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OT-Extra millions on top of mega millions or winning?

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El Duderino
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OT-Extra millions on top of mega millions or winning? 

Post#1 » by El Duderino » Wed Feb 6, 2008 9:57 am

My question here isn't just about Marion, but a fair percentage of athletes that think about money/contract first over winning even if in either case, they will be crazy rich either way. I'm not asking about the more fringe players who have to take any decent cash while it's there. This quote and the many reports about Marion badly wanting an extension sooner than later got to me a bit. Sorry it's a long post



ESPN update: "A source close to Marion tells ESPN the Magazine's Ric Bucher that the Suns forward is in favor of the proposed trade. The source also indicated that there is a "good" chance that this trade would happen."



I really just can't understand the thinking of many professional athletes. If this is true and Marion welcomes this trade, how can a fan not question how important winning is to him?

There have been reports that Marion has been unhappy because he wants an extension now and maybe he thinks Miami would give him one. If that is true, im not saying for sure it is, but if that is a big reason, when do these guys not feel they have enough cash and winning is their highest priority?

Marion signed a max contract in 2002 that when complete after next year will have paid him over 80 million dollars and that's on top of the millions he made from years prior to that contract. You're talking about a guy who will have already taken in over 90 million dollars by next season's end. What can't he possibly have that a shortage of money is preventing?

Plus, regardless if Marion gets the extension now at amounts he wants, likely he'll eventually sign a new contract with someone for say at least another 40-50 million dollars, quite possibly even more than that.

So he's already insanely rich and regardless when and for how much his next contract comes in at, Marion will get even more insanely rich. Why the hell then isn't Marion not only pissed that he's going from a 60 win title contender to a team with the worst record in the NBA, he by this report would be happy the trade is happening?

He'd gladly piss away a shot for an NBA Title that may never be this close again just to be sure he gets some extra cash that he'll likely never spend anyways? Is Marion desperate to add two dozen Bentley's and a dozen Ferrari's to his already vast car collection.

I don't begrudge pro athletes getting crazy amounts of money. The sports leagues bring in billions of dollars in revenue and the players are the product, they deserve their fair cut of those revenues. With that said, it just amazes me how often many athletes that are already insanely insanely rich will still chase the highest more dollars over winning even though they already are so rich that they can pretty much buy anything they want.

So if you were an elite athlete and already had brought in say 50-60-70-80 million dollars and/or were being offered contracts by a few teams in the 65-80 million range, do you think you would put winning as the highest priority even if it meant losing out on 5-10-15 million since you'd be crazy rich either way?
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Post#2 » by Mags FTW » Wed Feb 6, 2008 10:00 am

It's not all about money for Marion. He wants to prove he can succeed without Stoudamire and Nash.
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Post#3 » by benultimate » Wed Feb 6, 2008 10:09 am

I would rather win a championship earning the minimum than earn $10mil and win nothing. So yeah, I agree with ya, rich bastards!
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Post#4 » by paul » Wed Feb 6, 2008 10:58 am

Hey man his kids need shoes.....

Yep it's without a doubt the biggest turnoff about pro sports and the nba in particular, guys bitchin that they aren't getting 'theirs', turning down $12 mill offers (Deng Gordon and Iggy this year?) to hold their teams to ransom for an extra $1 or $2 mill a year, or just leave if they don't get it. I mean, what the hell does an extra million a year matter when the contract is for like $60mill or something anyway? The money becomes like a cancer, and some guys are just completely driven by it. I think it's got a fair bit to do with player agents too, these guys get in their players ears with crap like 'hey man so and so is making $12mil this year and your way better than him'. If some of these guys ever stepped back and had a look at their situations from an outsiders perspective they'd be embarrassed. Many of us bust our asses for 10 years to earn $50K or $100K a year at like 30, some of these guys earn that in about 3 days. There's been a massive loss of perspective here somewhere, once upon a time winning a championship was all that mattered. I don't begrudge these guys their money, but just a little perspective would be nice.
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Post#5 » by th87 » Wed Feb 6, 2008 11:06 am

