Basketballghana.com’s Yaw Adjei-Mintah looks at what the future holds for the NBA after legend and superstar Kobe Bryant retires at the end of the season. In the first of a three part series, he details the future financial make up of the league.
Inside the Wells Fargo Center home of the Philadelphia Sixers, Kobe Bryant makes his last turn around in the city his basketball career started. The Lower Merion High School standout blitz his hometown team to consecutive three pointers in the first quarter. The remaining quarters however shows the frailties of a 37 year old who is and has been the latest victim to the NBA’s back breaking 82 game regular season schedule.
For a player like Kobe, it gets worse as his tenure in the league has been awash with deep playoff runs that have yielded five NBA titles. At the end of the game, Kobe racks up 20 points in the Los Angeles Lakers latest defeat to the NBA’s worst team. The three champions Sixers, was winless prior to the game and by virtue of the team’s first win of the season, it avoided the ghastly record of amassing the worst start in league history.
Due to the Sixers weird way of building a championship contender in the not too distant future by losing many games to secure top draft positions in the NBA Draft, has resulted in the lowest attendance for the franchise in consecutive years. For the 2014-2015 season, the Philadelphia Sixers averaged 13,940 fans for home games according to basketballreference.com. The second worst team in terms of attendance, the Minnesota Timberwolves averaged 588 more fans for their home games.
However, on this night, the Center is packed to the rafters as fans catch a glimpse of arguably the greatest player in NBA history for the last time. Kobe Bryant’s intention to retire at the end of the season has virtually caused every Laker game to be a farewell tour for the ‘Black Mamba’. The spiked intereset in Laker games despite registering the worst record ( three wins in 17 games) in the Western Conference, is partly due to Kobe’s uncertain health; his last three seasons have been curtailed by injuries of varied degrees.
Say Kobe sees out the remaining games and retires at the regular season’s closure- I don’t see how Lakers make playoffs this year- what will the NBA look like.
The most glaring change set to hit the NBA post-Kobe Bryant touches on player salary. As it stands, Kobe’s “massive” $24 million dollars salary makes him the highest paid player in the NBA and that also makes him the highest paid basketball player in the world. Bryant’s salary this year is the last of a two year contract worth $48 million dollars he signed back in 2014 which has come under serious scrutiny due to his decline in his production on the court.
Injuries have played a part in his decline as Kobe has had three previous seasons cut short by ailments. The 2016-2017 season will be the first of eight more seasons where the league will be flooded by an enormous flow of cash. To be specific, the NBA will benefit from a $24 billion dollar nine year contract with TV broadcasters ESPN and Turner Sports will peak the salary cap-a limitation on how much money NBA teams can dole out-from $70 million dollars to $90 million dollars in the first season. The salary cap will move up to $106 million and $100 million dollars respectively in the next two seasons after.
Gargatuan monies will be paid to players
The future NBA will pay more money to players particularly those who are elite.The impending cash injection influenced player salary spike in the immediate past free agency period. Having knowledge of what teams stand to gain meant players’ wishes for improved salaries were easily met. Anthony Davis for instance signed a gianormous contract with the New Orleans Pelicans for five years worth $129 million dollars.
A breakdown of Davis’ contract means the Power Forward/ Center will earn average of $25 million dollars per season. Davis signed the contract extension after only his third season where he averaged 24.4 points, 2.9 blocks and 10.2 rebounds. He also earned the title of the most efficient player in the league. For comparison sake, LeBron James signed a contract extension worth $14 million dollars a year after averaging 31.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game in 2005/2006 season- his third year in the league.
Average players will be paid like stars
The financial implications means average players will feel the snowball effect of an enrichened league where average players will be paid like current elite players. Tristan Thompson, a substitute big man for Cleveland Cavaliers, with career averages of 10.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 0.7 blocks ( per basketballreference.com) signed an extension for five years worth $82 million dollars. Thompson is now a multimillionaire who will make $14.26 million dollars this year after capitalizing on the new financial scheme. His salary for the year means Thompson will make less than two million dollars than 2015 All-Stars DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall. Wall holds career averages of 17.7 points, 8.6 asists and 1.7 steals. Both Wall and Cousins are in the second year of their respective contract extensions that pays each player $15 million dollars this year.
Former Utah big man Enes Kanter signed a four year $70 million dollar extension with the Oklahoma City Thunder despite having no defensive game in his arsenal. After Kobe, even players coming back from career theatening injuries still get paid. Wesley Matthews wasn’t offered a new contract by his team Portland Trailblazers after seeing out a five year $80 million dollar contract he signed in 2010. Long considered a shoe in to stay in the north-western city, Matthews suffered an achilles rupture in the lead up to the playoffs. Conversely, the injury did not dissuade Dallas Mavericks from offering him a Kanter-like contract for four years worth $70 million dollars.
Small market based franchises can compete for free agents
More money in the league means a fair playing ground for courting free agents on the market. Back in the days of the old NBA, teams in small cities were at the wrong end of courting players in the open market. Therefore teams located in Milwaukee, Minnesota, Portland and Salt Lake City lacked the financial power to compete against the likes of Los Angeles, New York and Boston. However, having more money in the league means “small teams” will have virtually the same amount of money franchises in the “big” markets will have.
This puts such teams in better stead of landing free agents since “small” markets pay far lower taxes than those in big markets. The tax and cost of living differences go a long way in keeping more money in the pockets of players which every player loves. In the past free agency period, big man Greg Monroe chose to sign a three year $50 million dollar contract with the Milwaukee Bucks over big markets like Los Angeles Lakers and New York. The basic motivator aside a winning side in Milwaukee was all suitors including the Portland Trailblazers were all armed with the same contract value. It also helps that the presence of league pass and social media sites like YouTube and Vine make playing in such markets not obscure.
The league wouldn’t look so top heavy at least from the aesthetic point of view.
