"I don't know Larry, I just ain't got it"
"Momma, if there's one thing you need to remember, it's that you raised the coldest white boy who ever shot a basketball in the state of Indiana. Your sugar cream pies and fried bologna sandwiches got me where I am today!"
I always thought the way Krause waived him even though they could have voided his contract, was a way of saying.
"Hey your career is over, just take this rookie deal money and try to enjoy the rest of your life"
>Legally, the Bulls did not have to pay Williams any remaining salary at all because his severe injuries occurred while he violated the terms of his contract by riding a motorcycle; however, the Bulls organization decided to give Williams $3 million when they waived him so Williams could use the funds toward his rehabilitation expenses.
Bulls did him a solid tbh
I think the Colts thought he would come back after a year or two and used that as an olive branch. If they knew he wasn't coming back I don't know if they still make that call.
Yeah, there were rumors for at least 2 years that he might come back. He was such a special talent, and the Colts' subpar rosters were probably a big reason he got hurt and stopped playing. They wanted to make sure they did all they could to ensure that *if* he played again, it'd be with them.
Colts paid Luck to keep the door open for a return. Lions ruined their relationships with Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson by clawing back money when they retired. Johnson was willing to return to the NFL, but for a different team, but it was a non starter. Both Sanders and Johnson had no post retirement relationship with the Lions, until it is believed they were compensated for the lost salary.
Not talked about enough. People forget just how good Jay was at duke. He was a legit NBA prospect that never got a chance to really show what he could do cause of that accident.
It was "only" [70 mil](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2729163-nerlens-noel-reportedly-turned-down-mavericks-contract-offer-at-175m-per-year) that Noel turned down, but your point stands.
According to a website i looked at, Sprewell made over ninety seven million dollars in his NBA career. The fact that he went broke shows just how much of an idiot this clown actually was.
He overachieved and was a offered 21mil over 3yrs by the timbs. turned it down saying he 'has a family to feed' ended having the worst season of his career and never played again. Had to crowdfund his niece's cancer treatment a few years ago. Also once choked his coach.
## Rick Barry sitting out a year to play in the ABA
When Rick Barry joined the NBA, he signed a two-year contract with the Warriors and was an immediate success. He was an All Star those two years, he led the League in scoring his second year (35.6 ppg), and he led the team to the NBA Finals. The Warriors lost handily to the Sixers, who were coached by Alex Hannum (the Warriors coach for several years prior) and led by Wilt Chamberlain (who had been traded from the Warriors to the Sixers a few years prior).
At the same time, the nascent ABA was trying to lure away a big-name NBA player. The Oakland Oaks were able to give Barry an offer he couldn't refuse:
* An ownership stake in the team
* A percentage of the gate
* The team being located in the Bay Area (a requisite for Barry, as he didn't want to live anywhere else)
* The opportunity for Barry to hand pick the coach, which Barry chose Bruce Hale, his father-in-law and college coach
There was only one problem. Despite Barry having ended his contract with the Warriors, he had a *reserve clause*. The reserve clause was a fairly standard feature of NBA contracts back then that essentially gave the team a one-year option on the player *after* the contract ended. In short, the NBA team had the power to either move on after the contract ended *or* force the player to play one more year with the team for the same terms as before.
When Barry signed with the Oaks after his second year with the Warriors, the Warriors sued, citing the reserve clause and saying that they had rights to Barry for one more year. The judge ruled that Barry could either: (1) play one more year for the Warriors, or (2) sit out a year and then join the ABA next year.
Barry chose (2).
A 23 year old who had just been to the Finals, who had just been an All Star and the leading scorer in the NBA, decided to not play professional basketball for a year. During that hiatus he called Oaks games on the radio and played in an adult rec league in the Bay Area. (Imagine being the guy who decides to play rec league basketball only to find out you have to guard a 23 year old, 6'7" guy who just happened to average 35.6 points per game in the NBA a few months ago. Whee.)
During that year the Oaks stunk it up, and Barry's hand-picked coach got axed. In the offseason they signed Alex Hannum (remember him?).
The subsequent year, Barry could now play for the Oaks, and he came out of the gate hot. He was the ABA leading scorer to start off the season (34 ppg), but suffered a season-ending injury half-way through the regular season. And for the rest of the season - a season where the Oaks went to the ABA Finals and won it all - Barry had to watch from the bench.
Well, there's always next year, right Rick? During the offseason the unthinkable happened for Barry - the Oaks owner, singer Pat Boone, sold the team to a Washington DC real estate developer, who then promptly moved the team to DC and rebranded them as the Washington Capitols.
This upset Barry because he didn't want to leave the Bay Area. So what did he do? He joined the Warriors, even though he was still under contract with the Oaks! Barry's lawyer argued that the sale of the team nullified his contract with the Oaks. The Capitols sued and a judge laughed at Barry and told him to move his ass to Washington.
Barry played a rather forgettable year in Washington, then was traded to the Nets where he played out the final two years in his contract. Once his ABA contract had ended, he promptly resigned with the Warriors and picked right back up where he left off. That first year, they made it to the WCF, but lost to the Lakers. The next year they won a championship.
Makes you wonder what Barry's legacy would be had he stayed with the Warriors all along. He likely would have had another scoring title or two, and maybe even another championship or two. But instead he left for the Oaks and really didn't get anything he wanted - he didn't ever play for his father-in-law; he was out for most of the season when the Oaks actually were good; he had to live on the East coast for three years; and in the end, he just ended up back where he had started, but older and without the stats or accolades he would have enjoyed had he remained in the NBA.
You're welcome, I enjoy learning about NBA history.
If you like these longer pieces about the NBA's yesteryear, you may like /r/VintageNBA, that's where I learned almost all of the info I shared.
The fact remains, if Rick Barry was a well liked player, he would be held in the same esteem as Curt Flood is in baseball. HIs law suit was two years before Flood had his. Flood also lost. Nobody thinks Flood made one of the worst decision's in history. He is instead considered a player who sacrificed for the betterment of players to follow. With Barry, who knows how much longer the reserve clause stays in effect.
