NBA salaries

[tone1017]

I said Golden State because the guy said he went to a Golden State game. Wake up.

No NBA-present lover can answer this: if the game is so complex, if the strategies are so advanced I cannot understand it, then how can players who are traded immediately start?

Basketball is obviously more of a free flowing sport than football. You don't need to memorize 18 word play calls to know where to line up, where to shift, what route to run, etc. That doesn't mean strategy isn't involved, look at the pelicans last year. They got Boogie mid season and struggled mightily because they didn't have time to mesh and build an offense around him and Davis. They're two of the best three or four bigs in the NBA and they weren't successful. You just see guys shooting 3s but you don't see how they got open for the three, the motion with the other players that drew the defense, the set they ran earlier in the game that set up the three, etc. Theres obviously strategy involved but like any other sport talent dominates.

 

[PeliniTheCrutch]

I just love how NBA players who actually try on defense are now lauded for being "two-way" players, while the rest of the players cannot be bothered with that nonsense of trying to stop the other team from scoring.

 

[saluno22]

I just love how NBA players who actually try on defense are now lauded for being "two-way" players, while the rest of the players cannot be bothered with that nonsense of trying to stop the other team from scoring.

I remember toward the end of Doug McDermott's Creighton career, there was an interview where he stated (paraphrasing) that he'd need to start learning to play effective defense again to be successful professionally and that being a prolific scorer, you can't afford to get in foul trouble. Makes sense, but at the NBA level, it goes to a whole new extreme.

There were a couple 30 for 30s that included the 1983 NCAA basketball championship between Houston and NC State ("Survive and Advance" and "Phi Slamma Jamma" were the episodes). Clyde Drexler got 4 fouls in the first half, and it changed the complexion of the game.

Speaking of fouls, basketball is a sport where a sketchy official can take out a team's star player(s) by calling some ticky tack stuff. Yes, you can say that about every major sport (baseball: ball/strike calls; football: holding; hockey: don't watch enough to know), but in basketball you can literally take a guy out of the game by calling ticky tack fouls.

 

[CameronKrazie86]

Um, the average-- AVERAGE-- ticket price for Golden State last season was $240. Add the 4th row seat multiplier? You can pretend they were cheap, but you are either fibbing or you got an incredible deal. But don't pretend that is the norm.

As for strategy, I am not convinced. Shooting dozens of 3's and dribbling a lot is just regular street ball. Bowling almost has as much strategy as basketball does today. When a basketball player gets traded during the season, do they need time to figure out the team's complex offense? Nope, they play immediately.

I paid $350 in Denver, 5th or 6th game of the season. Having lived in Oakland when the Warriors sucked, I am well aware of how expensive everything in the bay area is. So I got smart and decided to go to Denver. I took a $37 flight from Omaha to Denver and plan on doing the same trip again next year.

I would encourage you to watch some youtube video breakdowns of the offenses in today's NBA if you aren't able to see the levels of strategies involved. How teams get players open, the multitude of different options off each progression is really incredible. If you don't like deception and play progressions then it probably isn't the game for you.

 

[PeliniTheCrutch]

This joker will be the highest paid player in the NBA shortly. Enjoy...

 

[artguy68]

No professional sport lover can answer that question. When you reach the pinnacle of your sport your skill is the reason you play immediately. Put Julio Jones on the Patriots 2 days before week 1 he starts. Put Ronaldo anywhere he starts. Put Crosby anywhere, he starts. Essentially put a starter on another squad in any sport and they very likely start if they were brought in to improve the squad. NBA you might not start because the team is so deep (Golden St. and Iguadola for like the last 3 years). Stop it with the concept NBA is checkers and anything else is chess when it comes to professional athletes.

Sure, but only in the case of superstars. But that is a disingenuous example that pretends the exception proves the rule. Move a regular player from one football team to another midseason, and that player will have to spend time learning the system before gaining any regular playing time. In soccer, the same. In hockey, the same. In the NBA, a 25 minute per game player moves to another team midseason and still gets 25 minutes per game. That's just simply the facts. Football is chess. Hockey is speed chess. Soccer is checkers. Baseball is backgammon. Basketball is Yahtzee.

 

[huskerfan830]

Sure, but only in the case of superstars. But that is a disingenuous example that pretends the exception proves the rule. Move a regular player from one football team to another midseason, and that player will have to spend time learning the system before gaining any regular playing time. In soccer, the same. In hockey, the same. In the NBA, a 25 minute per game player moves to another team midseason and still gets 25 minutes per game. That's just simply the facts. Football is chess. Hockey is speed chess. Soccer is checkers. Baseball is backgammon. Basketball is Yahtzee.

