If you're the owner of an NBA team, who would you choose as your franchise player?

[coastalmarker99]

I would choose Wilt.

"I call Wilt Chamberlain a very honest workman. By that, I mean he always did what his employer wanted.

No star athlete has ever given his boss more for their money than Wilt did during his career.

Eddie Gottlieb owner of the Warriors wanted Wilt to score like no man ever had, so Wilt did.



Alex Hannum and some of his other coaches wanted him to pass and play defence, so he did that and he played 48 minutes a night.


Those who criticized Wilt -- first for his scoring, then for not scoring more -- really should have criticized his employer."

--Leonard Koppett, Tall Tales (by Terry Pluto) p. 329


The point.


Wilt proved himself unusually adaptable.

He was willing to be a massive focal point of offence at the level of no other player in history with the Warriors.


(people often talk about Wilt's 50 point season as though it was Wilt's idea; it wasn't.)



He was willing to be a mid-post passing center that ran the offence with the 76ers


He was willing to be a super high-efficiency scorer/defensive standout with the Lakers.

Basically, I think Wilt did whatever was asked of him by his coaches and ownership throughout his career.

[ronnymac2]

Top 5 are easily Jordan, Shaq, Kobe, Yao Ming, and LeBron. As an owner and partner in the NBA promotion, I'm competing with Marvel, the NFL, and Netflix for views, clicks, ratings, and merch sales. Got to go with the biggest draws, with an eye on full globalization.

Shoutout to charismatic guys like Wilt, Dr. J, and Magic. It's hard to speculate how they would translate to the modern era though.

Honorable mention to Steph Curry, who has been a top-tier player in jersey sales for a while, and although he wasn't "The Guy" in terms of ratings (2022 proves this), he was a great "guy who plays The Guy." He was to LBJ as Triple H was to Stone Cold/The Rock.

[LesGrossman]

my GOAT accidentally won four rings while focused on growing his brand. imagine what he could do if he was trying to win?

Maybe you're too young to remember it. Its something he said himself in a very early interview. As a team owner, do you wnt to deny that he is among the most difficult characters to deal with? Do you think he is low mainteneance?

i just think it's very impressive for someone to win 4 rings if their main purpose isn't to win.

Well hes undeniably one of the most gifted players ever to step on an NBA floor, so its not really that surprising that he won some rings? It could certainly have been more considering the # of attempts (finals) but thats besides the topic. From an ownership perspective, the talent to drama balance is certainly negative compared to guys like Dirk, Timmy, KG, Giannis. They stay through tough times, remain loyal, dont trash talk, dont demand to sell out tomorrow for today, dont force moves AND eventually bring a ring or more. An owner will prefer those guys even if their talent is one notch below, dont you think? Would you prefer to have the company you've earned and built through decades literally ruined for a handful of years and the promotion and legacy of someone you more or less hired?

[LAL1947]

Michael Jordan.

Man, if I could be owner + GM responsible for building a team around MJ... at the Lakers... you guys picking Lebron, Kobe, Duncan, Giannis, Curry, etc would be in deep doodoo.

[TheGOATRises007]

Probably Jordan because he'd bring in the most revenue.

[LesGrossman]

Michael Jordan.

Man, if I could be owner + GM responsible for building a team around MJ... at the Lakers... you guys picking Lebron, Kobe, Duncan, Giannis, Curry, etc would be in deep doodoo.

Probably the best and most obvious answer. Trying to understand what matters for a billionaire team owner, i'd think his/her priorities when hiring a player or coach would be
- generating revenue
- long lasting, positive impact on the image of the team within the region
- attracting more attractive assets, leverage
- short term success
- "peace" in the locker room

I think MJ would check most boxes. I mean how many people wear MJ Bulls sportswear to this day? Its because he achieved a level of player/franchise identification like noone else.

[The-Power]

Honorable mention to Steph Curry, who has been a top-tier player in jersey sales for a while, and although he wasn't "The Guy" in terms of ratings (2022 proves this), he was a great "guy who plays The Guy." He was to LBJ as Triple H was to Stone Cold/The Rock.

How so? Warriors are consistently one of the most watched teams in the league. The 2022 Finals had higher ratings than 2021 and 2020 (for various reasons, but since we seem to ignore context for 2022 we should be consistent), and the last two games of the 2019 Finals had higher ratings than the 2018 Finals that also featured LeBron and KD.

TV ratings are also a pretty bad indicator in 2022 for comparisons over time with all the streaming services that are not captured as far as I know. Still, the NBA is as popular as ever and the new TV deal is set to be by far the largest in history. Curry, as one of the faces of the league and most-watched players, is an important part of that increase in popularity.

