Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
Coming into a crucial weekend during the NBA Lockout, this might not be the right time to Dwyane Wade to rock the boat. Then again, maybe this puts the lockout debate in its proper perspective. In an interview with Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, Wade was asked how high free agent bidding would get if players were truly available on an market.
"I’m sure it would get to $50 million," he said.
And then he elaborates.
From Yahoo! Sports:
"In terms of driving revenue, if the NBA had no cap, the compensation would be totally different," Wade said. "Like baseball, where they have no cap, you see the players that they feel fill arenas, that people come out to see, A-Rod, those kind of guys, look at how much money they make on their deals.
"You’ve got guys – starting with Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kobe and LeBron – all players that individually people wanted to come to see. And wanted to just have a glimpse, just one glimpse, to be able to say that I’ve seen that person play. For what they’ve done for the game, what they’ve done for organizations, I don’t think you can really put a dollar amount on it."
And he's right. He'll probably take all kinds of heat for bringing this up, but there's nobody in America's four major sports more valuable than the NBA superstar. This isn't to say the salary cap's somehow unfair, but adds valuable context to the lockout discussion.
While owners complain about getting a raw deal, they're able to profit off guys like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose, and Blake Griffin, all at artificially controlled salaries that are tens of millions less than their market value. Why is there a salary cap, then? Because if there wasn't, A.) the market could bankrupt various teams, and B.) To afford superstars, teams would stop paying out big money for players from the NBA's middle and lower tiers.
But as far as the lockout's concerned, it bears mentioning. Before the last NBA lockout instituted a salary cap, Michael Jordan made $66 million over his final two seasons in Chicago, and he was worth every penny. Since then, the NBA's elite superstars have sacrificed profit potential for the welfare of the league in general. So, when NBA owners talk about slashing players' profit share by 10 percent and maximizing profits--can't you see why Dwyane Wade might be a little confused?
20 comments
Comments
Hilarious.
15 Million dollars a year. What a ‘sacrifice.’
by The Wannstache on Sep 30, 2011 12:52 PM EDT reply actions
Compared to the 35 million that MJ made?
by Andrew Sharp on Sep 30, 2011 1:02 PM EDT up reply actions
Or the 51 million dollar profit
that the Chicago Bulls make?
by Tim S. on Sep 30, 2011 4:43 PM EDT up reply actions
After $15 million, how much do you really need to live?
Salaries are so out of control it’s unreal. How many cars does one need?
by The Wannstache on Sep 30, 2011 4:48 PM EDT up reply actions
That's the argument for the 90% income tax.
by Tim S. on Sep 30, 2011 4:51 PM EDT up reply actions
Agents
Dawyne should talk to his agent, Henry Thomas…….David Falk negotiated MJ’s contracts. —Thomas also reps Bosh and LeBron. But that aside, about 27,000,000 people without a job, and 43,000,000 on food stamps will be admiring some other player after Dwayne’s remarks ……..i
by Disgusted Fans on Oct 2, 2011 10:17 AM EDT up reply actions
I read the article
and I didn’t see the part where Wade was saying it was a sacrifice.
hmmmm
by Kevin Conroy on Sep 30, 2011 5:08 PM EDT up reply actions
All this talk about fair market value is completely misunderstood half of the time.
No one is so “valuable” and deserving of so much money that their boss can’t afford to make good money himself. That’s just not how business in a free and open market works. If you offer a guy a $250 million contract like the Rangers did for A-Rod and you can’t make money off of it then it doesn’t matter what anyone’s perceived value of a particular player is. No one is entitled to making so much money that it sinks the ship.
Now where pro athletes may have an argument is that if the bottom line and the profit margins are not what the owners are telling us it is. If the teams and the owners are making more money than their players then the pro athletes have a legitimate gripe in saying they aren’t paid enough.
If the players can make more money by footing the risk and building arenas and creating their own teams then they should do that. Or they can buy their own NBA franchise and pocket the proceeds more directly. If they can’t do that then they need to quit complaining.
by AllTideUp on Sep 30, 2011 1:32 PM EDT reply actions
players aren't allowed to own any part of a team.
so no mario lemieuxes
by thewiz06 on Sep 30, 2011 2:14 PM EDT up reply actions
I wasn't sure if they could or not, but my primary point was.....
that players could build another NBA if they wanted and “take their talents” to that league. There’s no law against that and the NBA couldn’t stop it.
My point was that NBA or other pro sports leagues exist in order to make profit just like all other businesses. The owners need talented players to make money, but the players need wealthy owners to foot the bill and create the system whereby athletes can profit by playing the game. They need each other ultimately, but I just find it ridiculous that people always side with players because they are “undervalued” or aren’t getting their “fair share.” No one is making them play basketball for a living and if they can make more money doing something else then they should take advantage of that. You have the freedom to play overseas if the money is better and by the way we all know it isn’t.
Most people have no concept of the owners’ right to make a profit or the owners’ risk in building pro sports leagues in the first place. They do not exist to make sure the players are getting as much money as anyone out of the deal. Players can’t play without owners and owners can’t have teams without players so there is a balance if everyone involved acts reasonably.
by AllTideUp on Sep 30, 2011 5:53 PM EDT up reply actions
The players can create their own professional league if that's what they want to do.
Given the amount of revenues the NBA makes, there is a valid point that perhaps star players aren’t paid enough…
I don’t think businesses have a right to make a profit, since most businesses ultimately fail. However they should make a profit when they manage themselves correctly and are providing a product that is popular. For a professional basketball, they must hand out player salaries at a good level, pay well performing staff members outside of basketball ops well, provide great customer service, and the team hopefully will play very well over the long run.
by thewiz06 on Sep 30, 2011 10:19 PM EDT up reply actions
Yes, technically no one has a "right" to make a profit
My point though is that owners have just as much of a right to make a profit as the players do. No employee has the right to demand so much money that their boss can’t make a decent profit. No business exists for the purpose of making sure its employees are making a great living. What incentive does a business owner have for investing in a company in the first place if he can’t make a profit?