A 25 minute player still playing 25 minutes is still a bench player. So what exactly is your point again? Also in your hypothetical, you usually see a 25 minute guy get his minutes cut. See Korver's struggles going to the Cavs. Never did get it going. Oops, found another disingenuous example there, huh?

Respect the fact that those that play in the NBA have enormous skill. There are tens of thousands of eligible players, but only 2 rounds (60 picks) in the draft and 450 players throughout the league. The perfect example was when Scalabrine played guys that thought they could play ball and absolutely dusted them. Scalabrine was an NBA journeyman. Does it surprise you NBA players can easily transition knowing these guys are in the 99.999999999 percentile of the talent pool?

 

[artguy68]

A 25 minute player still playing 25 minutes is still a bench player. So what exactly is your point again? Also in your hypothetical, you usually see a 25 minute guy get his minutes cut. See Korver's struggles going to the Cavs. Never did get it going. Oops, found another disingenuous example there, huh?

Respect the fact that those that play in the NBA have enormous skill. There are tens of thousands of eligible players, but only 2 rounds (60 picks) in the draft and 450 players throughout the league. The perfect example was when Scalabrine played guys that thought they could play ball and absolutely dusted them. Scalabrine was an NBA journeyman. Does it surprise you NBA players can easily transition knowing these guys are in the 99.999999999 percentile of the talent pool?

Don't remember every saying that the players in the NBA are not elite athletes. You are inventing an argument and then responding to that invention, and is a way to avoid addressing the point that you have undoubted lost. A 25 minute per game player gets the same minutes on another team. That proves my point whether he is a starter or not. I could have said a 35 minute player or a 32 minute player or a 26 minute player. And your example of Korver is, once again, pointing out the exception and pretending it is the norm. Yahtzee!!!

 

[huskerfan830]

Don't remember every saying that the players in the NBA are not elite athletes. You are inventing an argument and then responding to that invention, and is a way to avoid addressing the point that you have undoubted lost. A 25 minute per game player gets the same minutes on another team. That proves my point whether he is a starter or not. I could have said a 35 minute player or a 32 minute player or a 26 minute player. And your example of Korver is, once again, pointing out the exception and pretending it is the norm. Yahtzee!!!

Wasn't your point that an NBA player can make a transition without having any learning curve? I'm pretty sure it was. First of all you're wrong, there is a learning curve as I pointed out with Korver, McDermott had the same problem transitioning from the Bulls to Thunder. Those two were less productive, PERIOD. I'm using local guys so you could try to relate even though that seems doubtful at this point. I mention the elitism of the athletes as the reason why the learning curve isn't so steep. In summary the bottom of the elite doesn't just come in and play the same minutes, that's your hypothetical myth that you've yet to prove and I debunked with local guys. Furthermore, the top of the elite learning curve is pretty flat in the NBA as in any sport, which I previously mentioned. Even the top (Miami Big 3) had their struggles against competition. It took a year for that team to truly gel. Your whole premise has fallacies, that you can't support with any data.

It's real easy, in ANY DAMN sport:

Superstars - very little if any transition
Contributing veterans - little transition, fewer plays, less minutes, etc.
Relative Newbies, guys getting old, Not the cream of the crop - More transition, likely will have a dropoff in contribution, less minutes, faster hook to get sat, etc.
Not much more to debate. How about is the sky blue or blueish?

EDIT: Look up Taj Gibson's transition to the Thunder too, you'll note another example (or exception) of your wrong presumption.

 

[huskerfan830]

Also, I'll keep dropping facts, while you keep calling them exceptions, and then tell me that I'm avoiding the point. Great debate strategy there sir, great.

 

[huskerfan830]

How about Dwight Howard since he left Orlando? Now we're talking about a former star who's seeing his time getting cut even when he was in his prime. Exception too I guess. LOL, too easy.

 

[dinglefritz]

Trying not to sound like the "old guy" but I havent watched since the 90s. Growing up with the classic Lakers- Celtics rivalries. Bird vs Magic. Bulls vs Pistons. Isaiah vs Jordan etc. Bad boys of Detroit vs the greatest ever Jordan. Just not the same today. End of rant now get off my damn lawn!! Lol

I loved the Bird Celtics. Now every guy that touches the ball travels nearly every possession. I played basketball in to my 40s until I wore out a hip and knees. It was full court run and gun 3 times a week with a bunch of former college players and coaches, foreign pro and one former NBA player. I LOVE the game but man it's tough to watch now. Golden State is fun sometimes but the way it's officiated now is just ridiculous. Pretty tough to defend a guy when he can tuck the ball in his belly like a fullback, put his head down and take 3-4 steps to the hoop. Oh for the day when Robert Parrish would have put cheap crap like that on their ass.