Monday, May 3, 2010
Age Over Beauty
The older I’ve gotten and the more aware I’ve become about the business side of sports, it seems that I’ve become very annoyed at these teams that keep giving aging players huge contracts just because they have a name. Ryan Howard's new contract put me over the edge, but since I don't know baseball as well, now I have to bash the Lakers. L.A. gave Kobe Bryant a new deal a couple months ago that definitely made me ask why. Yeah he’s still The Guy currently for L.A. but he is getting more of an annual income for the next 3 years as he ever has though he’s about to be 32 years old and he’s getting injured more frequently. Kobe is scheduled to make $26 million in 2011-2012, $28.7 million in 2012-2013 and $31.5 million in 2013-2014, his final year of the contract. If there is an argument to combat this type of money for an older player it would be that Michael Jordan made over $30 million in his final 2 years as a Chicago Bull. Once Bryant enters the final year of this contract, he and Jordan will be the only players in NBA history to reach the $30 million mark for one year’s salary. So I pose this question now...Does Kobe Bryant deserve about the same money as Jordan did in their final years? Does Kobe even deserve the same amount as LeBron right now? I guess that’s an opinion in the end. Let’s just say that I would give LeBron $10 million more than whatever Kobe is making 3 years from now, because he will just be that much better than Kobe at that time, right? Yeah I know there are rules for years a player has played and what he makes based on that, but the Lakers are giving Kobe one hell of a raise/bonus per year since the max contract for a player is about $19 million per year. My point is this: Does the Lakers front office really think that he will be worth 30-35% the team’s total salary 2-3 years from now? Were they really that scared that he would join another team if they didn’t offer him “ Jordan like” money? I understand loyalty to a player who has been on that team his whole career but that player should also have the respect to that franchise to take less money since he has accrued so much over the years and let the team use that money else where in order to help the team. I am not saying all this because I hate Kobe Bryant, in fact in the last couple of years I’ve come to respect him more than any current player. To quote Bill Simmons, “He has found the secret.” He is a less selfish player and just wants his team to win regardless of his stats. I guess I would be too if I was getting that new check. I am saying this because as a fan of a certain team who’s certain all-star player got injured and he and his $20 million plus contract sat on the bench for over a year, I just don’t understand giving a future 35 year old who is getting injured more often that amount of cash.
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The NBA and its owners are in the business of making money, not basketball. People go to Laker games to see Kobe. Pretty much every game Lebron or Kobe play in will be sold out. I guarantee the Lakers have done tons of analysis to determine how much $$$ and not wins that he brings in every year. Furthermore, the strategy is to pay Kobe LESS than what he brings in, that is how the Lakers make a profit. Just as in the business world, if your efforts make your company $100,000 a year, they are likely to pay you substantially less.
ReplyDeleteYeah I agree w/ that and understand but that's my point, which is basically venting...I've become annoyed on how teams treat their players as a business commodity. It's not a game anymore so it seems and that's not how basketball should be run or played IF you are a true fan of the game. It takes away the integrity ya know?. That's why I wish it was still a game, not a business more or less, and the same goes for all sports. The Lakers are going to bite themselves 3 years from now when Kobe sucks or if he gets injury ridden. They might attract fans in his last year, but we'll see how they fair in the playoffs, if they even make the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteIf Kobe gets injured, I'm sure they will still parade him around the stadium to get fans to come and see him. Like have him participate in halftime shows, and walk around in the stands handing out free crap and taking pictures. He would be a Laker Fan Whore pretty much, hahahaha. I would love to see him subjected to that treatment!
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