiercest of enemies on the court. This is not a bromance after all. It is basketball.
The game has devolved into what is often simply entertainment instead of fierce competition. It’s just not about winning for the vast majority of players in this league which has to make you wonder why fans allow this. Are they too hypnotized by $10 beers, the beats blaring from stadium loudspeakers, and fat guy dance troupes?
By today's standards, Bird and Magic would make less then the mid-level exception. (Credit: usinflationcalculator.com)
And since we referenced Magic and Bird, Protect the Paint decided to research how much money Magic and Bird made during their careers. Yes, it was a much different time, but the money these guys made didn’t render the concept of winning and losing obsolete like it so often does today.
Magic earned around $46 Million, with $15 million of that in his final two seasons. Deduct the $15 million from the $46 million and you have $31 Million over the first 15 years of his career.
Magic got his payday as a reward for winning NBA titles. (Credit: basketball-reference.com)
That averages out to roughly $2 million per season. Kidd will average $8.3 million for 3 years, and has but a minuscule chance at winning a championship. Obviously one could argue about inflation, and how their salaries would inflate to something near that, but it is hard to imagine either Magic or Bird leaving for the money when they were in a situation to win it all.
Even adjusting for inflation, these guys didn’t come close to making what dudes make today.
Larry Legend made an approximate total of $26.5 million during his ENTIRE career. That is $1.5 million more than Jason Kidd will make over the next three years.
Bird knew winning required making less money. (Credit: basketball-reference.com)
Larry Bird made $1.5 million in 1990-91 (a million less than Robert Parish), and didn’t care that he wasn’t the highest paid guy on the squad.
Star Players shared what little wealth they had in order to win. (Credit: Basketball-reference.com)
In the same 1990-91 season, Magic earned $2.4 million which was the most on the team, but he wasn’t obsessed with who made what.
Bird and Magic were true professionals from a bygone era. No one today compares. Not the Michael Jackson-mourning Kobe, not LeBron (especially after what happened when King James got dunked on in a pick-up game), not anyone.
They wanted to be on the best team, and be the best player on that team. They wanted to play against the best team, and beat them, no matter what the cost. If they were to make less money, that was okay. It wasn’t the point. They were already making over a million bucks for a game they would most likely have played for nothing.
They won. They did not allow their salary to interfere with the number one goal of their sport which was bringing home the title. The only greed in these guys had was the greed of winning more and more. Not money.
Realistically, how much money does someone deserve for playing the game basketball? Yes, we get the concept of supply and demand, but too many guys today play for the wrong reasons.
It’s sad when ridiculous salaries blur the concept of competition.
Similar Posts:
- 2009 Free Agency Recap and Potential Signings
- Hedo Turkoglu picks Toronto: Pros and Cons
- LeBron James a Cleveland Brown?
- All Star Weekend Needs the Old Timers Game
- Can Lamar Odom And Khloe Kardashian “Beat the Odds”?
THE BEST NEWS AFTER READING THIS SEGEMENT IS I DON’T SUPPORT THE “TBA”=THUGS BASKETBALL ASSOCTION BECAUSE I KNOW MONEY COMES 1ST AND NOT WINNING.
AFTER THE 1979 NBA SEASON, I SAW EVERY TEAM PLAY ATLEAST ONCE AND DIDN’T HAVE A PROBLEM OF SUPPORTING THE SPORT.ON THE COURT SEATS WERE ONLY $12.00.LARGE DRAFT AMERICAN BEERS (I WAS ONLY 16 THEN) OF 24 OUNCES WAS $1.50,HOT DOGS WERE .75 CENTS,GAS WAS .89 CENTS A GALLON,AND MILK WAS ONLY .59 FOR A GALLON.