The market demands that players receive high salaries and I don’t begrudge anyone for trying to make a lot of money as long as it’s legal and ethical. I just have a problem with anyone who says the system isn’t “fair” despite the fact that these players are receiving more money for the type of service they provide than anyone else in the world. If they think they are getting a raw deal then they don’t have to play.
by AllTideUp on Oct 1, 2011 5:10 PM EDT up reply actions
Enough Already!
What disturbs me is the amount of money being discussed. How is it that everyone seems to either lose sight of, or simply ignore it? The writer of the article I’m responding to has made a great point. If you’re so unhappy then start and manage your own team, or would that be too involved for you? It is after all much easier to just lace up and play ball. A game you obviously love to play! I wonder how much the man on the back of your local dump truck loves to lace up each day?
How much money can one spend in a lifetime, before one is satisfied? I’m so tired of hearing 25 year old athletes cry about 30 million dollar contracts not being sufficient in comparison. In comparison to what? Certainly not the average fan who fills the stadium you play in!
When does it end! Please don’t bore me with your grueling workouts! What a chore that must be, to be forced to stay in the best physical condition by the best doctors on the face of the planet. Does this mean you have to look good too? Poor baby!
Young men serving our country are dying in foreign lands for minimal pay, parents are losing their children’s homes to foreclosure. Injuries you are given the best medical care and advice for, are crippling others. I say enough already.
Show some damn humility. You should be on your knees thanking God IN PRIVATE that you have been blessed with the ability to play a game you love for millions and millions of dollars. God certainly comes up during a postgame interview. Give us a break!
I’ve seen NBA, NFL, NHL, & MLB players go out rape, rob, and pillage the countryside, only to laugh there way back on to the field at the end of their prison sentence. How much more can society give you before you believe your talents have been appropriately paid for?
I would love to hear one of you simply say thank you and mean it. Instead all you care to focus on is what the other guy is getting. As I drive down the sreet and glance at my local Postman, Policeman, Construction Worker, and mother of four on her way to drop the kids at day care, I say who cares? Play wherever you want and take your time coming back. Personally, I’ve seen and heard enough. I cry FOUL!
by BIGVETE on Sep 30, 2011 3:13 PM EDT up reply actions
Your anger is misdirected.
The players didn’t create this system, the owners and the government did. And the majority of the profits go to the owners, not to the most talented entertainers in the game. If you think player salaries are outrageous, then the subsidies given to the league either directly (through financing of stadiums) or indirectly (through antitrust exemptions) are even more outrageous, since they enable both the players’ outrageous salaries and the owners’ even more outrageous profits.
by Tim S. on Sep 30, 2011 4:50 PM EDT up reply actions
You mean to tell me that a 'businessman'...
can’t have a simple balance sheet, income statement projection prepared to determine BEFORE he offers a player a $250 million contract, whether he can reasonably be expected to recoup profits based on that decision? Pullleeeze…
Cold, daring, no flies on me...
by Envy on Sep 30, 2011 3:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Of course he should.....
But businesses go under all the time because of poor financial decisions whether those businesses are pro sports teams or not.
Just because one is a businessman doesn’t mean you won’t make poor decisions and it doesn’t mean that things will always work out the way you planned them either.
I imagine if A-Rod was as good a business decision as people would have thought then either A) he’d still be with the Rangers or B) you’d see a lot of other teams offering contracts that large. Baseball has no salary cap so there is almost total freedom in what you can bid on a player.
by AllTideUp on Sep 30, 2011 5:43 PM EDT up reply actions
Except that the NBA is a government-supported monopoly.
It is exempt from antitrust rules and teams get heavy subsidies in most cities. So the NBA players aren’t exactly on equal footing when attempting to form their own league in their own stadiums.
Meanwhile the owners don’t want any risk. They demand — and will likely get — a guaranteed profit.
by Tim S. on Sep 30, 2011 4:46 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't like the government support that pro sports leagues receive, believe me.
My only point is that owners are not simply the greedy money grabbers people make them out to be in these situations. The owners have just as much right to make a profit on their investment as the players do in receiving profit for their skills. There’s no perfect system and that’s granted, but no one is making these players sign up for the NBA or any other league.
Regardless of government support or not, and by the way that is not the case in every market, if players could make more money by banding together and forming their own league then I’m sure they could find investors to help get the ball moving. You don’t need a 20K seat arena to showcase your skills. You’ve got plenty of empty arenas in non-NBA markets out there if you don’t want to compete directly with current NBA teams.
And you’ve still got TV money to help your cause. If you take all the good players and move them to a new league then the NBA pretty much turns to crap overnight.
I’m not saying any of this would be easy, but it wasn’t easy for any of these owners to come up with the capital they used to buy their team either.
by AllTideUp on Sep 30, 2011 6:05 PM EDT up reply actions
Does ANY millionaire ANYWHERE,
ever say “Thank You” for any of the ancillary resources which contribute to their success? NO! – with rare exceptions…
To think that pro athletes are exceptional in that regard is the same folly which allows someone to ‘give’ them ‘inapropriate’ salaries in the first place.
It takes two to tango, son…
Cold, daring, no flies on me...
by Envy on Sep 30, 2011 3:33 PM EDT reply actions
Uh...
No. No millionaire anywhere has ever said nor will ever say the words “thank you”.
???
"We're not talking about me and Darko in the same sentence." - Chris Webber vs KAHN!
by caseycheesecake on Oct 1, 2011 12:54 PM EDT up reply actions
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