A Miami Heat Fan's View on the NBA (from Kansas City)

hoopshype.com has an excellent section on NBA team and individual player salaries.

The site lists 30 NBA players who made more than $12.5 million this past season. The names on the list are just astonishing. It's hard to fathom just how these players (and their agents) were able to persuade a team into offering a yearly, double-digit contract. Here's some of the ugly contracts courtesy of the list:


2. Dikembe Mutombo New Jersey / Houston $18,771,511
3. Allan Houston New York $17,531,250
-. Chris Webber Philadelphia $17,531,250
7. Anfernee Hardaway New York $14,625,000
-. Antoine Walker Boston $14,625,000
-. Shareef Abdur-Rahim Portland $14,625,000

-. Stephon Marbury New York $14,625,000
-. Zydrunas Illgauskas Cleveland $14,625,000
14. Michael Finley Dallas $14,609,375
15. Grant Hill Orlando $14,487,000
-. Keith Van Horn Dallas $14,487,000
-. Jalen Rose Toronto $14,487,000
-. Latrell Sprewell Minnesota $14,462,500
22. Eddie Jones Miami $13,455,000
23. Brian Grant LA Lakers $13,233,434
24. Tim Thomas New York $12,900,000
29. Damon Stoudamire Portland $12,500,000

Their's talk that this summer we will see Michael Redd cash in on a big deal such as these.

With one year left on his contract ($30 million plus), Pat Riley and Stan Van Gundy are going to have to determine how much they are willing to break the bank to keep Shaq happy in a Miami Heat uniform. O’Neal, who will turn 34 next season, and is once again falling apart at the season’s most crucial moment. His physical breakdown actually began about six weeks ago.

For as much as he’s done for the franchise this year, I just don’t see him playing 70 games a year at a high level was he’s passed his mid-30’s.

I think the best thing the Heat could do is convince him to do something on a year-by-year basis. Eddie Jones’s huge contract expires in 2007. If Jones and O’Neal’s contract both came off the payroll simultaneously, the team would have a blank slate to start over with. Wade will have to be given a Kobe-like extension soon (The acquitted rapist collected 7 years, at $130-some million from L.A. Future max. salary extensions could be shortened to five years, assuming the Commish gets his way this summer with a new collective bargaining agreement).

P.S. I still say the Pistons will wrap up this series in 6 games. If the Heat can find a way to push it to a game seven back in Miami, then I’d be giddy as hell. Still, it’s hard to imagine O’Neal’s injuries allowing him to help Wade carry the series the distance.

ESPN NBA analyst Dee Brown says he and his wife Tammy are expecting a baby boy next month who'll they name "Anakin Walker Brown", after Darth Vader.

I suppose this is a better choice than Harold Miner, J.R. Rider, or another fellow, washed-up slam dunk champ. How about Jar Jar Rider or Dominique Solo?

ESPN the Magazine has come through with two good NBA features in their latest issue. The first deals with my favorite player in the world, Manu Ginobili, and the San Antonio Spurs. The second story is dedicated to Jimmy Jackson’s journeys through the league in the last 13 years. Jackson has always been somewhat of an underrated, underappreciated player in my book. His play in this year’s playoffs with the Suns has again been exceptional, but at 34, he is probably past the point of being anything more than a one-year stop gap player. I still recall Jackson’s solid performances with the Heat in 2001-2002. With Miami still deficient at small forward, I hope Riley and Van Gundy make a push for him this off-season.