Cjets, you raise an interesting question: just how much is a championship worth? Shaq delivered the championship to Miami, but was that one championship worth all the money they will have to pay him, now that he is essentially a bench warmer? Is it worth it to their fans? To their owners? On a not entirely related tip, Shaq, and Kobe, but mostly Shaq, got the Lakers and Buss a fistful of championships - should that be taken into consideration when deciding whether to give Shaq an "over-valued" last contract , so that he could retire a Laker? Sometimes smart business moves clash with sentiment/nostalgia/respect earned. As far as Kobe is concerned, ugh, I can't discuss him rationally; I just don't like him as a human being.
Cjets, you raise an interesting question: just how much is a championship worth? Shaq delivered the championship to Miami, but was that one championship worth all the money they will have to pay him, now that he is essentially a bench warmer? Is it worth it to their fans? To their owners? I don't know, Sic. In Miami's case, there were many other factors besides Shaq's decline that led to their collapse. But I'd much rather be a perennial contender (like the Spurs or Pistons) than a team built for one championship run that would be one of the team's worst a few years later. should that be taken into consideration when deciding whether to give Shaq an "over-valued" last contract , so that he could retire a Laker? In a word? No. I'm not sure of Shaq's salary with the Lakers when they won but I'm assuming it was at least 15 million per. That, and the opportunity for all those endorsements being in a major media market, really should be payment enough. Also, in Shaq's case, you're not just talking about a guy being over valued for one year. You're talking about being way overvalued for three or four years and taking up major cap room. It's not fair to the fans or the team itself.
Have you two met Sarcasm? On SpoFi, my sarcasm hat tends to be broken. Can never tell with the presence of homers what's honest and sarcasm.
jmd82, if you saw my post as me being a homer and all you commented on was the part in bold, then you missed comments in the post that were far more outrageous than that.
In a word? No. I'm not sure of Shaq's salary with the Lakers when they won but I'm assuming it was at least 15 million per. That, and the opportunity for all those endorsements being in a major media market, really should be payment enough. Well, like I said it was the right business decision, but I like to think (in my more idealistic moments) that professional sports sometimes still transcend the business end of it. Especially when we are talking about iconic figures like Larry Bird (who was way overpaid in his final seasons with that aching back) or Michael Jordan (who was never ever overpaid!) or Shaq. Even more so when lots of championships are involved - fans, cities, get emotional and tend to want to deify their sports heroes if they are able to give them something special like a sports dynasty; even if they are no longer as great as they once were. That's why it wouldn't have been at all surprising for Buss to overpay Shaq at the end and why it was somewhat surprising that he let him go win a championship in Miami, overpriced or not. I mean could you imagine if he would have won that last championship with the Lakers instead of Miami? He would have surpassed Magic Johnson in the pantheon of all time Laker greats. Wow, from reading this you would think I like Shaq, but he is one of my least favorite players... Still a champion is a champion.
That's why it wouldn't have been at all surprising for Buss to overpay Shaq at the end and why it was somewhat surprising that he let him go win a championship in Miami, overpriced or not. I do understand the sentiment. I was crushed when Namath was traded by the Jets to finish out his career in L.A. But Shaq wanted too much, especially for a guy who was notorious for blowing off his off season conditioning and using the regular season to get healthy. Buss made a decision that cost him dearly short term but may still end up being the right decision in the long term.
jmd82, if you saw my post as me being a homer and all you commented on was the part in bold, then you missed comments in the post that were far more outrageous than that. Fair enough. Alas, that's also the problem with my sarcasm detector on SpoFi. Some of the comments are so outrageous that my first thought is they must be shitting me, but then I realize that this is how some sports fans really talk. I'm not saying that about your in particular, but just something I've seen around here in general. And honestly, even for not being a homer, your statement isn't that extreme compared to some things I've heard. Take ESPN- one announcer was talking about how they're now the favorite and anything else short of making the finals would be a failure. Then again, ESPN (and especially a few people. I'm looking at you Stephan A Smith) tends to live on the sensationalism aspect of sports sometimes.
