Guaranteed contracts have ruined the NBA. The NFL maintains a high level of competition because every player is always competing for his job. It seems unfair that an NFL team can just cut a player because they don't want to pay his salary, but it's better than what happens in basketball. In the NBA, free agents sign six- and seven-year deals for millions of guaranteed dollars. Then they put it into cruise control and collect their loot.
This season, four of the 10 highest paid players in the league are Allan Houston, Chris Webber, Stephon Marbury, and Brian Grant. These guys convinced teams to give them huge deals a long time ago, and now they are laughing all the way to the bank. Anfernee Hardaway, Grant Hill, Keith Van Horn, Jalen Rose, Eddie Jones, Tim Thomas, and Antonio Davis are all in the top 20 (all make over $13 million this year). That's 11 out of the top 20 highest-paid players in the league who don't deserve half of what they make, less in some cases.
So, why is this a problem? First, we, as fans, are paying their salaries by buying tickets and merchandise. As a Celtics fan and regular customer at the TD Banknorth Garden, it kills me that Boston pays Raef LaFrentz $10 million per year. This argument is flawed, however, because fans can always just stop watching, like many have done. There's more going on here, though. In fact, it's crippling the league.
The problem is the way that these salaries handcuff teams. Let's use Philadelphia as an example. The 76ers owe over $30 million to Jamal Mashburn and Todd McCulloch through next season. Aaron McKie gets $19.5 million through 2008. These guys have played a combined zero minutes for the Sixers this season. Additionally, their salaries added to Chris Webber's monster deal will account for over 80% of the salary cap for Philly next season.
The NBA has a "soft" salary cap with tons of leeway (only four teams are actually under the cap this year), but there is still a realistic limit to what some teams can spend.
That limit is somewhere between $50-70 million. Only six teams spend more than $70 million and only four teams spend less than $50 million. So, when the Sixers have $23 million tied up in McCulloch, Mashburn, and McKie and another $20 million for Webber, that's $43 million in 2006-2007 wasted. McCulloch, Mashburn, and McKie should make $0 and Webber should make closer to $5 million. If that were the case, Philadelphia would have roster flexibility and would probably be able to contend.
Portland is in the same situation. The Blazers owe $160 million to Darius Miles, Zach Randolph, and Theo Ratliff. That's a lot of money and not one of these guys is an all-star. Because of this, it is unlikely Portland will be able to contend in the West until sometime around 2010.
For the casual fan, this system ruins game play. Many of the players with max contracts just mail it in. This is a major problem. How do you think Stephon Marbury would play if there were a chance he could get cut? Sure, he's got decent career numbers, but does he ever look like he's trying his best? He coasts on a losing team and collects over $16 million per season in the process.
ESPN's Stephen A. Smith even reported that Marbury's teammates hate him so much that Quentin Richardson recently wanted to fight him. Smith went on to say that Richardson's sister had to call Quentin to convince him to leave the practice facility peacefully. But the Knicks are stuck with Marbury and his enormous contract (Richardson's too, for that matter). Fans and media can complain about this, but it is what it is.
As for the teams stuck with these monster contracts, they are unable to make their clubs better through free agency. Not only that, but they cannot re-sign young talent because their money is tied up in huge veteran deals. What happens if the Knicks want to resign a quality young player like Channing Frye or Nate Robinson in a couple years? They won't be able to because they have over $136 million committed to Marbury, Richardson, Steve Francis, and Jamal Crawford.
It should be noted that the Knicks' payroll is not in the $50-70 million range. In 2005, New York paid its guys over $120 million, roughly $70 million over the cap.
The fact is that all of this negatively affects the sport. It's no surprise that the league has popularity issues. Who wants to watch a bunch of overpaid athletes compete at 50-70% of their ability?
The NBA should make all its players compete for contracts every year. Also, there should be a "hard" salary cap and realistic maximum contracts. No one should make over $10 million, and it should be based on the previous year's performance. Imagine if every player was constantly competing for money and work.
I understand that there is a players' union and a Collective Bargaining Agreement, making this plan unrealistic and impossible. But the current system won't work forever. The NBA gets less popular by day. ABC set record lows for NBA TV ratings last season. If they're not careful, it's going to be the 2004-05 NHL all over again. This means that salaries will not be affordable for the owners because revenue will be significantly lower than it was when these contracts were signed. Trailblazers' owner Paul Allen has said that his franchise will lose $100 million in the next three years, albeit in part because of a terrible lease with the city. As more owners start losing, something will have to change.
The result of escalating salaries and decreasing public interest will be a stalemate between the union and owners, perhaps even a work stoppage. Ultimately, there will have to be a much lower, "hard" salary cap.