Arenas had a refreshing blog post about this subject:

http://my.nba.com/thread.jspa?threadID=300017822

It's a little ways down under "Let's Talk Contracts."
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Post#6 » by jerrod » Wed Feb 6, 2008 3:13 pm

benultimate wrote:I would rather win a championship earning the minimum than earn $10mil and win nothing. So yeah, I agree with ya, rich bastards!



anyone can sit online and say that, but when the decision is staring you in the face, it's a whole different ballgame
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Post#7 » by skones » Wed Feb 6, 2008 5:15 pm

benultimate wrote:I would rather win a championship earning the minimum than earn $10mil and win nothing. So yeah, I agree with ya, rich bastards!


There is no way you'd do that. Sure it's easy to say, but push come to shove someone offers you 10 million dollars or 500,000 and a championship ring, you're taking the 10 million. With 10 million dollars (after taxes) you would never have to work again after Basketball.

EDIT: 500,000 isn't going to last you long.....
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Re: OT-Extra millions on top of mega millions or winning? 

Post#8 » by InsideOut » Wed Feb 6, 2008 6:25 pm

El Duderino wrote:So if you were an elite athlete and already had brought in say 50-60-70-80 million dollars and/or were being offered contracts by a few teams in the 65-80 million range, do you think you would put winning as the highest priority even if it meant losing out on 5-10-15 million since you'd be crazy rich either way?


I would not give up 5-15 million for a better chance at a title. I'm sure that makes me look bad but let me explain why. In life, winning an NBA title is way down on the list of important things. Deep down, what does it really matter? Sure, when I was young and raised by a dad in love with Lombardi I was a win at all cost kind of guy. It was all life or death when I was in my teens and 20's. Then I won a state title and that changed my perspective. Don't get me wrong, I was happy I won but it didn't change my life one bit. I still had to go to work the next day, I still had a family to feed and nothing in my life changed one bit. Whether I won that title or not, the rest of my life was going to be exactly the same. The only thing that win brought me was feeling happy for a day instead of sad. Not a big deal really. Unless your life depends on it, winning and losing are just words. It doesn
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Post#9 » by MajorDad » Wed Feb 6, 2008 7:44 pm

I can sort of understand where marrion is coming from. sort of.

A lot has been made in the media about marrion wanting an extension and the Suns wanting to trade him. The Suns have been wanting to trade marrion or Amare for a long time. I don't believe it's all about the money. I think it's more about wanting Amare to play PF, and marrion doesn't want to play SF.

My wife makes a nice salary, but isn't happy with her employer and the town we live in is a small market town. it doesn't even have a best BUy or a Wendys. So she has applied for several positions in other states that will pay less money than she currently makes. her current employer was not thrilled to find out she was thinking of moving, and is now changing the office hours of the practice which is making my wife even madder. You have to ask yourself, Charlotte, NC or Gainesville, FL verses staying in Beardstown IL. I doubt any of you would want my wife to remain loyal to her employer and stay in Beardstown verses the other opportunities.

maybe Marrion no longer feels the love in phoenix. he's kind of taking a back seat to nash and Amare.

With all that being said, if i was marrion, i would have wanted to continue playing for the Suns for the rest of this year. and then signed with his team of choice aa a free agent. he'll get just as much as a free agent as he would with the Suns or heat. the amount that teams spend to keep their own players isn't really that much more when you include taxes and long term deals.