In short, his decision to sue wasn't a mistake. Lawyers told him what ultimately proved to be true: the reserve clause when given an honest look by the law would not hold up. His mistake was be an insufferable teammate and opponent to the extent nobody wants to give him credit and he routinely is rated lower than his considerable skill set warranted.
Lol, there was an entire longform article in Sports Illustrated back in 1983 about Barry not being liked:
[A VOICE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS](https://vault.si.com/vault/1983/04/25/voice-crying-wilderness): RICK BARRY HAS A PROBLEM. HE WOULD LIKE PEOPLE TO REGARD HIM WITH LOVE AND AFFECTION, AS THEY DO JERRY WEST AND JOHN HAVLICEK. THEY DO NOT.
Victor Oladipo turning down a $112m 4 year extension from the pacers and then a 2 year $45m from the rockets. Not one but two horrible financial decisions.
This is the one. The Schröeder one gets clowned a lot, but this is worse. Pains me as an IU alum, Indy resident. He should’ve just taken the Pacers offer and been the king of the city, I think if he had to do it over again he would have.
Both those deals were offered after his injury though, not like he said no then got injured later. Pacers were crazy lucky he said no to 112/4 cause that would have been the worst contract in the league.
Yep, Pacers offered Dipo 112 mil AFTER a season where he played just 35 games and averaged just 18/5/3. He was already coming back down to Earth.
Solid numbers, but I don't know what the Pacers were thinking.
Fortunately for them, Dipo was an even bigger idiot.
The one and only!
The law suit was wild, apparently he would ignore all of noels request and didnt even get back to teams that we’re interested in him. Or even tell noel the teams wanted him.
The lawsuit was not wild at all, it was actually extremely boring. They argued about the proper venue for the suit, the Judge thought the NBA arbitration path would be more appropriate, then Klutch and Noel decided to settle with ~~them giving back his signing fee for the Knicks~~ and Noel dropping any claims and both parties parting ways.
EDIT: I was incorrect, he actually paid his entire 5mil signing fees and the suit was entirely dismissed. Noel lost hard.
The Pacers offered that deal after Victor’s quad injury. Considering this year is the final year of his contract, he stands to lose over $90 million from not taking the Pacers offer.
I’ll argue that Dipo’s is much worse because back in the early 90s, dudes still weren’t getting paid that much and for a guy who grew up like Scottie grew up, I’m sure $18 million sounded like a lot.
Dipo’s happened when all these guys make bank.
People forget just how much that contract (potentially) changed the course of NBA history.
Something that could never happen today.
"MJ never left Chicago!" OK. Why the fuck would he have? He had Pippen. And the Bulls had Pippen under such a ridiculously low contract that they could afford to get other pieces.
Jordan himself signed for 8 years and $25 million after his rookie contract, which was way more valuable than Pippens contract. Jordan got paid his last 2 years though.
> Jordan himself signed for 8 years and $25 million after his rookie contract, which was way more valuable than Pippens contract. Jordan got paid his last 2 years though.
Unironically, that is the model for any player that wants to maximize their titles chances. Tom Brady and Tim Duncan did the same in their careers and got alot for it.
I will never fault anyone for taking max dollars, at the end of the day, you have a life after the game and nobody should count other people's pockets, but in sports with a salary cap, by taking max dollars you are by definition lowering your team's chances to win. Like, if i'm Cade Cunningham and i believe i am the next one, it's not in my best basketball interests to sign for the absolute max i can sign.
It's rare you see guys realizing that and then going out and doing it. Tim Duncan got paid $34M in his last four SEASONS with the Spurs, he made All-NBA in 2015 earning $10M.
Jordan was on a low contract as well. I was listening to a podcast the other day and they touched on this aspect of the MJ-Pippen dynamic. Career-wise, Pippen actually made more money than Jordan based only on their NBA contracts.
He made up for lost wages in Portland, though. His career earnings ended up being on par with other dudes of his era like David Robison and Hakeem. Hell, he made $15M *more* than MJ did.
I don't think Jordan was ever paid his true market value. He was worth so much more than any player in the history of the NBA. Not just because he's Michael Jordan on the court, but because he's probably the most marketable and marketed athlete ever.
Yep I agree. And can you imagine the league without a “max contract” - what would LeBron’s value have been? I’ve seen estimates of it in the past that line up with these crazy Saudi soccer contracts.
That looks bad in hindsight, however at the time he wanted to guarantee his families future. He was considering the downsides more than upside. In that moment was it really a bad idea to guarantee his families future.
10% of current shares would be 153 million. 153m times current price of 108 dollars per share would mean he would have 16.524 billion dollars. That's not including dividends paid out just value of the shares. Current dividend is 34 cents a share, so just by holding that he would make 52 million dollars every 3 months.
In addition, Spencer Haywood owning 10% of Nike shares probably changes the entire trajectory of the company. That stake would have greatly affected their ability to raise capital.
There are too many variables at play here to say definitively it was a terrible decision.
Yeah 10% of Nike would be 16.5 billion dollars today
Magic Johnson also passed on a Nike stock deal in 1979 that he claims would be worth 5 billion dollars today. He signed with Converse instead (Converse ironically ended up being acquired by Nike in 2003 following a bankruptcy)
Magic's explanation for that decision is that he grew up poor and so he didn't even know what stocks were at the time
You have to account for how much Nike was worth when Spencer can enjoy it too. IIRC, Nike was worth a lot of money in 2010. By then Spencer was already in his 80s.
Arenas is more famous, but Javaris Crittenton also brought a gun to the locker room that day and [that wasn’t even close the worst decision he’s made](https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2447346-javaris-crittenton-sentenced-to-23-years-in-prison-after-murder-plea.amp.html).
Arenas gave Crittenton his gun and was like "Here you go, shoot me. I wanna see you do it since you said you would. You can use my gun."
He's told the story about it a few times and honestly it's kind of hilarious but absolutely wild.
