Sunday, December 17, 2006

The Best?


I stumbled across the list of the 50 highest paid players in the NBA earlier today - and what's striking is how little correlation there appears to be between the highest paid players in the league, and the best players.. The top five are:

1. Kevin Garnett Minnesota Timberwolves $21,000,000
2. Chris Webber Philadelphia 76ers $20,718,750
3. Shaquille O'Neal Miami Heat $20,000,000
4. Michael Finley San Antonio Spurs $19,030,999
5. Jason Kidd New Jersey Nets $18,084,000

I know there are limits on rookie salaries - which would explain the absense of LeBron, Wade, Carmello, etc.. but Michael Finley as the fourth highest player in basketball, I mean, come on...

By way of comparison, here's what I found for baseball:

1 Alex Rodriguez New York Yankees $25,680,727
2 Derek Jeter New York Yankees $20,600,000
3 Jason Giambi New York Yankees $20,428,571
4 Barry Bonds San Francisco Giants $20,000,000
5 Jeff Bagwell Houston Astros $19,369,019

I couldn't find much for the NFL (searches for "football" kept bringing up some alien sport that involves kicking a black and white basketball into a net).. but Michael Vick may be the highest paid at around $8 million.

One thing is for sure, we're all in the wrong line of business.

2 comments:

  1. Great post! Now what you really need to find out is what the owners are taking home. The Yankees have their own television network... but still with such a high pay roll you'd think their margins are slim.

    I guess in the end if your a fan and your willing to buy a ticket then they've got something to sell.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think top earner in my world is Mr. D Beckham - with a sweet £87 million.

    Global sports 1 - 0 USA sports

    ReplyDelete