WATCHING MAGIC,BIRD,BOB MACADOO,REGGIE THEUS,WES UNSELD,BERNARD KING,ELVIN HAYES,KAREEM,SIDNEY MONCRIEF,RANDY SMITH,MICHAEL RAY RICHARDSON (SHIP B SINKIN),MIKE NEWLIN,RUDY “T”,PURVIS “I CAN’T MISS” SHORT,THE GOOD DOCTOR “J”,DARRYL DAWKINS,MAURICE LUCAS,LLOYD “ALL WORLD” FREE,”BAD NEWS” BARNES,KERMIT “KNOCKOUT” WASHINGTON,GEORGE JOHNSON,TINY ARCHIBALD,ARTIS GILMORE,GEORGE GERVIN,DR. “K”==LARRY KEENON,BILLY PALTZ,ROBERT REED,ADRIAN DANTLEY,AND “FOOTSY” WALKER. I KNOW I LEFT MANY OUT. BUT FOR HONARABLE MENTION WAS THE BUST 3RD ROUND DRAFT PICK BY THE BUFFALO BRAVES KIM HUGHES OUT OF WISCONSIN. HUGHES HAD TO BE ONE OF THE WORST NBA PLAYERS THAT EVER HAD A JOB.HE WAS JUST AWEFUL.BUT GUESS WHAT HE TRIED HIS HARDEST AND WOREKED HARD EVEN THOUGH HE SUCKED!
BUT EVERYONE OF THESE GUYS ABOVE HERE ALL SHOWED UP TO PLAY THE GAME THE WAY IT SHOULD BE PLAYED TODAY.HARD,HUSTLE,TEAM WORK,COMPETITION,VERY FAN FRIENDLY,AND SHOW UP TO ALL THE PRACTICES.THEY ALL WANTED TO WIN.NOTHING WOULD STOP THEM OTHER THEN THE DEMONS OR INJURIES. I WILL EXCUSE NOTRE DAME ALLUMNI ORLANDO WOOLRIDGE. ORLANDO WOULD RATHER SIT IN A HOTEL ROOM IN PRINCETON SMOKING CRACK INSTEAD OF SHOWING UP FOR PRACTICE.
PAYING TO SEE NBA BACK THEN WAS EXCITING AND FANTASTIC.TODAY IT IS ALL SELFISH.LETS NOT FORGET WHO HAS MORE OR BETTER TATOOS THEN THE NEXT GUY.
OH YEAH THERE WERE NO GANGS BACK THEN EITHER TO SIGNAL TO THE CROWD.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST:::::::::::;
OTIS BIRDSONG WAS ONE OF 1ST MILLION DOLLAR BALL PLAYERS THAT WAS SIGNED BY THE NJ NETS.ALSO IN THE CONTRACT BIRDSONG GETTING A PERCENTAGE OF THE TICKETS SOLD. HE DID NEGOTIATE FOR A PERCENTAGE OF THE HOTDOGS SOLD, BUT THAT WAS TURNED DOWN.
TODAY I AM NOT PART OF THE NBA/TBA BECAUSE IT DOESN’T HAVE WHAT IT HAD 30 YEARS AGO AND THAT IS HEART BY THE PLAYERS!
AS LONG AS YOU (SUCKERS) KEEP PAYING TO SIT IN THE STANDS AND WATCH THUGS GO UP AND DOWN A WOOD FLOOR WITH INCREASED TICKET PRICES YEAR AFTER YEAR A SALARY FOR A PLAYER AT 35 MILLION A YEAR ISN’T TOO FAR AWAY…….
BUT I WILL STAY FAR AWAY
THANKS….. “SHIP B SINKIN”
BigBobSports ohio!
Great input! I love watching the classic NBA channel, and seeing the intense efforts. You can immediately notice a completely different mindset.
Even at a million dollars a year, you are making DAMN good money.
I feel the pain, as If I wanted to go to a game in LA, I need to attend a Clippers game. Lakers tickets are unbelievably expensive, and hardly worth it. It is a who is who of celebrities with the cash to handle the luxury of seeing other celebrities.
Truly, truly sad.
Thanks for the input, and keep those wonderful comments coming.
There are three factors at play here:
1) Ego. Some guys don’t think signing with a lesser team for more money hurts their odds of winning—they think that their presence makes the team a contender.