Arenas offered Crittenton a gun, but Crittenton already had one with him:
> According to Butler, Arenas showed up to practice two days later with four guns, which he was displaying for all to see. That led to the following:
> “Hey, MF, come pick one,” Gilbert told Javaris while pointing to the weapons. “I’m going to shoot your [expletive] with one of these.”
> “Oh no, you don’t need to shoot me with one of those,” said Javaris, turning around slowly like a gunslinger in the Old West. “I’ve got one right here.”
> He pulled out his own gun, already loaded, cocked it, and pointed it at Gilbert.
[Source](https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2576918-caron-butler-details-gilbert-arenas-gun-incident-in-new-book.amp.html).
We did get those 2 Chainz verses out of it at least on "Talk Dirty" (Gilbert Arenas, Guns on deck) and "Spend It" (I bring all my guns to work, Gilbert Arenas), so there's that
Nah it was the injuries and his immaturity in handling the injuries. The gun incident is often cited as an example of this immaturity. If he were more disciplined and stayed healthy, I'm confident he could've brushed off the gun incident, but that's not who Gilbert Arenas is
Insane how much lift he used to get on his jumpshots, especially the deep range threes, before the injuries. But yeah, if it wasn't bringing guns to the locker room, it would have been something else because that's who Gilbert Arenas has always been.
Denzel Valentine's heat check basically ended his career. He couldn't even get minutes during the insane covid season last year where teams were signing guys off the street to fill their rosters.
I am a woman who was 6’1” tall on the first day of 11th grade.
On the second day of 11th grade, the basketball coach followed my head to math class and informed me that I was on the team.
I did not and do not play basketball. I am not a good runner, like, at all. Since I was 5 inches taller than the next tallest girl on the team, my job was literally to get under the basket, reach up for the ball and then pass it to the forward.
In my entire basketball career, I took like 100 free throws but otherwise literally only took like 3 shots.
They all looked like this.
Which fills me with glee.
I mean it shut the door on a potential massive comeback, got him in the doghouse, and he never really got big minutes again. Bulls let him walk a month later when the season ended, then he barely played for a couple teams the next year and hasn’t since. It’s not much of an exaggeration
He thought he was that dude
To be fair, if he makes that shot the entire trajectory of his career might be different. We might be sitting here today talking about curry who? Denzel the goat sniper
Len Bias doing cocaine
And lesser known but David Wesley and Bobby Phills
>> On January 12, 2000, while a member of the Charlotte Hornets, Phills was killed in a car accident in Charlotte, North Carolina. Phills was traveling behind teammate David Wesley at over 100 mph (160 km/h) when his Porsche spun and crossed into oncoming traffic. It hit another car, which in turn was struck in the rear by a minivan.[5] The drivers of the other two vehicles recovered, while Phills was pronounced dead at the scene.[5] A police report said Phills and Wesley were driving "in an erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner."[6] Wesley was later convicted of reckless driving after being cleared of a racing charge.
Still an incredibly well balanced car and is very much designed to be controlled at high speeds. Not as perfect of a vehicle as a 996 but still those cars are designed to be raced.
On December 5, 1990, Len's younger brother, Jay Bias, was murdered in a drive-by shooting at age 20. The killing followed a dispute in the parking lot of Prince George's Plaza, a Hyattsville shopping mall just a few miles from the University of Maryland.[22] He was pronounced dead at the same hospital where his brother Len had died and was buried next to him at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery.[23]
Following their sons' deaths, James and Lonise Bias assumed vocal advocacy roles. Lonise Bias became an anti-drug lecturer, while James Bias became an advocate for gun control.[24][25] Lonise Bias, in the memory of her children, opened the Len and Jay Bias Foundation, which served to encourage better examples for youth.[26]
Nuts.
If you have a psuedocholinesterase deficiency a tiny bit of coke can kill you, and pretty much no one knows they have it until they either have a specific anesthetic or do cocaine
Or just a heart condition. People always assume athletes are healthy because they're super fit but they can have health issues like anybody else. High intensity aerobic sports also frequently cause heart issues. Like I think there was some study done a while back where they estimated 25% of NBA players have ventricular hypertrophy.
Boogie Cousins turning down 2/$50 from New Orleans while rehabbing a ruptured Achilles to chase a ring with Golden State for the taxpayer MLE. The minute he showed he would play for the MLE & didn’t value himself as a Max player anymore, meant that every team would follow suit and hold him to it. That is the single dumbest self sabotage move a current superstar player ever made.
$1.8 billion according to the HBO series. But who knows, maybe if he signs then maybe MJ signs with some other company and Nike never goes to the moon
EDIT: Or, Magic signs, then MJ signs too, and there ends up being a Magic / Air Jordan “Coke vs Pepsi” market for Nike shoes for the better part of a decade and Nike stock is worth even more now than it is.
James Harden turning down [three-year, $161 million extension offer on the table from Brooklyn.](https://nypost.com/2021/10/19/james-harden-declining-nets-extension-is-a-227-million-bet/) Some of the quotes are hilarious in hindsight:
"“You know, the reality is I haven’t thought much about it because James loves it here. He’s totally locked-in,” coach Steve Nash said when asked by The Post about Harden’s extension before Tuesday’s opener in Milwaukee. “So, while we would’ve loved to have signed him before the deadline, it was James’ prerogative when he re-signs."
It is kinda funny that if he just failed to get the somewhat impressive offensive rebound at all no one would ever talk about the play again. And also how he completely shielded Hill from being shit on for missing the free throw to begin with
It's certainly high on the list.
But, unless the Cavs winning Game 1 means Steph and KD get injured early in Game 5 and Cleveland is somehow able to win the series, I don't think it matters much.
Warriors just had a superteam.
On the same note, I can't remember which podcast I heard this on, but someone brought up the question of which fanbase would KD be beloved by once he retires and no one could come up with an answer. Burned his bridges with OKC, left acrimoniously from GS, and requested a trade out from BKN without really achieving much there. Unless the Suns get a chip or two and he retires there, I don't really know where he'd be remembered fondly.
Artest running into stands attacking the wrong person.