I also believe the media is playing this up a lot more than Marrion is. he's being honest. he wants a contract extension. i doubt he's being a bietch about it. he probably also said he 's ok wit h being traded. it's not like he's demanding a trade. but rather , after all the rumors for the last year, he'd welcome a change just to get rid of all the speculation. it's a tribute to him that he's being traded for shaq. And given a choice of being traded to Miami or to Milwaukee for Yi and CV, I think Marrion probably prefers miami.
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Post#10 » by benultimate » Thu Feb 7, 2008 3:37 am

jerrod wrote:-= original quote snipped =-




anyone can sit online and say that, but when the decision is staring you in the face, it's a whole different ballgame



skones wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



There is no way you'd do that. Sure it's easy to say, but push come to shove someone offers you 10 million dollars or 500,000 and a championship ring, you're taking the 10 million. With 10 million dollars (after taxes) you would never have to work again after Basketball.

EDIT: 500,000 isn't going to last you long.....



I understand what you guys are saying, and I'd love $10 million as much as anyone would, but if I were guaranteed a championship I'd take it over any offer. Obviously that is hypothetical as there is no way you could guarantee winning it all. If I had to choose between $10M on a lottery team or the minimum on a contending team then yes, I'd probably take the $10M.

Having said that I'd rather an olympic gold medal over a championship and you get paid squat for that (maybe some prize money I'm not sure) :lol:
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Post#11 » by InsideOut » Thu Feb 7, 2008 4:21 am

benultimate wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
I understand what you guys are saying, and I'd love $10 million as much as anyone would, but if I were guaranteed a championship I'd take it over any offer.


How does winning a title help improve the quality of the rest of your life vs. what 10 million dollars could do? 20 years from now would you rather be able to say I was on a team that won a title or would you rather hop in your Ferrari and drive to your million dollar weekend home on the ocean?
A title doesn't put food in your mouth or a roof over your head. It's just a meaningless made up award. I agree about how big a deal an olympic gold would be. At least with that you can say you're the fastest person in the world. That would be cool.
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Re: OT-Extra millions on top of mega millions or winning? 

Post#12 » by ClassicJack » Thu Feb 7, 2008 4:43 am

InsideOut wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



I would not give up 5-15 million for a better chance at a title. I'm sure that makes me look bad but let me explain why. In life, winning an NBA title is way down on the list of important things. Deep down, what does it really matter? Sure, when I was young and raised by a dad in love with Lombardi I was a win at all cost kind of guy. It was all life or death when I was in my teens and 20's. Then I won a state title and that changed my perspective. Don't get me wrong, I was happy I won but it didn't change my life one bit. I still had to go to work the next day, I still had a family to feed and nothing in my life changed one bit. Whether I won that title or not, the rest of my life was going to be exactly the same. The only thing that win brought me was feeling happy for a day instead of sad. Not a big deal really. Unless your life depends on it, winning and losing are just words. It doesn
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Post#13 » by GrandAdmiralDan » Thu Feb 7, 2008 5:58 am

Mags FTW wrote:It's not all about money for Marion. He wants to prove he can succeed without Stoudamire and Nash.


Marion has already proved he can play well without either of them. Check out his production in 00-01 and 01-02, the two seasons prior to Amare's rookie year. Marion is certainly not a productive player just because of Amare.

And then look at Marion's production in 00-01, 01-02, 02-03, and 03-04, the four seasons prior to Nash's arrival. Marion is without a doubt not just some product of Steve Nash's stellar PG play.

Marion has played excellent for Scott Skiles, Frank Johnson, and Mike D'Antoni. All three of his NBA coaches so far.
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Post#14 » by El Duderino » Thu Feb 7, 2008 7:13 am

Then I won a state title and that changed my perspective. Don't get me wrong, I was happy I won but it didn't change my life one bit. I still had to go to work the next day, I still had a family to feed and nothing in my life changed one bit. Whether I won that title or not, the rest of my life was going to be exactly the same. The only thing that win brought me was feeling happy for a day instead of sad. Not a big deal really.


No offense, but winning a state title in some sport isn't nearly on the same level as winning an NBA title, a World Series, or an NFL title.