So, how can the league get the casual fan to come back and watch? It will not be easy, and it won't be because of dress codes and alley-oops. The game play needs to improve.
Moreover, the NBA continually refuses to embrace hip-hop culture, even though it goes hand-in-hand with the current fan base. And commissioner David Stern has actively promoted the NBA abroad in order to offset diminishing interest in the U.S. This is the wrong thing to do. The league needs to be fixed here or the fate of hockey is upon it.
The NBA consists of lazy, overpaid athletes with no desire to win. They give about 50% on any given night and when their team is out of contention, they quit altogether.
This is the biggest problem facing the NBA. The talent is there, but the players aren't motivated. In fact, the only motivation for these guys is to get that big contract. I realize that for every Stephon Marbury, there is a Tim Duncan. That doesn't change the fact that 90% of NBA games are painful to watch because of lethargic, uninspired game play. And for most fans, it stinks.
March 8, 2006
James:
Who’s fault is this? It’s the GM’s fault. Some of the worst GMs in all of sports are in the NBA. It’s easy to blame Marbury and LaFrentz, but the real blame needs to go to the idiots who pay these guys so much money. Notice that Latrell Sprewell never got the exorbitant contract he wanted. In fact, he’s not in the NBA right now. That’s because there are, at least, a few smart GMs in the league—that, and Isiah Thomas doesn’t have enough cap space to give Spree the 180 trillion dollar deal he wants to give him.
Also, I disagree that most of the players are lazy and overpaid. When there are guys like Allen Iverson going out there, breaking their entire bodies every single night—and all for naught, considering the trash AI’s got around him—I can’t accept that argument. Frankly, I think that, while there’s a lot of players out there who are overpaid, lazy and only give effort during a contract year (think Erick Dampier), I don’t think that’s enough to indict the whole league for it.
The reason the NBA is losing popularity is because it has the worst TV deal in all of sports. Period. ABC hardly airs any playoff games, and prior to this year, their lead announcer was a guy who could care less about the league (Al Michaels). If the NBA goes back to NBC in 2008, look for the ratings to improve.
March 8, 2006
Isaac Miller:
Thanks for the comment. You’re absolutely right that some NBA GM’s are downright incompetent. You’re also right that (and i mentioned this briefly in the article) for every Dampier, there is an Iverson. I’m criticizing the system as a whole. And I believe that the league is suffering because of it.
As for Sprewell, he’s 35 and coming off his worst season as a pro. That’s why he can’t get a deal. I’m not sure what that has to do with guaranteed contracts.
Thanks for reading.
—Isaac
March 8, 2006
mav55:
I completely agree with the indifference that seems to be widespread in the NBA. You can really tell the difference when playoffs come into the picture, where the players start to care. Although, to be fair to them, I’d imagine it would be pretty tiring (emotionally and physically) to give 100% every game. Thanks for the article. Added it to sportsken, hope it helps.
March 8, 2006
jython:
I saw this article posted on www.sportsken.com . Pretty cool. I totally agree with you. Although it is, like the first commenter says, the fault of the GMs (If you’re a player it wouldn’ tmake sense NOT to take it.)
This is a case where they need to get together, decide its bad, and agree not to do it as a group.
If they don’t one guy will keep signing the AIs and LBJs and Yaos w/ these lucrative deals and everyone else will get shafted. Its gotta be a group consensus, and yes I think it makes everyone compete harder.
GMs and coaches will have to fight harder to keep their star players happy, players work their asses off to keep their coaches happy. It makes for a much more competitive game.
March 9, 2006
Anthony Brancato:
If the NBA was in so much trouble, then why isn’t it contracting?
And the owners have only themselves to blame if they sign anyone - especially a seasoned veteran - to a long-term deal.
Still, there is room for compromise - say by establishing an “unemployment insurance fund” which would pay any player cut before his contract was up a certain percentage - say, 50% - of what he was scheduled to earn; and if he signed with another team for more than the 50%, there would be no payout.
As for the $10 million maximum you propose: If we did something similar in the employment sector as a whole, our biggest problem would quickly shift from floodtide immigration to floodtide emigration!
March 9, 2006
sean:
Maximum salaries of $10 million. Are you also proposing a cap on an owner’s profits every season?
You’re wrong about the Knicks not being able to re-sign Frye, BTW - the NBA’s soft cap means teams ARE able to keep their own players, rather than forced to cut good players for cap purposes, like in the NFL.