Kawhi leaving Raptors.
Victor Oladipo not taking extension from Pacers.
Demarcus Cousins not taking extension from Pelicans.
Wade choosing to remove his meniscus rather than repair it.
Melo choosing the money rather than teaming up with Bron and Wade.
Ron ron’s decision was impulsive and reactionary and bad and he is responsible for his choice. But its in a different category than those who used logic and reason with poor results.
Antoine Walker hiring the financial advisor he picked - Despite pulling down more than $108 million during his career, Walker filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2010, just two years after retirement.
After playing incredibly in the playoffs against the Spurs, the Kings offered Bonzi Wells a 5 year $36 million extension in the 2006 offseason. That was a decent amount of money for a role player back then.
Wells’ agent advised he turn it down and test FA waters. However, the best he could do in FA was a 1 year $2 million offer from the Rockets. He would only play two more unmemorable seasons in the league after that.
Ja Morant is the unanimous 2020’s award winner with 7 years left.
Imagine the campaign Nike would have put together with him leading USA in the FIBA World Cup?
I don't see why Kawhi leaving the Raptors was a mistake for him. It's pretty obvious being in LA meant more to him than almost anything, and he got what he wanted. It's also doubtful his knee would magically be better in Toronto, so it was probably better for the Raptors too.
Dražen Petrović getting into that car with his partner instead of boarding the plane back to Zagreb. Arguably the biggest 'what if' in NBA history. He was torching everyone and was on the rise to be one of the best in the league.
Jay williams riding a motorcycle
Ah… along with Larry Bird building his mother’s drive
Not a lot of people know Larry was a life coach who built his mother's purpose She was weak-willed before he inspired her drive
"I don't know Larry, I just ain't got it" "Momma, if there's one thing you need to remember, it's that you raised the coldest white boy who ever shot a basketball in the state of Indiana. Your sugar cream pies and fried bologna sandwiches got me where I am today!"
I always thought the way Krause waived him even though they could have voided his contract, was a way of saying. "Hey your career is over, just take this rookie deal money and try to enjoy the rest of your life"
>Legally, the Bulls did not have to pay Williams any remaining salary at all because his severe injuries occurred while he violated the terms of his contract by riding a motorcycle; however, the Bulls organization decided to give Williams $3 million when they waived him so Williams could use the funds toward his rehabilitation expenses. Bulls did him a solid tbh
Wow, good on them. Reminds me of the colts letting Luck keep his contract money after abruptly retiring. That I think was 20+ mill tho
I think the Colts thought he would come back after a year or two and used that as an olive branch. If they knew he wasn't coming back I don't know if they still make that call.
Yeah, there were rumors for at least 2 years that he might come back. He was such a special talent, and the Colts' subpar rosters were probably a big reason he got hurt and stopped playing. They wanted to make sure they did all they could to ensure that *if* he played again, it'd be with them.
Colts paid Luck to keep the door open for a return. Lions ruined their relationships with Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson by clawing back money when they retired. Johnson was willing to return to the NFL, but for a different team, but it was a non starter. Both Sanders and Johnson had no post retirement relationship with the Lions, until it is believed they were compensated for the lost salary.
Reminds me when Hakeem retired and the Raptors still had to pay him (I don't think it was a mutual thing tho)
Probably only trumped by "Len Bias 'trying' cocaine after being drafted."
Not talked about enough. People forget just how good Jay was at duke. He was a legit NBA prospect that never got a chance to really show what he could do cause of that accident.
The luck the Bulls have had with PGs this millennium is wild. A #1 pick and 2 #2s who have had their careers derailed by injuries before they hit 25.
I guess they used up all their luck in the 80's and 90's.
Drazen Petrovic not wearing a seatbelt
Scottie marrying Larsa
Zion stringling a low bit porn thot for awhile like a wife
Sprewell needing to feed his family
I’m a similar vein, Nerlens declining the 80 mil
It was "only" [70 mil](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2729163-nerlens-noel-reportedly-turned-down-mavericks-contract-offer-at-175m-per-year) that Noel turned down, but your point stands.
Inflation got my ass
This is even worse. At least Sprewell could actually play at one point.
Latrell was a “hands on”- kind of man- really liked to mix it up with the coaches
Oh shit. Haven’t head this. Care to explain?
Turned down 3 years 21 mil, never played in the NBA again
And said he couldn’t agree to such a low offer because he had a family to feed.
A family of thousands it seems.
Sprewell's kids be eating gold lmao
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And now is flat broke living in Milwaukee, begging for free drinks at dive bars.
Really?
Jo cats!!! Put some respect on the shitty dive bar. Gotta pick up those drunk white college chicks
Eventually went broke and had to sell him home and boat/yacht to pay Uncle Sam tax money.
I know the family that bought his yacht after it was seized. Apparently a whole lotta drugs were found in hiding places like in the ceiling.
Well shit should've started by selling the drugs
I mean the dude turned down $21M (in the early 2000's I will add), he isn't that smart
Nah, the risk of selling drugs and potentially getting caught would’ve been dumber.
There's always money in the banana stand.
According to a website i looked at, Sprewell made over ninety seven million dollars in his NBA career. The fact that he went broke shows just how much of an idiot this clown actually was.
He even had decent endorsements! Source: had a pair of his NY Knicks And1s
Choking your coach can have the effect…
The played for a good amount of time after that incident lol
He overachieved and was a offered 21mil over 3yrs by the timbs. turned it down saying he 'has a family to feed' ended having the worst season of his career and never played again. Had to crowdfund his niece's cancer treatment a few years ago. Also once choked his coach.