Now would 15 million change a person
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Post#15 » by schweig » Thu Feb 7, 2008 8:22 pm

Also the level of dedication and work, and sacrifice too in a way, if you're going all out to put yourself in the best possible position to win, that's harder than most people work. And it's separate from talent, even with all the resources they have available. Like Jerry Rice training like a maniac so his decline could happen a few years later than the other great WRs. Maybe some people can make themselves do it for money, pride and their legacy, or a title or some combination of those.

It does suck, you win and life's still not perfect. As fans, we get spoiled fast and a month later we'd be looking for a repeat. How long can you enjoy it before getting back to work, or before it's clear life still won't go your way all the time now? Maybe your coach is Pat Riley and he says you're going to repeat before you even take off your jersey. A lot of these guys still need jobs after their careers, and 20 years ago everyone did. At least Ron Cox got a SB ring to put on eBay.

I think I'd get $1000 together for a title if it would work, and I'm just a couple years out of school not really close to being on my feet. Partly I know some of the investment would have to indirectly fix our mgmt somehow since we're not winning anything with these guys in charge, and that'd be worth it on its own. It's not that much more than an xbox once you get everything for it, less than an HDTV. I don't want to steer this away, maybe "how much would you pay?" should be another thread if someone wants to make it.
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Post#16 » by 1377 » Thu Feb 7, 2008 10:16 pm

You guys are completely missing the point, It is not the choice of 20 million and no title and 500,000 and title,

It is more like 15 million A YEAR and no title or 7-10 Million A YEAR and title shot.

I think I could probably spend 3 million dollars in my life, if I really tried. Heck, you can invest 1 million dollars, at a modest 7 percent a year, and you get paid 70.000 dollars a year in intrest.

What we are talking about is obsene greed. Either that, or he doesn't want Phoenix anymore, which is fine.
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Post#17 » by jerrod » Thu Feb 7, 2008 10:36 pm

1377 wrote:
What we are talking about is obsene greed. Either that, or he doesn't want Phoenix anymore, which is fine.



no, either is fine
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Post#18 » by InsideOut » Thu Feb 7, 2008 11:15 pm

El Duderino wrote: No offense, but winning a state title in some sport isn't nearly on the same level as winning an NBA title, a World Series, or an NFL title.


I don't know if I agree. I had to beat hundreds of people to win my title but the Spurs only had to beat 29 other teams. I was the only person the year I won that could say they were the champ. Last season 15 Spurs could say they were the champ. Beno Udrih played 1 minute in the finals last season and Matt Bonner didn't even see the floor. Yet both those guy can say they are NBA title holders. Somehow that doesn't impress me. I mean I could have taken Udrih or Bonner's place on the Spurs last season and I could say I was an NBA champ. Udih and Bonner couldn't say they were the state champ if they switched places with me.



El Duderino wrote: Sounds nice to say, but what percentage of these athletes would donate 10-15 million dollars to a charity? Maybe .5 to 1%, if that? Sure a ton of athletes are involved with charities and some give up some of their own cash, but most of the money these guys get to charities come from events they hold that bring in the vast majority of the money.


You are correct, most wouldn't. However, I'm telling you what I would do. If you asked me whether I'd rather play on a team that had a good shot at a title or have a lesser chance but see 15 million go toward sending 100 kids to college each year for all of eternity, I'd feel pretty selfish taking a better chance at an NBA title while denying those kids an education. Winning a title doesn't improve anyone
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Post#19 » by schweig » Fri Feb 8, 2008 12:04 am

I don't know what sport you're talking about, or what level (high school/college/pros), but no matter what it is that comparison doesn't work at all.

Edit: except an Olympic gold medal.
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Post#20 » by InsideOut » Fri Feb 8, 2008 12:38 am

schweig wrote:I don't know what sport you're talking about, or what level (high school/college/pros), but no matter what it is that comparison doesn't work at all.

Edit: except an Olympic gold medal.


What comparison doesn't work?

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