Trade: [DAL/LAL/UTAH] Luka Doncic is a Laker, Anthony Davis is a Maverick and many other pieces

[John Price]

 

[Stylizer1]

You can't point to only Jordan and say players aren't being paid more. Jordan was a huge outlier.

The vet league minimum in 1997 was $272k. In today's dollars with inflation, that's about $520k. The current veteran minimum is about $2 million.

Players today certainly are much much much richer thanks to revenues exposing well beyond inflation rates.

I said this in my post.

 

[Power Man]

Owners don't seem to give a f*** about the Mavs so long as they eventually get a casino built next to a new arena.

I have a feeling the Mavs are Vegas bound.

Interstellar conspiracy theory video on those owners :

 

[Troy McClure]

I said this in my post.

But even your point about the star players was way way off. In 1997, Jordan was making $33 million, but no one else even came close. Star players today are far wealthier than they were back then.

 

[Voight]

Dončić was supposed to get a statue out there near Dirk Nowitzki’s. How’s this for perspective on where this trade leaves him on the Mavs’ all-time leaderboards?

• Games played: 161 from passing Shawn Bradley for 10th place
• Minutes: 929 behind Sam Perkins, who is ninth in team history
• Points: 300 from tying Michael Finley for fifth
• Assists: 1,035 behind second-place Brad Davis

Essentially the only time the Lakers haven't had a star was the five years between Magics retirement (not counting his short lived comeback; that was essentially a favor to Buss) and Shaq signing with them, and the two years between Kobe retiring and signing Bron.

• 1960: The Lakers moved to Los Angeles with established star Elgin Baylor and new rookie Jerry West.
•1968: Traded for Wilt Chamberlain.
• 1975: Dealt for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
• 1979: Added Magic Johnson with the first pick in the draft.
• 1982: Selected James Worthy with the first overall selection.
• 1996: Signed Shaquille O’Neal and traded for Kobe Bryant.
• 2008: Acquired Pau Gasol.
• 2012: Added Steve Nash and Dwight Howard.
• 2018: LeBron James signs with the Lakers.
• 2019: The Lakers traded for Anthony Davis.
• 2025: Swapped Davis for Luka Dončić.

 

[Stylizer1]

But even your point about the star players was way way off. In 1997, Jordan was making $33 million, but no one else even came close. Star players today are far wealthier than they were back then.

The point was inflation and how even by today's standards their actual wealth has not gone up.

Essentially the only time the Lakers haven't had a star was the five years between Magics retirement (not counting his short lived comeback; that was essentially a favor to Buss) and Shaq signing with them, and the two years between Kobe retiring and signing Bron.

No better example of buying championships.

 

[Jack Straw]

The league could have spent a million dollars and they couldn't have gotten as much publicity as they got from this trade, for free.

 

[Voight]

The point was inflation and how even by today's standards their actual wealth has not gone up.


No better example of buying championships.

Weird flex given they traded assets for Wilt, Kareem, the picked used on Worthy, Kobe, Davis and now Doncic.

Also in Kobe's later years (and even after he retired until Bron came aboard) they tried and failed to land every major star that was available, so it's not as simple as everybody wants to be in LA.

 

[BB88]

The league could have spent a million dollars and they couldn't have gotten as much publicity as they got from this trade, for free.

You meant billion?

 

[Jack Straw]

You meant billion?

Yeah, that.

 

[Troy McClure]

The point was inflation and how even by today's standards their actual wealth has not gone up.

And my point is their wealth absolutely has gone up. Way up. Every player today from the stars to the bench are multiple times over wealthier than players from the 90s.

Jordan was one guy. A complete exception. Every other player from 1997 was making much less than guys today.

The second highest paid player in 1997 was Patrick Ewing at $20 million, which with inflation brings him to $39 million today. This would make him the 28th highest paid player today.

And as you go down the list, the drop off gets dramatic. The fifth highest paid guy was David Robinson at $12.4 million ($24.6M today). The 10th highest paid guy was Mutombo at $9.6 million ($19 M today). Both of these numbers, even when accounting for inflation, are less than half today's 5th and 10th highest paid guys. And the spread grows larger the farther down the list you go where bench guys today are four and five times wealthier their 90s equivalents.