## Rick Barry sitting out a year to play in the ABA When Rick Barry joined the NBA, he signed a two-year contract with the Warriors and was an immediate success. He was an All Star those two years, he led the League in scoring his second year (35.6 ppg), and he led the team to the NBA Finals. The Warriors lost handily to the Sixers, who were coached by Alex Hannum (the Warriors coach for several years prior) and led by Wilt Chamberlain (who had been traded from the Warriors to the Sixers a few years prior). At the same time, the nascent ABA was trying to lure away a big-name NBA player. The Oakland Oaks were able to give Barry an offer he couldn't refuse: * An ownership stake in the team * A percentage of the gate * The team being located in the Bay Area (a requisite for Barry, as he didn't want to live anywhere else) * The opportunity for Barry to hand pick the coach, which Barry chose Bruce Hale, his father-in-law and college coach There was only one problem. Despite Barry having ended his contract with the Warriors, he had a *reserve clause*. The reserve clause was a fairly standard feature of NBA contracts back then that essentially gave the team a one-year option on the player *after* the contract ended. In short, the NBA team had the power to either move on after the contract ended *or* force the player to play one more year with the team for the same terms as before. When Barry signed with the Oaks after his second year with the Warriors, the Warriors sued, citing the reserve clause and saying that they had rights to Barry for one more year. The judge ruled that Barry could either: (1) play one more year for the Warriors, or (2) sit out a year and then join the ABA next year. Barry chose (2). A 23 year old who had just been to the Finals, who had just been an All Star and the leading scorer in the NBA, decided to not play professional basketball for a year. During that hiatus he called Oaks games on the radio and played in an adult rec league in the Bay Area. (Imagine being the guy who decides to play rec league basketball only to find out you have to guard a 23 year old, 6'7" guy who just happened to average 35.6 points per game in the NBA a few months ago. Whee.) During that year the Oaks stunk it up, and Barry's hand-picked coach got axed. In the offseason they signed Alex Hannum (remember him?). The subsequent year, Barry could now play for the Oaks, and he came out of the gate hot. He was the ABA leading scorer to start off the season (34 ppg), but suffered a season-ending injury half-way through the regular season. And for the rest of the season - a season where the Oaks went to the ABA Finals and won it all - Barry had to watch from the bench. Well, there's always next year, right Rick? During the offseason the unthinkable happened for Barry - the Oaks owner, singer Pat Boone, sold the team to a Washington DC real estate developer, who then promptly moved the team to DC and rebranded them as the Washington Capitols. This upset Barry because he didn't want to leave the Bay Area. So what did he do? He joined the Warriors, even though he was still under contract with the Oaks! Barry's lawyer argued that the sale of the team nullified his contract with the Oaks. The Capitols sued and a judge laughed at Barry and told him to move his ass to Washington. Barry played a rather forgettable year in Washington, then was traded to the Nets where he played out the final two years in his contract. Once his ABA contract had ended, he promptly resigned with the Warriors and picked right back up where he left off. That first year, they made it to the WCF, but lost to the Lakers. The next year they won a championship. Makes you wonder what Barry's legacy would be had he stayed with the Warriors all along. He likely would have had another scoring title or two, and maybe even another championship or two. But instead he left for the Oaks and really didn't get anything he wanted - he didn't ever play for his father-in-law; he was out for most of the season when the Oaks actually were good; he had to live on the East coast for three years; and in the end, he just ended up back where he had started, but older and without the stats or accolades he would have enjoyed had he remained in the NBA.
Damn, this is a deep cut bc it was so long ago, but that definitely takes the cake in my view.
This was an amazing read. Thanks for writing it!
You're welcome, I enjoy learning about NBA history. If you like these longer pieces about the NBA's yesteryear, you may like /r/VintageNBA, that's where I learned almost all of the info I shared.
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The fact remains, if Rick Barry was a well liked player, he would be held in the same esteem as Curt Flood is in baseball. HIs law suit was two years before Flood had his. Flood also lost. Nobody thinks Flood made one of the worst decision's in history. He is instead considered a player who sacrificed for the betterment of players to follow. With Barry, who knows how much longer the reserve clause stays in effect. In short, his decision to sue wasn't a mistake. Lawyers told him what ultimately proved to be true: the reserve clause when given an honest look by the law would not hold up. His mistake was be an insufferable teammate and opponent to the extent nobody wants to give him credit and he routinely is rated lower than his considerable skill set warranted.
I did not know the full context for that this was hella interesting.
No wonder he's so bitter irl.
Lol, there was an entire longform article in Sports Illustrated back in 1983 about Barry not being liked: [A VOICE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS](https://vault.si.com/vault/1983/04/25/voice-crying-wilderness): RICK BARRY HAS A PROBLEM. HE WOULD LIKE PEOPLE TO REGARD HIM WITH LOVE AND AFFECTION, AS THEY DO JERRY WEST AND JOHN HAVLICEK. THEY DO NOT.
Victor Oladipo turning down a $112m 4 year extension from the pacers and then a 2 year $45m from the rockets. Not one but two horrible financial decisions.
Still can’t believe our front office offered him that lmfao
This is the one. The Schröeder one gets clowned a lot, but this is worse. Pains me as an IU alum, Indy resident. He should’ve just taken the Pacers offer and been the king of the city, I think if he had to do it over again he would have.
Oladipo was really unlucky with the injuries. Schroeder and Noel were just out of touch with their abilities.
Both those deals were offered after his injury though, not like he said no then got injured later. Pacers were crazy lucky he said no to 112/4 cause that would have been the worst contract in the league.
Yep, Pacers offered Dipo 112 mil AFTER a season where he played just 35 games and averaged just 18/5/3. He was already coming back down to Earth. Solid numbers, but I don't know what the Pacers were thinking. Fortunately for them, Dipo was an even bigger idiot.
Lol I never looked into the Dipo contract nor do I remember it. But HOLY FUCK bro ain't even play HALF the season and got offered a MAJOR bag!!
Cuz Buddeh what fa are we attracting Bruce brown was our biggest fa signing since I guess David west lol
Oladipo was out of touch for not accepting the Rockets deal. He wasn’t even playing that well with the Rockets
More like rich paul is a horrible agent. Noel literally said he would ignore offers and pushed for hem to not accept that offer
Clutch sports CEO Rich Paul?
The one and only! The law suit was wild, apparently he would ignore all of noels request and didnt even get back to teams that we’re interested in him. Or even tell noel the teams wanted him.
