Salaries=Success? I think not!
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I was looking at the HoopsHype NBA salary page and I noticed something interesting about the top player salaries.
Of the top thirty players in salary, only five players have won an NBA Championship.
Michael Finley, number two on the list while making $21,696,750, is the top player on the list to win a title. Finley won his title as a starter on the San Antonio Spurs team of 2007.
Next on the list is Shaquille O’ Neal. O’ Neal makes $20,000,000 and has won four NBA Championships - tied with Tim Duncan for the most of any player on the top thirty.
Kobe Bryant, who checks in at number eight, is the next player on the list with a ring. Bryant, who makes $19,490,625, has won three NBA Championships, all while playing alongside O’ Neal.
Right after Kobe at number nine is Tim Duncan. Duncan, arguably the game’s greatest power forward ever, makes $19,014,187. Duncan has also led his Spurs teams to four NBA titles.
Only one other player in the top thirty has won a title. Ben Wallace with the 20th highest salary at $15,500,000 won one title with the Detroit Pistons.
In my eyes, this is an oddity with salaries. Some would think that teams who pay the most for a player would in turn win championships. Six players in the top 10 and 25 in the top 30 have not won a championship.
One player in the top 10, Tracy McGrady, has yet to even make the second round of the playoffs. The number one overall salaried player, Kevin Garnett, has never made an NBA Finals. Stephon Marbury, fourth on the list, only has two All-Star games to his record, and his only other accolade is an All-NBA 3rd Team.
Outside of individual salaries, there is a strange occurrence with team salaries as well. Some would argue that you could have the lowest overall salary in the league, but have the best “team” and still win a title. False. NBA teams need talent and to get it, they have to pay for it.
The New York Knicks have the highest team salary in the NBA. However, they failed to make the playoffs in the lowly Eastern Conference last season. Second on the list is the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavericks won 67 regular season games, but couldn’t get out of the first round.
The Denver Nuggets are third on the list, and they also failed to make the second round of the playoffs. The 10th team on the list, behind teams like the Pacers and 76ers, are the NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs.
Checking in at number 26 is the Chicago Bulls, who without a lapse in their last game, would have been in the NBA Finals. The Utah Jazz come into the equation at number 27, and they were a top four team in the tough Western Conference last season.
What does this all mean?
Basically, this means money cannot buy championships. Teams with players who have huge salaries do not always have success. It takes a true team, not a highly paid one, to excel in the NBA these days. My advice to NBA owners: spend less and find team players.
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