Can the NBA Please Eliminate Max Contracts Now?

Back in my day, the players wore short shorts, the three pointer was a novelty and any team could entice their best players to remain in their city... and we liked it (well maybe not the short shorts...)

I'm really sorry to sound like a grumpy old fart at the end of the bar throwing Rocky Marciano into every conversation, but I think the NBA has officially "jumped the shark".

It looks like A.D. will be doing this in a Lakers uniform soon. But what number will he wear?

In case you have not heard, Anthony Davis has added his name to the long list of NBA superstars who want to jump ship to from a super team. As just about everyone predicted, Davis wants to join LeFlop in La La Land. And I really can't blame him.

The players are not the ones who advocated for such a foolish system. It was the owners who were trying to control the costs of an essential input (which is pretty much illegal in any other business in the U.S.A.)

Back in 1983, the NBA decided to limit the cost of their most essential input (NBA talent) and instituted a salary cap. It was supposedly done to maintain competitive balance between the large markets and the small. In order to ensure that Larry Legend would have an incentive to stay with the Boston Celtics instead of jumping ship to the Knicks or Lakers, the NBA wisely instituted an exception to this salary cap that allowed a player's existing team to go above the salary cap in order to keep its stars on the team. This also made sure that players were able to earn what they were worth.

Jumper from inside the arc: check. Short shorts: check. Creating a generational love affair with the same set of fans:check.

In the last 35 years, that incentive has nearly disappeared. Although it is true that players can now sign a "super max" with their existing team, it is nothing compared to what players could sign for under the previous CBAs.

It used to be very simple. If a team like the Pelicans felt that Anthony Davis were worth $80 million to their team (and their bottom line) they could sign him for $80 million per year. However, the current NBA contract limits the Pelicans to offering only $46 million per year.

Ok. I know. It is crazy that a person can make $80 million for playing a game... but it is also crazy that people pay $3000 for court side seats, $200 per month to watch sports on TV, and $150 for a pair of shoes that cost $1 to make. So we can't think of this like regular people. This isn't a regular situation. In this world, everything is worth whatever a person will pay for it... unless you are an NBA super star. When it comes to them, there is an arbitrary limit placed on their worth.

This arbitrary limit is making 90% of basketball games unwatchable.

It is also costing the vast majority of the NBA fans their favorite players. Without the huge monetary incentive to stay with their existing team, super stars are now looking at all of the other perks of signing with a team. A big part of this is the temptation to play on a super team and try to take the easy path to victory.

When you take money out of the equation, the ability to play grabass with your teammates becomes a deciding factor.

This is exactly where the NBA finds itself again. Instead of Anthony Davis having a huge incentive to stay in New Orleans, he is demanding a trade to the Lakers.

I honestly cannot figure out why anyone outside of Boston, L.A. or Oakland bother to buy season tickets. For ten years, I was a Bulls' season ticket holder... and then I figured out I was being scammed. By the end, I could not even give away my tickets unless the Bulls were playing the Celtics, Warriors, or whatever team LeBron was on that year.

The only way the NBA can remain relevant to local fans is to get rid of silly max contracts and provide full Bird rights again. Then again, as long as jersey sales and hits on NBA.com are up... maybe they don't care about actual fans.

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