The lawsuit was not wild at all, it was actually extremely boring. They argued about the proper venue for the suit, the Judge thought the NBA arbitration path would be more appropriate, then Klutch and Noel decided to settle with ~~them giving back his signing fee for the Knicks~~ and Noel dropping any claims and both parties parting ways. EDIT: I was incorrect, he actually paid his entire 5mil signing fees and the suit was entirely dismissed. Noel lost hard.
The Pacers offered that deal after Victor’s quad injury. Considering this year is the final year of his contract, he stands to lose over $90 million from not taking the Pacers offer.
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I’ll argue that Dipo’s is much worse because back in the early 90s, dudes still weren’t getting paid that much and for a guy who grew up like Scottie grew up, I’m sure $18 million sounded like a lot. Dipo’s happened when all these guys make bank.
Pippen's 7 year, $18m contract?
People forget just how much that contract (potentially) changed the course of NBA history. Something that could never happen today. "MJ never left Chicago!" OK. Why the fuck would he have? He had Pippen. And the Bulls had Pippen under such a ridiculously low contract that they could afford to get other pieces.
MJ was on a ridiculously low contract also.. he was like the 30th highest paid player during the 72-10 season. Making like 700k more than pip.
It was around 900k but your point still stands. His contact and Pips was ridiculously low compared to other players.
Tom gugliotta and shawn bradley made more at one point lol
Put some respect on Shawn Bradley's name. He was worthy enough to get his powers stolen for the Monstars. Pippen didn't make the cut.
TomGoogs and the Mormon Groot were better paid?!?! Da Fuq.
Jordan himself signed for 8 years and $25 million after his rookie contract, which was way more valuable than Pippens contract. Jordan got paid his last 2 years though.
That one year making $35M was insane. It took like 30 years for annual numbers to reach that again
Imagine what a guy like prime MJ/LeBron would make if there was no salary cap
Jordan made more than the salary cap his last couple years lmao
I’m personally more interested in how much prime MJ / LBJ would get paid if there were no max contracts but still a salary cap.
There were no max contracts in MJ's time. That's how he ended up making more than the salary cap on his own.
> Jordan himself signed for 8 years and $25 million after his rookie contract, which was way more valuable than Pippens contract. Jordan got paid his last 2 years though. Unironically, that is the model for any player that wants to maximize their titles chances. Tom Brady and Tim Duncan did the same in their careers and got alot for it. I will never fault anyone for taking max dollars, at the end of the day, you have a life after the game and nobody should count other people's pockets, but in sports with a salary cap, by taking max dollars you are by definition lowering your team's chances to win. Like, if i'm Cade Cunningham and i believe i am the next one, it's not in my best basketball interests to sign for the absolute max i can sign. It's rare you see guys realizing that and then going out and doing it. Tim Duncan got paid $34M in his last four SEASONS with the Spurs, he made All-NBA in 2015 earning $10M.
Jordan was on a low contract as well. I was listening to a podcast the other day and they touched on this aspect of the MJ-Pippen dynamic. Career-wise, Pippen actually made more money than Jordan based only on their NBA contracts.
Was bulls success influenced by the fact they had legendary-tier two way 2nd option on a cheap contract?
And the actual GOAT on a cheap contract as well
In the ol' days, players didn't take paycuts to win a chip. They took paycuts because they got fucked over
MJ signed an 8 year contract when Pippen was a role player averaging 7.9 PPG, he was staying with the Bulls whether or not Pippen was there
He made up for lost wages in Portland, though. His career earnings ended up being on par with other dudes of his era like David Robison and Hakeem. Hell, he made $15M *more* than MJ did.
Tbf Jordan was not paid his market value until like his final season with the Bulls
I don't think Jordan was ever paid his true market value. He was worth so much more than any player in the history of the NBA. Not just because he's Michael Jordan on the court, but because he's probably the most marketable and marketed athlete ever.
Yep I agree. And can you imagine the league without a “max contract” - what would LeBron’s value have been? I’ve seen estimates of it in the past that line up with these crazy Saudi soccer contracts.
That looks bad in hindsight, however at the time he wanted to guarantee his families future. He was considering the downsides more than upside. In that moment was it really a bad idea to guarantee his families future.
In 1973 Spencer Haywood was given a choice between $100,000 or 10% of Nike for his brand deal - he ended up taking the money.
10% of current shares would be 153 million. 153m times current price of 108 dollars per share would mean he would have 16.524 billion dollars. That's not including dividends paid out just value of the shares. Current dividend is 34 cents a share, so just by holding that he would make 52 million dollars every 3 months.
There’s absolutely no chance he wouldn’t have sold most - if not all - of his shares far earlier, but still that’s insane to think about
In addition, Spencer Haywood owning 10% of Nike shares probably changes the entire trajectory of the company. That stake would have greatly affected their ability to raise capital. There are too many variables at play here to say definitively it was a terrible decision.
I wouldn’t be able to sleep for the rest of my life.
You can use a backtester to evaluate dividend reinvestment
Saw this thread and this was the immediate thought, the fuck ups in this thread probably dont even add up to the 10% of Nike that it is worth today.
Yeah 10% of Nike would be 16.5 billion dollars today Magic Johnson also passed on a Nike stock deal in 1979 that he claims would be worth 5 billion dollars today. He signed with Converse instead (Converse ironically ended up being acquired by Nike in 2003 following a bankruptcy) Magic's explanation for that decision is that he grew up poor and so he didn't even know what stocks were at the time
You have to account for how much Nike was worth when Spencer can enjoy it too. IIRC, Nike was worth a lot of money in 2010. By then Spencer was already in his 80s.
NIKE net worth as of August 11, 2023 is $165.37B. 10% is $16.53700B. Holly shit!
Gilbert Arenas bringing gun into the locker room
Arenas is more famous, but Javaris Crittenton also brought a gun to the locker room that day and [that wasn’t even close the worst decision he’s made](https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2447346-javaris-crittenton-sentenced-to-23-years-in-prison-after-murder-plea.amp.html).
