During the NBA Finals, Tim Duncan made many trips to the podium to regale the ever-rapacious NBA press corps.
He was asked a lot of questions. I went through all of the transcripts on ASAP Sports and here’s one group of queries I didn’t see:
Question: “Tim, when you took a 50 percent pay cut after the 2011-12 season, did that affect your lifestyle at all? Did you have to trade in the Land Rover for an Explorer? Did you limit the number of nights you do take out? Did you downsize?”
That’s because the questions are patently ridiculous.
Duncan made more than $21.1 million in 2011-12. He then signed a three-year extension which paid him $9.6 million in 2012-13 (OK, that’s actually more than a 50 percent cut.) He earned a shade more than $10.3 million this season and will earn the same next season.
He didn’t have to do it. He could have insisted on more, much more, but he realized that (a) he didn’t really, really need the extra money and (b) his team really, really did need the extra money. So what he did after that season was to make a deafening statement about team, roles and sacrifice. He even set a precedent of sorts; Manu Ginobili did the same thing a year later.
The money Duncan left on the table enabled the Spurs to keep going strong, resulting in back-to-back NBA Finals appearances and a title in 2014.
Sure, the word “sacrifice” has to be taken with a grain of salt. Duncan and his kids will do just fine on his current salary (and the fact he has made more than $200 million in his basketball career.) We’d all like to take a 50 percent pay cut and still earn $10 million.
But how many NBA stars do that?
Hint, here’s one who resolutely did not: Kobe Bryant. And Bryant’s numbers for the next two years are so ludicrously high that the Lakers have no hope of doing anything until he is off the books. Kobe take a pay cut to help his team? Fat chance. He made more money last season than Tony Duncan, Parker and Ginobili combined.
Surely, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have to see all this. There was breathless reporting from many newsrooms across the country when it was revealed that James was going to opt out of his contract and become a free agent. He had no choice if he is serious about improving the Heat to be in position to make another run. Wade and Bosh need to do the same thing now that they (and Udonis Haslem) have opted out, too.
Opting out is the only way to give Pat Riley the financial flexibility he needs to re-tool the Heat, and James, Bosh and Wade should all go into Riley’s office and take deals that rival Duncan’s – deals that would then give the Heat the money necessary to make dramatic improvements.
Impossible, you say? Maybe.
But the Big Three all agree to sacrifice for the greater good and leave money on the table, Riley’s re-tooling effort can become a stroke of brilliance. A Big Four? Yes, it is possible. And it would not necessarily have to include Carmelo Anthony. Pau Gasol might be a better fit.
Because of the punitive cap holds on the Big Three, they have to opt out and re-sign. ASAP. If each agreed to take $10 million next season – a decision Duncan obviously doesn’t regret – they would be sending a huge message not only to Miami, but to the rest of the league as well: money is great, but it isn’t everything, especially if it’s stopping us from getting better. They would enable Riley to construct a newer and better monster with his NBA-record $55 million in cap room.
That’s why the pressure isn’t on Riley, as many have suggested.
It’s squarely on the Big Three and, because of that, it’s really on James. What he does sets the table for the other two. (If they are the Heatles, James is Lennon and McCartney while Wade is George Harrison and Bosh is, undeniably, Ringo.) It has to start with him.
As an aside, Riley was being a tad disingenuous when he suggested that only the wimps would bail out at the first opportunity. The players on his Lakers’ teams in the 1980s had no such freedom; there was no unrestricted free agency. They couldn’t test the waters. They couldn’t walk out that famous first door.
In the end, it’s not on Riley. He can only work with what he has. And what he has depends on what his three marquee free agents decide to do. They’re good now, but not good enough to win it all, which is all that matters (or should.) They were lucky to win last year. They were absolutely manhandled this year. (Another aside to Riley: it’s not that you lost. It’s how you lost.)
What’s more important, money or winning? Duncan answered that question. So did Ginobili. They were willing to take a lot less to make sure their team had a decent chance to win it all. James already has taken the first step by opting out. It remains to be seen if the other two follow suit.
They took less four years ago and they still have plenty of money. But they are well short of James’ predicted number of championships, a number that likely will remain stuck at two if they don’t do what Duncan and Ginobili did.
LeBron, it’s on you.
Peter May is the only writer who covered the final NBA games played by Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. He has covered the league for three decades for The Harttford Courant and The Boston Globe and has written three books on the Boston Celtics. His work also appears in The New York Times. You can follow him on Twitter.
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Excuse me, but once you have a championship or two, money is a LOT more important than winning more titles. If you give up $10 million a year over four years for the chance to win an extra championship or two, you are a freaking idiot.
Its definitely crazy for Haslem and DWade to go along with this scheme. Pat Riley must truly be the Godfather.
What if LeBron decides to go elsewhere? Can the other 3 be sure that Riley would keep his promise and re-sign them to large multiyear contracts?
I have to say that Duncan didn’t really give up 10 million per year. He was supposed to be at the tail end of his career and people didn’t think he was going to have a sudden resurgence. I don’t think Duncan believed it either.
For Bosh, DWade and Haslem, they expect MORE money, by being re-signed to longer contracts. They aren’t THAT stupid to forfeit 10 million per year. Only LeBron could afford to do so, and so far it looks like he won’t take less than about 16-19 million (if not more).
Regarding the Riley plans, it wasn’t clear to me whether he planned to Forfeit the rights to any of the 4 players to accomplish this feat. If he did, Bosh and LeBron could only re-sign for 4 years, with smaller increases. I assume then he doesn’t plan on waiving rights. That would require that all 4 agree to re-sign in concert to reduced salaries, so as to have some cap space left over afterwards. Only afterwards would they be able to re-sign an outside free agent.
I read one report where Heat may only have enough money to sign 1 current free agent – maybe a Shawn Marion.
Heat are not going to be as good as this past season, when everyone had good health. Maybe they are still favorites to win East, but there should be several teams in the West that are still better. CHI would be better if they get Melo without giving up Taj Gibson.
Already LeBron and now DWade & Haslem have agreed to opt out. Still waiting on Bosh.
I can’t believe that Haslem would do it, because he has an 8.2 million cap hold and probably could have used the 4.6 million that was coming to him. Unless Heat forfeit Haslem’s rights, he’s hurting their cap situation more than if he had opted in.
If DWade accepts 48 million over 4 years, he’s really taking a paycut.
And with LeBron already stating that he wants Max Money, and if he starts looking elsewhere after July 1, LeBron and Haslem would be adding 28 million to the cap and another 20 million for DWade. They would have to re-sign for less, ASAP, but if LeBron wants the Max, there still is no opportunity to get better than last season.