Delusional? Sure, but I’d be surprised if Turk didn’t look at the Raptors and say, “With the Michael Jordan of Turkey on board, the sky’s the limit!” Kidd probably looked at the Mavs and thought,”When you put me, Shawn Marion, and Marcin Gortat on the same team, there’s no limit to what we can accomplish!” Part of being a pro athlete is always thinking you can go out there and take on the world, and from that angle, I bet most athletes don’t look at teams and talent level the way we do.
2) Career length. Athletes feel like they need to make bank while they can. An SI report a little while back said something like 60 percent of NBA players are broke within a few years of retirement.
Now, that’s because they do stupid thinks like hire a 20-man entourage to tail them in gold-plated Hummers while investing in Cousin Sal’s newest real estate venture, but however it happens, guys want to feel protected from that kind of ruin. They’re not getting that $30 mil in five or 10 years, so they make a play for it now, wherever it comes from.
3) Jealousy. NBA players have to keep up with some mighty wealthy Joneses.
Most of them are well aware of what their teammates are making, and that comes into play. They’re well aware of the cars their peers are driving and the lifestyle their peers are living, and they don’t want to fall behind. So they chase the money to do so.
For a lot of these guys, money isn’t about money—otherwise, why wouldn’t a big-endorsement guy like Kobe or LeBron play for the veteran’s minimum and just win a boatload of titles? It’s about respect and masculinity, and when they think someone else is getting more of those things, they get jealous.
Good points. Ego is definitely a huge part of it, which ties into the jealousy thing. I saw that story about the bankruptcies (and also divorces) that follow after retiring. Guys don’t realize the money faucet eventually stops. An education might help or a more scrupulous agent perhaps.
98% YES!
The league has maybe five guys of REAL worth!
Otherwise the rest is on par with the Greek League talent wise.
It’s beyond amazing how many total stiffs pull down 10 million a year.
REMEMBER IT IS NOT WHO YOU ARE, IT IS WHAT YOU ARE!!!!
BIGBOB AKA LARGE ROBERT
You are what you eat? Oh wait, that’s not what I mean.
Your actions speak louder than words. That’s the truth.
so many asinine arguments in this piece i’m not sure where to begin… how about here – perhaps i missed something, but who exactly were the top-line championship contenders banging down J-Kidd’s door to bring his probable 9 ppg and revolving door defense to their squad? And Turkoglu seems to discredit your own argument when you yourself point out that the financial difference between Portland and Toronto is negligible (especially given the tax situation) and Turkoglu chose the Raptors because his wife prefers the city (and there is a large Turkish community).
Then you go on that absurd tirade about Larry and Magic, how they had integrity because of how little money they made – WRONG. They both did damn well for themselves by the standards of the NBA at that time. In your precious 1990-91 season, when an ancient and significantly diminished Larry Bird was making $1.5 mill-do and Magic was pulling in a measly $2.4 mill, Michael Jordan (already the best player in the league and about to win his first championship) made $2.5 million. So don’t pretend that Bird and Magic were playing for so much less than market value, or that you know ANYTHING about whether they would have left for more money given the chance.
Bottom line – you don’t know a god damn thing about how Bird and Magic would behave in today’s NBA climate. Just as baseball old-timers don’t know how The Mick and Joltin’ Joe would have fared as American icons if their off-field shenanigans had been scrutinized to the degree that A-Rod’s or Barry Bonds’ have been.
Articles like this are nothing but stupid whining for the good old days. Congratulations, you think things were more pure (or better, or tougher, or smarter, or uphill both ways, or whatever) when you were younger – join the club that seems to include every past-his-prime hack in this stupid country. Unfortunately, your imaginary golden age is gone. Live with it – preferably without wasting valuable space on the internet with your griping.
There is no better way to drive traffic to your site than having an over the top comment like this! well done!
no we don’t know how they’d react in today’s climate but that’s not the point. in fact, i think that’s pointed out in the story. “it was a different time”
no it’s not whining. gain some perspective. what are you? in your 20’s?
plenty of teams would be interested in kidd if he were willing to take less cash.
hedo chose toronto over winning. what’s the argument there?
is space valuable on the internet?
thanks for reading.
