Carmelo Anthony Tops Forbes' List of NBA's Most Overpaid Players

Behold Carmelo Anthony, the NBA's most overpaid player. I assume the Knicks star will forego any press conference to accept the honor. 

Forbes—providers of past lists such as "America's Most Disliked Athletes" and "America's Most Influential Athletes"—brings us another breakdown guaranteed to get sports fans talking.

I mean, any list with Chris Kaman on it is bound to do just that, right? 

Forbes' Tom Van Riper explains the metrics behind a list that called out the one-dimensional players who don't get enough out of their games to warrant their obscene salaries. 

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Advanced metrics show that in the NBA, scoring is overvalued. Stats compiled by David Berri, economist and author of "Stumbling on Wins," rates players' contribution to wins not only by scoring but shooting percentage, assists, rebounds and turnovers, all measured against opportunities to accumulate those stats (a faster paced game with more shots equals more rebound opportunities, etc.). 

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Before we break down Anthony and the apparent cash grab he performs every night, let's give you the top 10 on this marvelous list of NBA thieves. 

1. Carmelo Anthony - Knicks - $19.4 million 
2. Ben Gordon - Bobcats - $12.4 million  
3. Joe Johnson - Hawks - $19.75 million 
4. Hedo Turkoglu - Magic - $11.8 million
5. Dirk Nowitzki - Mavericks - $20.9 million
6. Corey Maggette - Pistons - $10.9 million
7. Rudy Gay - Raptors - $16.5 million
8. Stephen Jackson - Spurs - $10.1 million
9. Chris Kaman - Mavericks - $8 million
10. Arron Afflalo - Magic - $7.8 million

Anthony's gunslinger attitude, at least by Forbes' estimation, works to the detriment of win totals and team efficiency. Van Riper does a great job summing up why the Knicks star is so overpaid: 

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Except, Anthony isn’t (Kevin) Durant. Despite making about $2.7 million more this season, he isn’t even close. Durant gets his points taking four fewer shots per game than Anthony does (18 vs. 22). He shoots 50.5% from the floor to Anthony’s 44%. Durant averages 4.4 assists per game compared to Anthony’s 2.6, and 7.9 rebounds to Anthony’s 6.4.

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The report reminds us that Anthony is on a hot streak at the moment. He dropped 40 points on the Hawks on Wednesday and 50 on the Heat the game before. 

I assume that kind of output would render some kind of outrage that Anthony is tops on this list.

Van Riper doesn't want you to forget those other games that enter into the equation:

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But just as common were two other recent games: an 11-for-28 night with zero assists against Charlotte on March 29, preceded by a 10-for-30 night with one assist against Boston on March 26.

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The report also leads us to another stark conclusion: Joe Johnson should be ashamed of himself. 

The Brooklyn Nets shooting guard is pulling in nearly $20 million a year while providing the worst points-per-game output since the 2003-2004 season. More than that, his field goal percentage (42.3) is the lowest mark in 10 seasons, and that's before talking about his lack of rebounding and assists. 

Then again, Johnson has always been a scorer, it's just that this particular metric aims to call out those players who deliver merely one aspect of the game, however well they deliver it. 

Wrap all of that up and stuff it with the amount the star is being paid, and you get a cute and polarizing word to describe the entire mess.

Overpaid. 

Hit me up on Twitter and we can fight about it. 

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