Sick of outrageous salries

[bchogan]

Although this is nothing new, I'm getting tired of hearing about the huge salaries in the NBA. In fact, I hate hearing about the immense salaries if anybody, whether it's in sports or entertainment or the business world, but since this is the NBA talk forum, I'll try to focus on the NBA (there didn't seem to be a "gripes" forum that this falls under). I was just reading about Carlos Boozer forsaking his "handshake" agreement with the Cavs to take the mid-level exception worth about $42 million over six years for a six-year deal with the Jazz for $68 million. In a quote from the Loraine Morning Journal, which is cited at InsideHoops.com,
"One agent familiar with the proceedings thought the $40 million handshake deal would have severely underpaid Boozer. ''I think the kid woke up one day and realized it was way under value,'' he said. ''I can see that he wanted security, but not at half his value.''
I do understand that the value of a player is perceived to be based on how much they make, and compairing salaries of players is inevitable, but when does it all stop? Boozer agreed to a deal then went behind the Cavs backs to get more money, forcing the Cavs to pony up more dough if they want to keep him. That's just poor behavior. I'm guessing Boozer's greed is not the only part of the decision, though. I assume his agent or agents is/are partly responsible for his seeking more money. Let me say, I dislike the concept of agents, as they generally get money for nothing. They take a percentage of the pay of the person they represent, so they are motivated purely by money, and are, in part, responsible for the rising salaries.
Of course, I'm not on the side of the teams either. They make an astonishing amount of money, too, so the players feel justified in asking for a piece of the action, since they are the ones who are directly responsible for their team winning, which brings in more revenue. One of the problems, though, is that players with large salaries don't really bear the responsiblity of winning. You'll see the coach take the heat for a losing season, or even part of a losing season, being fired rather than the player. And the coaches make far, far less than the marquee players that they are in charge of.
And who pays for all of this? That's right, it's you and me. We pay the players and the coaches and the organizations they work for. We buy the tickets for the games, we buy the products that are advertised in the arenas and on t.v., the food & beverages at the game, and parking at the arena. We even pay for some of the multi-million dollar arenas due to tax referendums.
What I would like to see happen, and I know that it won't, is for the league to lower the salary cap, the ticket prices and all things associated with the game so that the average joe can take his family to a game without having to spend a week's salary. Oh, I know that owners have a right to make money, it is a business, and the players deserve to be compensated for their skills. Plus, a player's career is much shorter than a normal, average American's career, due to the physical demands of the game and the subsequent physical risks, so their pay should be higher than an average person.
But how much is too much? If a player made a maximum of $1 million a year for 10 years, couldn't they live quite comfortably off that $10 million for the rest of their life, without ever working again? If you devide $10 million by 60 years, you get $166,666 a year. I know I'd feel content to live off of that. If you need a compairison, I belive the average yearly salary in the U.S. is $30,000 to $40,000. Plus, when a player's career ends, he very rarely does nothing for the rest of his life. Many get jobs related to basketball after that. So they're hardly left with no prospects. Would lower salaries mean that guys wouldn't want to make a career of basketball because a lousy $1 million a year isn't worth their time? And I haven't even mentioned endorsement deals.
Well, I know I haven't brought up anything new, but I just wanted to get this off my chest, maybe open up some debate on the issue. So if anyone agrees with me, or thinks I'm a chump, start writing.

[Bill Russell]

You're no chump I'm assured.

I'm also quite angered by this overpayment of NBA players... Foyle, Ginobili, Boozer, Okur, Camby, etc...

But all in all, we live in a capital-driven world, and you guys live in the US, the most capital-driven nation... So it's all in good mood, unfortunately.

[Amphatoast]

add Cardinal to that list
i guess this might be in a effort to raise the salary cap?

[Colin]

Jesus Christ. The only half-way reasonable contract I've seen this summer is Brent's 22 over 4. A player like Cardinal or Turkoglu should not make more than 15 over 6 years. Nash got 65 over 5. That's just unacceptable. He should get 30 tops for that. And that's still an obscene ammount of money.

[air gordon]

i'd just like to say if you don't like what's going on with the nba then don't support it. don't buy the nba merchandise, don't buy tickets to the games, don't buy league pass, etc.

it's already starting in chicago. the home sell out streak ended last year... a lot of people i know did not renew their season tickets for next year

probably most of these recent signings will turn around and bite the teams in the ass and worsen their cap situation a few years down the road anyway

[Andrew]

The insane amounts of money being thrown around, not just in professional sports but in the entertainment industry are kind of inevitable. There's so much money being made that the most significant names in the business can demand to be paid amounts of money that most of us will never see.

But this offseason in particular has certainly seen overly generous offers made to players who probably don't deserve them based on previous standards. The problem is, players seem to be able to demand the big bucks from the moment they enter the league.

Glenn Robinson is a good example. The Big Dog sat out the first few weeks of his rookie campaign because he wanted a $68 million contract. This was before he had accomplished anything in the NBA. Even now after a couple of All-Star appearances and proving to be a classic scoring small forward a la Dominique Wilkins (but nowhere near as good), his demands would probably seem unreasonable.

But owners seem willing to pay for potential these days. Brian Cardinal's "breakout" season was certainly an improvement by his own standards, but the Grizzlies seem to be prepared to pay him as though he has moved significantly closer towards being part of the NBA's elite. His contract seems much bigger when we consider the total amount he will be due rather than the annual salary, but it still doesn't seem reasonable for a player of his stature. Scottie Pippen made less per year during his prime, though he did have endorsement deals that Brian Cardinal does not.

Restrictions just seems to lead to labour disputes and lockouts. In the case of some of these offseason signings, the best method seems to be to let teams make their own mistakes. If the Grizzlies want to give Brian Cardinal that much money when they might have spent their money more wisely, let it be upon their own heads. If Golden State wants to give Adonal Foyle $41.6 million over six years rather than exploring other options, then they'll have to live with it.

[MVP]

Indeed, the players today are making outrageous amounts of money. I think Charles Barkley put it best one-time on tv....by saying that he wished he wasn't born so early. Based on Barkley's skill in his prime and current salaries, he would be making about $20-25 million/yr.