Competitive Balance is defined as "the situation in which no one business of a group of competing business has an unfair advantage over the others."
The biggest threat to competitive balance in the NBA is rookie contracts. First round draft picks are locked into 4 year deals that pay them solely based on how high they were drafted.
Just about every GM in the NBA is incompetent so we've never seen a team fully exploit these rookie slave deals. Take a look at the 2010-2011 OKC Thunder for an example of what could/should have happened.
Kevin Durant: 1st team All-NBA = 6 million dollar salary
Russell Westbrook: 2nd team All-NBA = 4 million dollar salary
Serge Ibaka: 13 points/10 boards/ 3.2 blocks per 36 minutes = 1.2 million dollar salary
James Harden: Premiere 6th man = 4 million dollar salary
These 4 players combined to make less money than Gilbert Arenas in 2010-2011
If OKC had cleared the salaries of their non-rookie deal players they would have had the money to add 2 max players to a core of Durant/Russ/Ibaka/Harden. The Philadelphia 76ers have a chance to do what OKC should have done, let's see how that plays out.
Until the NBA changes the CBA, nothing can be done with the rookie deals. Let's talk about what can be fixed......
Dominant players in the NBA impact the game more than dominant players in any other sport, so in the interest of competitive balance it is important that star players take every dollar that they deserve.
Lebron James made 19 million dollars this year.
Carmelo Anthony made 22.4 million dollars
People look at Carmelo's deal and say he's overpaid....they're wrong. Carmelo has been a top 10 player for the last 5 years, he is a legit max player.
Imagine the chaos that would ensue if 3 elite players got together and decided to collectively bend over for a racist power structure and take paycuts that combined for 10 million dollars a year.
There are very few players who are deserving of max level contracts. Most teams are forced to give max-deals to guys who don't deserve them because that's the only way they can recruit all star level players. It is of the utmost importance that true superstars take every penny that they can get, otherwise you will end up with Joe Johnson level players taking up more cap space than players like Lebron and Wade.
Back in 2007 a reporter asked Kobe Bryant if he would be willing to take a paycut to make it easier for Mitch Kupchak to add talent to the roster and build a championship contender.
Kobe laughed and replied "Nope, he's the GM. Figure it out." The Lakers went on to 3 consecutive finals and win 2 championships.
There's an old Chinese proverb that says "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime"
You could have given Mitch a fish. You could have whored yourself out, taken a paycut and made his job easier. NOPE! You stood your ground and forced him to come up with a plan. You made Mitch accountable, you made him get off his ass, you made him figure it out. You made him a better GM, a better father, and a better man! Your courage set the tone for workers across America as average wages have increased by 16% since your defiant stand against the NBA.
On behalf of sensible NBA fans I would like to thank you for taking every dollar that you deserve.
Players......don't cheat yourselves, treat yourselves. You can get what you're worth and still get rings, but it will only work if you guys stand united.
The biggest threat to competitive balance in the NBA is rookie contracts. First round draft picks are locked into 4 year deals that pay them solely based on how high they were drafted.
Just about every GM in the NBA is incompetent so we've never seen a team fully exploit these rookie slave deals. Take a look at the 2010-2011 OKC Thunder for an example of what could/should have happened.
Kevin Durant: 1st team All-NBA = 6 million dollar salary
Russell Westbrook: 2nd team All-NBA = 4 million dollar salary
Serge Ibaka: 13 points/10 boards/ 3.2 blocks per 36 minutes = 1.2 million dollar salary
James Harden: Premiere 6th man = 4 million dollar salary
These 4 players combined to make less money than Gilbert Arenas in 2010-2011
If OKC had cleared the salaries of their non-rookie deal players they would have had the money to add 2 max players to a core of Durant/Russ/Ibaka/Harden. The Philadelphia 76ers have a chance to do what OKC should have done, let's see how that plays out.
Until the NBA changes the CBA, nothing can be done with the rookie deals. Let's talk about what can be fixed......
Dominant players in the NBA impact the game more than dominant players in any other sport, so in the interest of competitive balance it is important that star players take every dollar that they deserve.
Lebron James made 19 million dollars this year.
Carmelo Anthony made 22.4 million dollars
People look at Carmelo's deal and say he's overpaid....they're wrong. Carmelo has been a top 10 player for the last 5 years, he is a legit max player.
Imagine the chaos that would ensue if 3 elite players got together and decided to collectively bend over for a racist power structure and take paycuts that combined for 10 million dollars a year.
There are very few players who are deserving of max level contracts. Most teams are forced to give max-deals to guys who don't deserve them because that's the only way they can recruit all star level players. It is of the utmost importance that true superstars take every penny that they can get, otherwise you will end up with Joe Johnson level players taking up more cap space than players like Lebron and Wade.
Back in 2007 a reporter asked Kobe Bryant if he would be willing to take a paycut to make it easier for Mitch Kupchak to add talent to the roster and build a championship contender.
Kobe laughed and replied "Nope, he's the GM. Figure it out." The Lakers went on to 3 consecutive finals and win 2 championships.
There's an old Chinese proverb that says "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime"
You could have given Mitch a fish. You could have whored yourself out, taken a paycut and made his job easier. NOPE! You stood your ground and forced him to come up with a plan. You made Mitch accountable, you made him get off his ass, you made him figure it out. You made him a better GM, a better father, and a better man! Your courage set the tone for workers across America as average wages have increased by 16% since your defiant stand against the NBA.
On behalf of sensible NBA fans I would like to thank you for taking every dollar that you deserve.
Players......don't cheat yourselves, treat yourselves. You can get what you're worth and still get rings, but it will only work if you guys stand united.