Saying the words “it was a much different time” doesn’t totally erase the rest of the article, which clearly intimates that Bird and Magic were basically better people (or at least had better priorities) than guys like Turkoglu simply because they made less money, when really the amount of money they made was still astronomical by any reasonable standards. Lamenting the amount of money guys make now versus twenty-plus years ago is pointless (and if you don’t like the word whining, perhaps we could call it complaining).
Do you really mean to tell me that there were not guys in 1990-91 who would have gone to a particular team just for cash and not to win? If that’s the case, how exactly did the Clippers field a team that year?
The dollar amount that Bird and Magic earned has NOTHING TO DO WITH THEIR CHAMPIONSHIP SPIRIT. Kobe makes more money than God, and he already had 3 rings, but he was still hungry for a Championship this year, wasn’t he?
And Kidd – exactly which Championship contenders are after him? In fact, what team better than the Mavericks wants him? Not the Lakers, not the Spurs, not the Celtics, not the Magic, not the Nuggets, not your precious Trailblazers… Maybe the Cavs, but they don’t really need a guy who wants to possess the ball (especially if he can’t help the perimeter defense that cost them a trip the finals last season). Are the Rockets better than the Mavs? They would probably have wanted Kidd… I honestly don’t see why Kidd is even mentioned, since he’s not breaking the bank with his new contract and the Mavs are at least a playoff team (one that acquitted themselves better than the Trailblazers in the postseason, I might mention.)
As for Hedo, my argument is simply that if you’re writing a big article entitled “NBA Players: Ridiculous Salaries vs. the Concept of Winning,” and you’re making a bunch of points about how guys choose money over winning, you should use examples that illustrate your point. Turkoglu choosing Toronto over Portland does not – he made the decision because of a large Turkish community and the fact that his wife prefers to live in Toronto. Not to mention that going to Portland hardly wins you a championship – the team hasn’t even been to the Finals since losing to Jordan in 1993, and was beaten pretty handily by the Rockets in the first round last year.
Finally… no, space is not valuable on the internet, that was an attempt at sarcastic humor. I apologize. I also apologize for the largely correct English and accurate spelling, which seems to be a no-no here.
KOLSKY, YOU HAVE TO BE A DEMOCRATIC.
SO WHICH CURTAIN DO YOU OWN?
IS IT CURTAIN NUMBER ONE: FORD
CURTAIN NUMBER TWO: CHRYSLER
CURTAIN NUMBER THREE: DODGE
CURTAIN NUMBER FOUR: THE GREAT GENERAL MOTORS
CURTAIN NUMBER FIVE: I ROTATE EVERY THREE YEARS AS BRANDS BREAK DOWN EVERY THREE YEARS
NOW THAT YOU SEE YOUR CURTAIN OR CURTAINS, THAT’S ASININE
NOW FOR YOUR ENCORE:
WHICH ONE IS IN YOUR LIVING ROOM IN YOUR CASTLE:
CURTAIN NUMBER ONE: ZENITH
CURTAIN NUMBER TWO: RCA
CURTAIN NUMBER THREE: GENERAL ELECTRIC
CURTAIN NUMBER FOUR: AKAI
CURTAIN NUMBER FIVE: TUBE TV WITH ONE OF MICHAEL VICKS DEAD DOGS EARS THAT GETS YOU RECEPTION FOR THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
KOSKY IT IS OK THAT YOU HAVE FOUR OF THE FIVE CURTAINS.
THEN TELL ME YOU LOVE HAMBURGER.
OH BY THE WAY KOSKY ALL KIDS LOOKED UP TO MAGIC AND BIRD. THE COMMERCIALS WERE FUN TO WATCH.
