Re: interesting NBA notes

["j.hironaka" <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

At 18:46 11/07/01 -0400, Jim Metz wrote:
>    Remember also, I've said it over and over, Nazr remains in Atlanta, 
> unless some team, under the cap, gets really stupid and offers him a 
> hideous contract. Atlanta can match any offer and surely will, unless 
> it's so far out of the reality the Celtics live in, that even Atlanta has 
> to let him go.
>    Reality? Can we really talk of reality and contracts for basketball 
> players? I heard today that Houston is re-signing with NY for 99 million 
> and read that Antonio Davis has re-signed with Toronto(no surprise here) 
> for 5 years and 60 million. At the end of five years he'll be what; 43?
>    Please! 60 million dollars! 99 million dollars! What do these players 
> do with that kind of money after they buy mom a house for half a million 
> and a half a million on jewelry and another half a million on cars?

Hi JB, good points as always. As far as the issue of money goes, maybe 
think of it this way.

Allan Houston and Antonio Davis (just two of many well paid NBA stars) are 
slotted to contribute upwards of 50 million dollars out of pocket in taxes 
that pay for school teachers, medicare and other pretty useful services. 
That's a lot more than we'll ever contribute.

Of course many hundreds of billions must go toward Dubya's program to 
contain North Korea through a non-functioning missile shield, but that's 
another story. ;-)

Still when I read the usual sanctimonious articels about how dumb some kid 
was for declaring early entry despite not being a guaranteed a first round 
pick, I really wonder sometimes. Let's say the worst-case scenario of a 
second round or undrafted pick is the minimum 365 thousand dollar range if 
you make the team (that's around the wage scale for Griffin, Blount and 
Herren for example).

Well geez, after taxes that's still above 20 grand a month wired into your 
bank account, and half the year you are too busy to spend money anyway. I 
know I would likely save a lot of that money, even if I were a teenager or 
college dropout.

Plus if you play well you get to the free agent market quicker and could 
even earn a raise like Walter McCarty did in Boston (he earns over 200,000 
dollars a month before taxes, of which probably a buck-fifty at most comes 
through his music royalties).

But like I said, these kids are all tax payers and no one's forcing owners 
to pay them that much money. Basketball is my favorite entertainment in the 
world. I don't think anyone on this list doesn't think it is all worth it.

Who out there is paying to see Paul Gaston and Rich Pond make money and 
increase "shareholder value". The Celtics are a national institution. They 
are like a public trust.

Joe

p.s. Over here in Europe, the soccer club Real Madrid has payed 120 million 
dollars in the last two years just to buy the player rights of Zinedine 
Zidane and Luis Figo (the Manny Ramirez and Nomar Garciaparra of soccer). 
Their salary to play is yet another matter. A lot of this is taxpayer 
subsidized. The Spanish public is getting seriously reamed no question, but 
the point is there is an implicit understanding between a team and its fans 
that they will pay the price to compete and maintain a great tradition.

***