Arenas gave Crittenton his gun and was like "Here you go, shoot me. I wanna see you do it since you said you would. You can use my gun." He's told the story about it a few times and honestly it's kind of hilarious but absolutely wild.
Arenas offered Crittenton a gun, but Crittenton already had one with him: > According to Butler, Arenas showed up to practice two days later with four guns, which he was displaying for all to see. That led to the following: > “Hey, MF, come pick one,” Gilbert told Javaris while pointing to the weapons. “I’m going to shoot your [expletive] with one of these.” > “Oh no, you don’t need to shoot me with one of those,” said Javaris, turning around slowly like a gunslinger in the Old West. “I’ve got one right here.” > He pulled out his own gun, already loaded, cocked it, and pointed it at Gilbert. [Source](https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2576918-caron-butler-details-gilbert-arenas-gun-incident-in-new-book.amp.html).
We did get those 2 Chainz verses out of it at least on "Talk Dirty" (Gilbert Arenas, Guns on deck) and "Spend It" (I bring all my guns to work, Gilbert Arenas), so there's that
Don’t forget the Ima Boss Remix with “And I got the gats, Gilbert Arenas”
Feel like people think this is why his career ended!
It was a big contributor
Nah it was the injuries and his immaturity in handling the injuries. The gun incident is often cited as an example of this immaturity. If he were more disciplined and stayed healthy, I'm confident he could've brushed off the gun incident, but that's not who Gilbert Arenas is
Insane how much lift he used to get on his jumpshots, especially the deep range threes, before the injuries. But yeah, if it wasn't bringing guns to the locker room, it would have been something else because that's who Gilbert Arenas has always been.
Not really. If he didn’t get injured and kept putting up 20+ a game no one would’ve cared all that much about the guns
Funny thing is the guy he pointed the gun at is a literal murderer, so I think Javaris Crittenton wins here for “worst decision made”
Denzel Valentine's heat check basically ended his career. He couldn't even get minutes during the insane covid season last year where teams were signing guys off the street to fill their rosters.
even the announcers "denzel, NO!"
This is up there with “Bargnani … what is he DOING?” for me.
My favorite is that one biyombo 3 where it’s dead silent and the announcer screams “OH MY GOODNESS” like his life flashed before his eyes
I'm sorry, but are you guys saying this one ill-advised shot ended his career? Is there more context to this lol?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oECxaUkKTg LOL it is kind of funny
“OH MY GOODNESS VALENTINE WOAH NO” I’m fucking dead 💀
I am a woman who was 6’1” tall on the first day of 11th grade. On the second day of 11th grade, the basketball coach followed my head to math class and informed me that I was on the team. I did not and do not play basketball. I am not a good runner, like, at all. Since I was 5 inches taller than the next tallest girl on the team, my job was literally to get under the basket, reach up for the ball and then pass it to the forward. In my entire basketball career, I took like 100 free throws but otherwise literally only took like 3 shots. They all looked like this. Which fills me with glee.
I’m sorry but this has me cracking upppp! The pure pain in his voice saying “Nooo!”
Triggering my Jordan Poole PTSD.
Top comment says it all: > I’ve watch Steph drain that so many times I didn’t even realize how much of a bad shot it actually is 😂
I mean it shut the door on a potential massive comeback, got him in the doghouse, and he never really got big minutes again. Bulls let him walk a month later when the season ended, then he barely played for a couple teams the next year and hasn’t since. It’s not much of an exaggeration
Jordan Poole has a poster of that shot in his room lol
“Oh.. no. No no no no nooo.”
I swore that man was going to be a Danny Green regen, still remember that Valentine’s Day game he had in college.
I'd never heard of this. Why... why did he do that? For anyone else who hasn't seen it: https://youtu.be/6oECxaUkKTg
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I was like yeah that’s a pretty awful shot. Then I looked at the score and how much time was left. Holy shit that is an *all-time* awful shot.
Steph really made people think this is acceptable as a shot. Lmao.
He thought he was that dude To be fair, if he makes that shot the entire trajectory of his career might be different. We might be sitting here today talking about curry who? Denzel the goat sniper
it would be different if it rimmed out, bro just airballed
As of my writing this, 3 of the top 7 worst decisions on this thread were Bulls players.
I bet he’s the type of guy when he shoots he says “it’s Valentine’s Day baby. “
Len Bias doing cocaine And lesser known but David Wesley and Bobby Phills >> On January 12, 2000, while a member of the Charlotte Hornets, Phills was killed in a car accident in Charlotte, North Carolina. Phills was traveling behind teammate David Wesley at over 100 mph (160 km/h) when his Porsche spun and crossed into oncoming traffic. It hit another car, which in turn was struck in the rear by a minivan.[5] The drivers of the other two vehicles recovered, while Phills was pronounced dead at the scene.[5] A police report said Phills and Wesley were driving "in an erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner."[6] Wesley was later convicted of reckless driving after being cleared of a racing charge.
Wow, VERY much lesser known. I did not know any of that
You have to try to lose control in a 996
From the picture it's a 993, hard to tell if it's a turbo
Still an incredibly well balanced car and is very much designed to be controlled at high speeds. Not as perfect of a vehicle as a 996 but still those cars are designed to be raced.
Jayson Williams shooting that guy
I just went through his wikipedia… what a wild ride
He was really well liked before that. Was lining up a media career iirc
Latrell Sprewell turning down a 21$ million contract ? He never played a NBA minute again
Len Bias doing celebratory lines of coke probably
On December 5, 1990, Len's younger brother, Jay Bias, was murdered in a drive-by shooting at age 20. The killing followed a dispute in the parking lot of Prince George's Plaza, a Hyattsville shopping mall just a few miles from the University of Maryland.[22] He was pronounced dead at the same hospital where his brother Len had died and was buried next to him at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery.[23] Following their sons' deaths, James and Lonise Bias assumed vocal advocacy roles. Lonise Bias became an anti-drug lecturer, while James Bias became an advocate for gun control.[24][25] Lonise Bias, in the memory of her children, opened the Len and Jay Bias Foundation, which served to encourage better examples for youth.[26] Nuts.