I’m not sure what your basis is for this statement, but it’s pretty ridiculous: “The NBA consists of lazy, overpaid athletes with no desire to win. They give about 50% on any given night and when their team is out of contention, they quit altogether.”
March 9, 2006
Sam:
Your article merely misleading in some instances(you fail to mention that a large portion of the players you list as being overpaid have experienced career ending inuries and mentioning the possibility of a work stoppage). However, it is completely false in others(seven-year guaranteed contracts and the Knicks inability to re-sign Frye or Robinson).
I implore you to either gain a familiarity with the NBA before you write about it again or to abstain from writing about it altogether.
March 10, 2006
JONESONTHENBA:
I couldn’t agree more with the last two commenters. I think you need to do a little more research before righting such an article.
1) NBA teams have the Larry Bird rights to players that are there for more than 3 years which allows them to re-sign them for any amount over the cap that doesn’t exceed the cap on player’s individual salaries. So a team like the Knicks could re-sign Channing Frye
2) The example you use of the Blazers losing money is a bad one because they are only losing money because Paul Allen outsmarted himself and set up a stadium deal to make the team look like it was losing money only to lose the stadium in bankruptcy
3) I’m around the NBA on a daily basis and most players don’t loaf. The guys you mentioned with Bad contracts are guys that have had career or near career ending injuries.
4) It’s up to the GMs not to overpay players. It’s like a guy selling a house that is appraised at $1mil, but get’s offered $3mil for it. Is it his fault that some idiot is offering him $3mil? NO! Just like it’s not the fault of a GM who can sign a player at a bargain because of the lack of knowledge or savvy on the part of that particular player’s agent. This is a business. Don’t forget that.
4) NFL players play once a week for 16 weeks. Meaning they are more prone to giving it all they have in every game. It’s not like the NBA where if you are on a playoff team you are playing upwards of one hundred games. And it is not like in baseball where they give the players nights off all the time.
5) The NFL system of non-guaranteed contracts is disgusting. It allows for a system where teams can cut players at anytime once they become injured or old. That means teams don’t have to HONOR the contract that they offered the player. And because of this it creates situations like the TO and Javon Walker situations we had last year where players will hold out or threaten to hold out when they feel they are underpaid, because they know that if they don’t get their money upfront while they are playing well, there is a very high possibility that they will never meet their earning potential because a team can cut them at anytime. Yet the media always get’s on football players that don’t honor their deals. It goes both ways, because players know that their contracts can be voided at anytime, so they have to play by these rules. This is particularly disturbing in a sport like football, where players are very vulnerable to career ending injuries.
6) This is a business driven by supply in demand. Why should players always have to pay for the ineptitude of team execs? Caps on player’s salaries? There are no caps on owner’s profits. As well, you are forgetting that without players there is no league.
7) Ratings are down because a majority of NBA games are on cable now. As well, ABC is now the home of the NBA on broadcast television and they do a horrible job promoting and producing the NBA product. Ratings were all to the good when NBC was around because they treated like a marquee event and not something to promote music (black eyed peas and Rob Thomas), Movies (Glory Road), or Television (Desperate House wives).
March 10, 2006
JONESONTHENBA:
One last thing…as well, there is a clause in the CBA that keeps the players as a whole from making more than they are entitled to. Basically the players (as a whole) are entitled to (I think) 60% of BRI (Basketball Related Income). If their collective salaries go above that percentage (whatever it may be set at) the player have to pay a portion of their salaries back to the owners (it’s called the escrow tax). As well, there are individual caps on players individual salaries. Lastly players just gave up an extra year on max contracts in the last collective bargaining agreement, so you’ll only see six year deals (at the max) instead of the seven you were seeing before.
December 30, 2006
John:
the nba sucks because the tv deal is awful. i read an article recently that the nba is trying to extend deals with tnt, abc, and espn. A deal with tnt is fine, but espn/abc isn’t. for the good of the league, bring the nba back to NBC!!!!, that way ratings will increase, and nbc wil promote the nba as a “game of the week” unlike abc promoting it with the pussycat dolls!
February 28, 2007
Dorothy Holt:
When will Stephen A. Smith be back on his TV show
on ESPN 2?
March 19, 2007
Freddy Hall:
I’m so sick of this champaign league! The Jordan era was fun and it’s probably responsible for these ludacris salaries, but I can’t stand these spoiled jock idiots and their diamond encrusted earings anymore. It’s hard to break out the pom poms for immoral ungrateful retards, who put more effort into having sex with strippers than making a playoff spot. This league is broken and so is major league baseball, all leagues should take a page out of the NFL, which is as close as you can get to a working mans league, phuc the NBA and it’s gangley overpaid perverts!