Per Pat: " Juwon basically got that contract from Pat Riley. Riles made a huge offer but it was refused by the league as it put Miami over the cap. I think they had just signed PJ Tucker and expected to be able to sign both. When the NBA voided the 2nd contract (Howard) Polan (Washington) stepped in and basically matched it, in fact he may have gone up a bit. But Riley is the one who established the price. I also remember a qute from Riley after he lost Howard, being something to the effect of he 'would lay down and bleed for a bit, but he would be back'. Riley was all torn up by the mistake. How lucky can one guy be. First he takes over a stacked Lakers team, then gets saved from his own foolishness. Personally I think Pat Riley is one of the worst (high profile) GMs ever. Look at all the bad contracts he signed. Brian grant and Eddie Jones both come to mind. He may have signed Glen Rice to that contrract we had to pay to get out of. And he signed Shawq to a huge five year contract. It looks good now, but I see the last two years as being an absolute albatross." I was thinking the same thing-Riley set the price, as Juwan was a free agent. This was when Alonzo Mourning's contract was coming for renewal. Alonzo's status was unset-money wise. There was a "Wink Wink" deal between Riley and Mourning that Alonzo would recieve a large - 100 mil contract. Later Mourning discussed the deal on ESPN or Fox. This public admission of a private-handshake deal affected Howard's deal with Miami. At the time Riley had a carte blanche freedom from the senior Aronson. I do not recall if the deal was voided by the league, but I do remember Mourning's interview coming under scrutiny from the league. It is not always good to have the GM and coach as the same person...... I am surprised we agree on something Pat.... __________________
if people are gonna mention that Dream isn't on that list, i think we hafta also say that Jordan isn't, either. Not sure where he is or if approx. $8 mil per year during his 2.5 retired years would have gotten him on there..
Jordan easily could have gotten larger contracts from the Bulls, but what was the point? His endorsement deals dwarfed his NBA earnings. It's the same with Tiger Woods - his career PGA tour earnings are relative chump change compared to his overall net worth.
here are some fun ones. 27 Allen Iverson $79,812,640 28 Vin Baker $79,378,006 amazing that they made about the same. 49 Tracy McGrady $65,053,730 16 Latrell Sprewell $96,622,500 he needs to feed his family. 31 Brian Grant $77,152,297
Totally agree with you about Shawq's contract. I don't think heats can win pistons this season. Shawq will get one year old next season, heats are pretty much done. Mr. Riley is burning himself. He just don't know yet. Well, he will know it soon enough.
P.J. Brown and Abe Pollin are bummed out that you forgot about them. P.J. Tucker is ecstatic to be retroactively recognized though.
All of these players(howard, baker, spree) have something in common, they all played like the next star for 1-3 seasons, because of that they got into good long-term deals, and it doesn't matter how they play for the rest of their careers. That was how damp got that money from cuban, he had 1 good season when he was playing for money.
Totally agree with you on Shaq's contract. I don't think Heat can defeat Pistons this season. Shaq will get one year older next season, and Heat will be pretty much done. Mr. Riley is burning himself. He just doesn't know yet. Well, he will know it very soon.
LOL, I'm sure he's losing sleep over this! I wonder if some GM offers you this much money, will you turn it down? It's not like he held a gun to their heads!
i've always wondered why tim duncan is underpaid. in fact, his whole team is a bargain. whoever runs san antonio is very wise with money.
Well, that's not the complete story. I have been old enough to know a bit basketball history. What happened is that the Miami GM-Coach Pat Riley loved Juwan so much that he gave him the 100 mil contract, trying to sign Juwan away from the Bullets. Luckily for Riley, he resigned Mourning first by mistake before signing Juwan, which made the Heats ineligible to give Juwan the contract (as the Heats would be way over the salary cap). So the league terminated Juwan's contract with Heats. Washington on the other hand was not willing to give Juwan the huge contract in the first place, but after Riley's fiasco, for whatever reason, they decided to give Juwan the same contract, supposedly paying him the market price. So that's the story.
Thank you. I kept thinking PJ Tucker was wrong, but I thought it was the initials I had wrong. JP? No. JR? No. Yea, PJ is right. I live in Austin (but the only guy in town who hates the horns) and PJ Tucker just rolled off the tongue. I hate that mistake and appreciate you getting me right. As to Abe Pollin, I'm happy to know who the owner is. Actally saying (much less spelling) it correctly is way beyond my skill set.
