Wednesday, March 8, 2006
NBA Contracts: Guaranteed to Fail
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.