NOW I HAVE MY KIDS LOOKING AT, NOT UP TO? WHO? WHO? YES YOU GOT THAT RIGHT THUGS
YOU WISH YOU CAN BE RICK BARRY AND SHOOT FREE THROWS UNDERHAND.AND BY THE WAY HE STILL OWNS THE BEST FREE THROW PERCENTAGE FOR THE NETS FRANCHISE,YOU WISH YOU COULD FLY LIKE MICHAEL RAY RICHARSON,YOU WISH YOU COULD PLAY IN THREE DIFFERENT CITIES IN THREE DIFFERENT NIGHTS, YOU WISH YOU COULD BE BOBBY JONES AND BE THE BEST 6TH MAN IN THE GAME FOR SEVERAL YEARS AND SHUT BIRD DOWN,YOU WISH YOU HAD A MICROWAVE IN YOUR KITCHEN CALLED VINNIE,YOU WISH YOU WERE GUS JOHNSON MAKING 14 STRAIGHT POINTS IN A PLAYOFF GAME,YOU WISH YOU COULD BE ON THE SAME FLOOR WITH DENNIS JOHNSON,YOU WISH YOU WERE THE ICEMAN, BUT YOU ARE NOT..YOU ARE JUST LIKE THE OTHER SUCKERS THAT PAY AND WATCH…. 5.4,3,2,1 SHOOT. THEN GO BACK THE OTHER WAY WITH 5,4,3,2,1 SHOOT….. MIKE FRATELLO AKA THE MIDGET STARTED THE LOW SCORING GAMES
LET’S NOT FORGET MAGIC AND BIRD GOT 1 1/2 STEPS FOR THE LAYUP. TODAY THE THUGS NEED 3 STEPS FOR THE SAME LAYUP AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN.BACK THEN THE PLAYERS KNEW HOW TO COUNT.THE PLAYERS TODAY CAN’T COUNT OR READ.THEY ONLY SEE MY BUDDIE BEN FRANKLIN AND MOST DON’T EVEN KNOW THAT HE WAS OUR PRESIDENT FROM NEW MEXICO.RIGHT?
INSTEAD YOU WANT TO BE A THUG LOOKING LIKE A PAINTING WITH METAL ON YOUR EARS,NOSE,TOES,AND BREASTS.
NOW THAT IS NBA FANTASTIC
NOW THAT WE ARE ALL DONE,ONE LAST ONE…..
WHAT IS IN YOUR ICE BOX??
CURTAIN NUMBER ONE: BUDWIESER
CURTAIN NUMBER TWO: OLD MILWAUKEE
CURTAIN NUMBER THREE: MILLER
CURTAIN NUMBER FOUR: REINGOLD
CURTAIN NUMBER FIVE: PABST (AH THE BLUE RIBBON)
HOW MANY CURTAINS DID YOU PULL DOWN HERE? TWO OR THREE? OR DID YOU USE ALL YOUR FINGERS ON ONE HAND?
KOSKY, YOU GOT LIME?
I LOVE YOU MAN
HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND TO ALL……
SHIP B SINKIN…. YOU GOT A HUNCH BET A BUNCH
LARGE ROBERT
wow.
i guess my only question would be… do you really think ben franklin was a president? and from new mexico?
Kolsky, you idiot. Do you even know who Paul Allen is? Do you think he cares about a luxury tax? Paul Allen cares about winning. Obviously, you care about whining, which makes your age range apparent. mid twenties. Do you even know who are yet? Sociological studies indicate that men figure this all out later towards age 30. Take a chill pill, relax, age a little, and realize as you grow older if you re-read your post, you will truly hate what you wrote.
Look up Marcus Banks, re-read this, and get back to me.
Are you a teenager or what????
BigBob, whaddyasay?????
Who cares what they make. The porn industry still destroys them all….lol…I bet you dont want to give that up though. If you dont like it dont watch it or pay to the association.
only a white-racist would write such an article as this, and ignore the fact that Caucasoid team-owners & David Stern all made a whopping $3.2-Billion last year…
So is this player-salaries issue, still make sense? When you weigh their take, versus the White men who pay them and what they take in?
And only an ignorant fool would lead with the line: “only a white-racist would write such an article as this”
Come on man, make your points without the name calling and then someone might actually listen.
100%factoids,
you dont need to turn this into a racial issue to have your point across. No one here mentioned anything about what race get paid more. The money that the owners and players are making is essentially from us, the fans. As we are paying more and more to watch the games, the quality of the game is not getting higher compare to the games from back then. Of course, the players deserve what they are making but money had became the main factor for them to choose a team to play in. It is rare to see someone like Artest who would take less and play in a team that has higher chance of winning.
Seriously? Is post bull crap? I have to be missing something here…