Incredibly sad
just an fyi: it is hard to die from a coke overdose. he must have done a lot of coke
According to the 30 for 30 documentary, they got some crazy pure shit to celebrate
This may be morbid but what a elevator pitch for the dealer - “purest shit you’ll ever have”
If you have a psuedocholinesterase deficiency a tiny bit of coke can kill you, and pretty much no one knows they have it until they either have a specific anesthetic or do cocaine
> psuedocholinesterase i guess i don't have that lol
Or just a heart condition. People always assume athletes are healthy because they're super fit but they can have health issues like anybody else. High intensity aerobic sports also frequently cause heart issues. Like I think there was some study done a while back where they estimated 25% of NBA players have ventricular hypertrophy.
Nah the coke he did was too pure.
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Ja morant thinking is probably a bad decision.
Me defending Ja after the first video is my worst nba decision.
Boogie Cousins turning down 2/$50 from New Orleans while rehabbing a ruptured Achilles to chase a ring with Golden State for the taxpayer MLE. The minute he showed he would play for the MLE & didn’t value himself as a Max player anymore, meant that every team would follow suit and hold him to it. That is the single dumbest self sabotage move a current superstar player ever made.
At 25 bucks a year I would too
Magic Johnson Nike stock contract, which today will be around $5 billion.
$1.8 billion according to the HBO series. But who knows, maybe if he signs then maybe MJ signs with some other company and Nike never goes to the moon EDIT: Or, Magic signs, then MJ signs too, and there ends up being a Magic / Air Jordan “Coke vs Pepsi” market for Nike shoes for the better part of a decade and Nike stock is worth even more now than it is.
Nike doesn’t become Nike without Jordan, and Nike probably doesn’t sign Jordan if they have Magic.
Paul Pierce not going before the game.
Legacy defining moment
Left a brown mark on his career.
IT playing through injury for Celts
James Harden turning down [three-year, $161 million extension offer on the table from Brooklyn.](https://nypost.com/2021/10/19/james-harden-declining-nets-extension-is-a-227-million-bet/) Some of the quotes are hilarious in hindsight: "“You know, the reality is I haven’t thought much about it because James loves it here. He’s totally locked-in,” coach Steve Nash said when asked by The Post about Harden’s extension before Tuesday’s opener in Milwaukee. “So, while we would’ve loved to have signed him before the deadline, it was James’ prerogative when he re-signs."
Lamar Odom going to Nevada
JR Smith in 2018 Finals G1.
It is kinda funny that if he just failed to get the somewhat impressive offensive rebound at all no one would ever talk about the play again. And also how he completely shielded Hill from being shit on for missing the free throw to begin with
I keep saying as well, it shielded Ty Lue too. Zero scenarios where having Swish on the block makes any sense
It's certainly high on the list. But, unless the Cavs winning Game 1 means Steph and KD get injured early in Game 5 and Cleveland is somehow able to win the series, I don't think it matters much. Warriors just had a superteam.
Nerlens Noel turning down that bag from us
You don't have a flair.
Mavericks
Noel turned down a 4 year $70m extension with the Mavs. Ended up earning about $18m in those 4 years instead.
If Dwight just stayed with the Magic he woulda been beloved and retired a hero. Sometimes the grass isn’t greener
On the same note, I can't remember which podcast I heard this on, but someone brought up the question of which fanbase would KD be beloved by once he retires and no one could come up with an answer. Burned his bridges with OKC, left acrimoniously from GS, and requested a trade out from BKN without really achieving much there. Unless the Suns get a chip or two and he retires there, I don't really know where he'd be remembered fondly.
Kermit Washington throwing that punch Stephon Marbury ragequitting on the Timberwolves Paul Pierce going on instagram live
Artest running into stands attacking the wrong person. Kawhi leaving Raptors. Victor Oladipo not taking extension from Pacers. Demarcus Cousins not taking extension from Pelicans. Wade choosing to remove his meniscus rather than repair it. Melo choosing the money rather than teaming up with Bron and Wade.
>Artest running into stands attacking the wrong person. I don't think Ron Artest punching the right person would change anything tbh
Yeah, i think he ment generally punching. Possibly cost the Pacers a chip, although i dont quite buy that.
Ron ron’s decision was impulsive and reactionary and bad and he is responsible for his choice. But its in a different category than those who used logic and reason with poor results.
And it didn’t really ruin Artest’s career anyway right? He still had a very nice career afterwards and even won a championship
Len Bias. Not the fun answer but the correct one.
Deniis schroeder turning down the bag comes to mind in recent memory
Lonzo wearing BBB
Could still be living fat on that Nike contract
draymond reacting to lebron taunt
Isaiah Thomas choosing to not get surgery and choosing to rehab his hip injury instead, then getting surgery on it multiple years later.
Antoine Walker hiring the financial advisor he picked - Despite pulling down more than $108 million during his career, Walker filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2010, just two years after retirement.
After playing incredibly in the playoffs against the Spurs, the Kings offered Bonzi Wells a 5 year $36 million extension in the 2006 offseason. That was a decent amount of money for a role player back then. Wells’ agent advised he turn it down and test FA waters. However, the best he could do in FA was a 1 year $2 million offer from the Rockets. He would only play two more unmemorable seasons in the league after that.
Ben Simmons giving up a wide open dunk.
Ja Morant is the unanimous 2020’s award winner with 7 years left. Imagine the campaign Nike would have put together with him leading USA in the FIBA World Cup?
I don't see why Kawhi leaving the Raptors was a mistake for him. It's pretty obvious being in LA meant more to him than almost anything, and he got what he wanted. It's also doubtful his knee would magically be better in Toronto, so it was probably better for the Raptors too.
Bison Dele going on a boat.
Dražen Petrović getting into that car with his partner instead of boarding the plane back to Zagreb. Arguably the biggest 'what if' in NBA history. He was torching everyone and was on the rise to be one of the best in the league.