If you were an NBA player would you care about winning?

[Liam_Gallagher]

What I wonder is if NBA players continue to be fans of specific teams from before they were in the NBA.

[Statlanta]

No because the GOAT debate is just Kobe, LeBron and MJ anyway. The goal is generational wealth.

[dautjazz]

I mean do i take a massive payout to play for a contender vs some hopeless team that is willing to give me significantly more? I'm not sure, I suppose it depends how much the difference is, what stage of my career I'm at, and how much I've made.

[pwayknicks]

Definitely not like LeBron or Durant . Stay close to home and hopefully win Ala Leonard would be my goal


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[Optms]

When I was younger I would think, of course, why wouldn't I want to win championships and be a successful player, but as I think about it more, why? You get paid the same regardless. Would you rather be Jordan Poole, getting paid millions, getting featured on offense, and not having to deal with any pressure to win, than say a Obi Toppin, who is playing all the way into June when he could have been on vacation since mid April.

You are signing up for 2 more months of grueling playoff games every other day, not getting paid extra, and exposing yourself to crushing Playoff defeat which will hurt even more.

Meanwhile, Poole is chilling and living the life probably on a yacht somewhere. He is prioritizing his family, friends, you know, the things in life that matter more while Toppin is away from his closest people.

WDYT? Is winning overrated?

Successful people in any field aren't motivated by money. They truly want to excel at their craft, the money and sometimes, fame, just are a byproduct.

Seems like you are content with guaranteed money and security. Nothing wrong with that. More people are like this than not. But in the NBA, that's what separate someone like Steph Curry and Jordan Poole. I think about someone like Kobe a lot. He made a lot of trouble through his career just to improve his legacy and game on the court. He never settled for the guaranteed money and often stuck his neck out risking a lot to chase higher goals.

[MavsDirk41]

If you dont care about winning and its all about the money thats pretty sad tbh.

[sikma42]

If you dont care about winning and its all about the money thats pretty sad tbh.

People generally care about competing and winning. But caring about wining goes beyond the court at the elite professional level. It’s diet, it’s training regime, it’s how your spend your off time.

So I can see someone like Tobias Harris deciding it doesn’t make sense for him to train as hard as peak Kobe Bryant. I’m sure guys like that care about winning but for some, that desire is more all encompassing.

I’ve always found it hard to take seriously guys who say they care so much about winning, but I saw their off season work.


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[Lalouie]

there was a similar thread months ago

it was 50-50 between rings+star salary(30mil)
or
no rings + superstar salary(50mil)

or somesuch. i was taken aback at how 50mil/year was the no brainer choice. i mean how many bugattis do people need

[tsherkin]

No because the GOAT debate is just Kobe, LeBron and MJ anyway. The goal is generational wealth.

/s? No?




Anyway. I guess my answer on this would vary based on how good a player I was. If I was just some end-of-rotation guy, or perpetual bench guy, I'd just be thrilled to keep getting paid, you know? Whoever would have me to wave towels and flesh out the end of the roster. I'll wear suits all season and cheer everyone on, be first in and last to leave every practice and play 0 minutes and be happy about it. Playoffs, no playoffs, whatever, man, just collect the check and give the effort. Rookie mean is like 1.25 mil for the 25-26 season, and it's almost triple that for a ten-year vet. So yeah, you want me on Utah while they tank? Hell yeah, I don't care.

If I was a legit contributing roleplayer, I would want to be on at least good teams, and would ideally be angling to find myself on contenders where I was out of the way of the stars but still playing a lot of winning basketball. Or at least teams that were getting to and beyond the first round on the regular.

If I was a star player, but not a legit championship anchor, I think I'd still be trying to find a winning situation but wouldn't be too pissy about landing on a team that was paying me that well. You get locked into a contract and you've got to have some awareness of your own part in the lack of contention, right? But the allure of a significant deal is there, and do you really shorten the deal and take less money because you want the option to maybe, one day, possibly find yourself on a contender? Or do you go "yeah, Washington, pay me $100 million, rock on?" I'd probably take the deal. If the choice was between, $35 mil/yr for the Wizards and $25 mil/yr for the Pacers, I'd take the deal with Indiana.

If I was a legit superstar, then yeah, I'd care a lot about winning. I wouldn't want to put up with crappy management not positioning me best for chances to win titles, so I'd be perpetually angling for contention.

[morosis]

yes i would care about winning. even if i'm a middle of the road talent.

a few factors:
1) the respect of my peers. if we assume some star players/front offices care a lot and others dont really care, the ones that DO care will always be looking for guys like me. that gives me a way into good situations that not-caring wouldn't.

2) alignment of priorities. coaches are paid to win. gm's are paid to put good rosters together. if i care about the thing that the people above me care about, thats gonna make my life much more stable. less likely to get traded, uproot my family, etc. even if i'm a mediocre talent, the cap ensures those people have a place in the league if they can help with winning.

3) more likely to be overpaid. there are many second or third tier guys that have carved out nice, lucrative, long careers by helping with winning. PJ Tucker, Steven Adams, MPJ, etc. its not superstar money usually but i'd venture to guess that they get paid more than guys of similar caliber on bottom dwelling teams.

[ShootersShoot]

Youth..money. Later career..winning

[Deathray]

If I knew what I know now about finance when I was young then I'd be okay with less money if it meant I could stay somewhere I liked.

Spend wisely and DCA into VTWAX over a 10 year career and a 7% annual return could add another 40% worth of investments taxed at the lower long-term capital gains rate or not at all in a Roth IRA.

[Airmiess]

I would focus on getting 200 mil first.

[Cavsfansince84]

I think anyone who grows up playing any sport and puts in a ton of time and energy to become good enough to become professional at it cares about winning to some degree. Some guys obviously care a lot more than others so I don't think any random person can just put themselves in the situation of what it would be like to be an nba player and then just say whether they would care about winning. Because coaches and franchises generally can weed out anybody who really just doesn't care about winning at all unless you are a top 20 player and if you are top 20 you probably want to win anyhow.

[76thBearCub]

Quite a few middle / upper middle class people in here by the sound of it. Depends how many people you need to pull up with you.

[Johnny Bball]

Barely. Maybe the smallest amount.

Because everything else it offers is pretty great. The problem with asking this here is you have to get to a point that you are never satisfied to dislike not winning so much, and it bothers you despite everything else it brings. And well.. being in the NBA I could be pretty **** satisfied and so could 99% of people here telling you otherwise, and want to pretend differently.

[ITYSL]

You don't become an NBA player unless you care very deeply about winning, at a cellular level. So you have to realize that the players in the NBA have that disposition. It is ingrained and has been reinforced again and again over the course of decades.

For the vast majority of players, that doesn't go away when you become a multimillionaire.

[tsherkin]

You don't become an NBA player unless you care very deeply about winning, at a cellular level.

This is very, very obviously not true.

[Bankai]

I would say every Player who enters the NBA cares about winning...
But then alot stray from "winning" after getting sucked into that "Millionaire Celebrity Lifestyle".
Then suddenly the percentage of Players who really want to play, improve, and win Titles isint as large as you think.
Some treat being an NBA Player like a Primary Job. While others soon treat it like an "opportunity", and it becomes secondary.

I mean Keon Clark and Larry Sanders apparently wanted money for Weed then to play Basketball long term.

[ITYSL]

You don't become an NBA player unless you care very deeply about winning, at a cellular level.

This is very, very obviously not true.

Yeah it is