While Laker fans have likely convinced themselves they are thankful for Kobe Bryant’s extension this Thanksgiving, it should really only be the Black Mamba extolling the virtues of the unnecessary deal he signed earlier this week. I want to quickly
While Laker fans have likely convinced themselves they are thankful for Kobe Bryant’s extension this Thanksgiving, it should really only be the Black Mamba extolling the virtues of the unnecessary deal he signed earlier this week.
I want to quickly say that I am a Kobe fan, but certainly not a Kobe apologist/apostle. I love that Kobe has embraced who and what he is, I love his competitive fire, his desire to continue to be great and the lengths at which he’ll go to maintain that status. I don’t love his defense or the way he sometimes treats and reacts to teammates (though that’s gotten better with age through the years).
I also don’t love his new contract, and neither should Laker fans. If purple and gold disciples hope to be in the championship mix while Kobe is still around, his extension makes that extremely unlikely. When the Lakers inked him to two additional seasons beyond this one for $48.5 million, it was the type of signing that reeked of unnecessary desperation.
It keeps Kobe as the highest-paid player in the game, while he still hasn’t been on the court against any opponent since tearing his Achilles at the end of last season – an injury that typically devastates players’ careers.
As a lifelong Knicks fan, I know a little something about bidding against yourself. About a dozen years ago, the Knicks signed shooting guard Allan Houston to a six-year, $100 million contract.
The consensus around the sport was that no other team was prepared to offer Houston – a nice player, but not a superstar – even half that amount.
Somehow, New York got it in their heads that Houston’s stock was much higher than it was and the contract crippled their cap flexibility, especially when his knee injuries began to pile up and he spent the final two years of the deal in street clothes.
What makes the sword double-edged is that superstars are actually all underpaid. I know that in this season of giving and reflecting, it’s unnatural to label anybody making millions of dollars to play sports as “underpaid,” but for the elite athletes, it’s true. Kobe will mean more financially to the Lakers than what he’ll be paid, which is how any capitalist organization works, but there is a proportional imbalance.
Current Laker big man Chris Kaman made over $14 million two years ago with the New Orleans Hornets, who went 21-45 that season. That season, LeBron James made $17.5 million and led the Miami Heat to an NBA title. There’s no metric in the known universe that could justify Kaman being paid 80 percent of LeBron’s salary.
This season, Toronto Raptors swing man Rudy Gay will make about 94 percent of what LeBron will make. Every owner in the NBA would pay LeBron double what he currently makes and skip to the bank daily to deposit their returns on that investment.
So while the Lakers will gain plenty from Kobe just wearing the Laker colors, they now have just one maximum-level contract to offer a free agent this upcoming summer. The Western Conference isn’t getting easier any time soon, so L.A. needs an infusion of talent to return to the upper echelon. Having that one max offer – and no guarantee they can land a max player – won’t be enough.
The only argument that can really be made for this deal being in the team’s best interest from an on-court perspective is if Kobe were to somehow return from injury and play as he did back in his MVP season of 2007-08. If he turns the clock back five years and becomes that same player, then teaming him with another max-level talent and bringing back Pau Gasol at a discount would put the Lakers right back in title contention.
But even setting the Achilles aside, that guy is gone. As great as Kobe was last season – and he was great (offensively) – getting him just one additional piece isn’t going to cut it.
From a dollars and cents, what are you worth to our bottom line perspective, Kobe is a bargain for the Lakers. It would cripple their brand and their credibility to let him put on another team’s uniform.
But from a basketball perspective, there’s no way he should be anywhere near the highest-paid player in the NBA, and no way he or the Lakers should have come away from this deal realistically expecting to get anywhere near another NBA Finals before he calls it a career.
