Teams, Fans Want Stars to Take Less, but It's Clear Sacrifice Guarantees Nothing
In the three cases of basketball legends in financial court, two verdicts are already in.
Kobe Bryant took the massive money he was offered in 2013…and despite much public scorn for doing so, it's clear now that his decision not to save even more money for free-agent recruits is not going to cost him another championship.
Dirk Nowitzki accepted an epic pay cut in 2014 (on top of the discount he took on his deal before that)…and after DeAndre Jordan's decision to turn his back on Dallas, Nowitzki is going nowhere while sitting on a far thinner wallet.
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Then there's Tim Duncan. His latest financial sacrifice in 2015—dropping down from an already way-below-market $10 million last season to a ridiculous $5.25 million now—has placed new star teammate LaMarcus Aldridge at his side, with perhaps a championship reward in the offing.
Updated perspective on all these matters must be considered and appreciated.
Knee-jerk reactions to superstars taking less money (great guy!) or not taking less money (Kobe's so selfish!) are understandable but offer limited scope.
Obviously, we want our idols to play for the purity of the sport and the competition of the game as opposed to a business for maximizing profit. But there is nothing easier than to tell someone richer than you that he doesn't need more money.
All who applauded Nowitzki for his sacrifice can see, with the benefit of hindsight, that it was always a long shot he could really swap all those dollars for one more ring.
Even if Jordan had fulfilled his verbal commitment to join the Mavericks, would Nowitzki move into a favorable position to win it all before he retires? Still highly unlikely.
No doubt Nowitzki took his pay cut largely because of his deep connection with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and from a simple spirit of wanting to help the franchise. In that vein, Nowitzki was only doing what he felt was right then and now: After he declined to explore free agency and took less money in 2010, the karma might've contributed to his one NBA championship in 2011.
A steep price is being paid, however. Nowitzki went from nearly $23 million to $8 million last season. You might recall his quick jokes about letting Chandler Parsons pick up all the dinner tabs given how Parsons was practically siphoning money from Nowitzki's bank account.
It's not a laughing matter now that the Mavericks are likely to plummet from decent to really bad. As Nowitzki, 37, toils away with retirement looming, longtime role player Wesley Matthews is rehabbing a torn Achilles and now making double what Nowitzki is.
That's just wrong, and that's just the kind of thing Bryant refused to stand for.
Bryant also believed it sent the wrong message to his fellow players and all the fans for someone of his stature—he is, no doubt, on a different level than Duncan or Nowitzki as an icon—to take less than he should in any sense.
NBA owners have established a system wherein it is merely a joke to imagine how many dollars LeBron James might really be worth today—and also one in which financial sacrifice is equated with being a good teammate.
That's not the American way.
Certainly no one should be glad-handing a guy who shot 37 percent in 35 games and colossally failed to fulfill his league-high $23.5 million contract last season, but now we know that Bryant didn't cost the Lakers another title shot.
The Lakers couldn't get Aldridge, Jordan or Greg Monroe to take their max money this summer. James and Carmelo Anthony (and Nowitzki) declined the year before that.
The Lakers' greatest fear wasn't for that to happen. It was for that to happen while also not having Bryant, unquestioned superstar and franchise cornerstone to the end, keeping the club relevant. The Lakers did not want, under any circumstances and no matter how loyal it seemed he would be, Bryant to leave them and inspire fans from elsewhere.
So they paid Bryant royally, and considering his physical fragility now, it looks like they got jobbed.
One boy's mother might teach him never to get taken advantage of. Another's father might wish his son never to become the one taking advantage of others. People can be different.
But let's be clear in seeing now that Bryant didn't hurt the Lakers or himself: He did take slightly less than he could've demanded in order to preserve max money for another player, keeping open an avenue that we now have seen no marquee free agent willing to travel.
If Bryant, 37 in August, were making $5.25 million instead of $25 million this coming season, would free agents have flocked to join him? Maybe they would've viewed him a bit differently, yet neither Bryant nor Nowitzki has an unquestioned young star in Kawhi Leonard or a five-times-crowned coach in Gregg Popovich in place to ensure the team is a future contender.
Duncan knew what else the Spurs had to offer. He maximized it by doing his part.
For context, NBA novices Anthony Bennett, Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns will all be paid more by the Minnesota Timberwolves this season than Duncan gets from the Spurs. (And they're actually the fifth-, sixth- and seventh-highest-paid Timberwolves!)
Among those making the same money as Duncan this season is Zaza Pachulia. (Pachulia just got traded to Dallas, so it should be said that he's essentially getting $5.2 million of Nowitzki's money.)
Aldridge is waltzing into the Alamo City and making $14 million more than Duncan this season (and Duncan's the one who'll have to do more of the dirty work in the defensive paint).
Leonard, by the way, did not take a discount on his new max contract extension amid all the Spurs' creative accounting and summer sacrificing. Assail him for that if you wish, but Leonard just turned 24.
He is trying to make a life for himself. Duncan already has, and it's no small delineation.
Legends have earned the right to decide for themselves, especially after they've already won titles. Even more important, legends can be trusted to do what is in their character.
Timmy is about team building, bottom line.
Dirk has never let his ego get in the way.
Kobe will stand for self-worth until death.
If we're going to live and let live with anyone in the NBA, it has got to be these guys.
There's a wonderful honesty that kicks in for star players ending their careers. They want to share what they've learned and be true to themselves, and they've gained wisdom to understand that what they do carries weight.
Of course, you can judge them for their personal missteps: Bryant's infidelity, Nowitzki duped by a fiancee using an alias to hide a criminal past, Duncan telling Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg he was swindled out of $20-plus million by an adviser.
Whatever they did before and whatever they do now is pretty much no surprise either way.
We know them as we know those we've known a long time.
They have their identities. They do their best to maintain them.
And they let the chips fall where they may.
Kevin Ding covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @KevinDing.
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