Curry is, by all accounts, also hugely popular and a big draw around the world and does a lot for the NBA's international recognition. Also, ask Lacob and the Warriors ownership how much money Curry has made them (ticket sales, merchandise, franchise value etc.) – Curry is by far the most important reason why they have printed and continue to print money, and can afford to pay unprecedented amounts of luxury taxes.

[LesGrossman]

If we talk about popularity, which is leverage for revenue, what do you think matters most for the average fan? Success of one individual player, or success of the franchise he follows?
In my experience, its the latter. That is why guys like KG, Nash, Dirk enjoyed huge popularity even if they werent so successful in terms of titles. Fans want to identify with clubs, not players ("we won"). Thats why they value loyalty. Players who stay for their entire career become part of the family. Mercenaries come and go, often times leaving ruins behind. Thats part of the Steph success story. You cannot imagine him in a jersey thats not Warriors. Same for Giannis, and tbh also Luca and Joker seem to remain pretty loyal to their clubs even if they dont offer the perfect condiditons to win. Compare that to AD, PG, Kawhi, CP3 or LeBron. Do people in their current city feel the same love when talking about them?

[giordunk]

Don't think the money argument holds up. Anyone being chosen at this rate is getting max money at every possible opportunity, even if they are as unassuming as Tim Duncan.

That said, where is my franchise? What are my financial resources?

I'd take a David Robinson over a Hakeem Olujawon for most franchises (excepting LA/NY) despite rating Hakeem higher as he is less likely to threaten to leave, create drama, or otherwise make owning the franchise a less enjoyable experience.

We're not team owners so we don't really know the final balance sheet, but what I'm hypothesizin is, even if you pay your franchise player the exact same supermax, I believe generally a perimeter player generates more revenue than a big - taking into account ticket sales, brand value, nationally televised games, merchandise sales, etc., etc., I believe even if Doncic and Jokic make the same salary, Doncic generates more revenue for the franchise than Jokic does.

[Ein Sof]

Scottie Pippen

[penbeast0]

Don't think the money argument holds up. Anyone being chosen at this rate is getting max money at every possible opportunity, even if they are as unassuming as Tim Duncan.

That said, where is my franchise? What are my financial resources?

I'd take a David Robinson over a Hakeem Olujawon for most franchises (excepting LA/NY) despite rating Hakeem higher as he is less likely to threaten to leave, create drama, or otherwise make owning the franchise a less enjoyable experience.

We're not team owners so we don't really know the final balance sheet, but what I'm hypothesizin is, even if you pay your franchise player the exact same supermax, I believe generally a perimeter player generates more revenue than a big - taking into account ticket sales, brand value, nationally televised games, merchandise sales, etc., etc., I believe even if Doncic and Jokic make the same salary, Doncic generates more revenue for the franchise than Jokic does.

Doncic/Jokic maybe. Wilt, Kareem, and Shaq were the league's biggest draws in their day.

[ronnymac2]

Honorable mention to Steph Curry, who has been a top-tier player in jersey sales for a while, and although he wasn't "The Guy" in terms of ratings (2022 proves this), he was a great "guy who plays The Guy." He was to LBJ as Triple H was to Stone Cold/The Rock.

How so? Warriors are consistently one of the most watched teams in the league. The 2022 Finals had higher ratings than 2021 and 2020 (for various reasons, but since we seem to ignore context for 2022 we should be consistent), and the last two games of the 2019 Finals had higher ratings than the 2018 Finals that also featured LeBron and KD.

TV ratings are also a pretty bad indicator in 2022 for comparisons over time with all the streaming services that are not captured as far as I know. Still, the NBA is as popular as ever and the new TV deal is set to be by far the largest in history. Curry, as one of the faces of the league and most-watched players, is an important part of that increase in popularity.

Curry is, by all accounts, also hugely popular and a big draw around the world and does a lot for the NBA's international recognition. Also, ask Lacob and the Warriors ownership how much money Curry has made them (ticket sales, merchandise, franchise value etc.) – Curry is by far the most important reason why they have printed and continue to print money, and can afford to pay unprecedented amounts of luxury taxes.

I will say that I used to cover HS basketball and when I would speak with players, Chris Paul, Kyrie Irving, and Curry were probably the top-3 most popular players (no particular order). This was 8-10 years ago. The fact I put Curry in my top-8ish draws of all-time shows that I think extremely highly of Curry as a global superstar.

From the numbers I've seen, this year's Finals had strong ratings but were usually the best since 2017 or 2018, which was the LBJ-era pre-pandemic.

I do push back on the NBA being as popular as ever since REG SEA ratings have been decreasing, but that is a bit off-topic because it doesn't really have anything to do with Curry or any one player in particular. Of course the NBA will get a megadeal because networks are starved for live content.