Is Anyone Worth 1 Billion Dollars???

I can remember when the big salaries in professional basketball first started. It began back in the 70's when the American Basketball Association was trying to compete with the NBA. The first BIG contract of the time was David Thompson signing an $800,000 deal with the Denver Nuggets of the ABA. Eventually and in large part due to those ridiculous salaries, the ABA folded. The more prosperous teams in the ABA were meshed into the NBA. Unfortunately that did not bring the salary scale back down. From there it has continued to go up up and away, until now when there is talk of paying a basketball player 1 Billion Dollars!!!. Yes, that is what the New York Knicks have projected that LeBron James would make if he chose to hang his basketball hat in the Big Apple. The Knicks have already shown they are not scared to spend big money. In a move to help lure James and also cover their Yankee behinds if they cannot land him, they signed Amare Stoudamire to a four year, 100 million dollar deal. That is 25 million dollars per year folks. Neither LaBron or Amare attended a day of college. I guess that means they are self-made million and perhaps billionaires. Don't get me wrong I am not a communist but the pure greed and dog eat dog atmosphere that has been created by unregulated capitalism in this country gives reason for pause. Sport is only a microcosm of the society as a whole.

What is wrong with our society? How is any human being worth that kind of money?. Our President does not even get what David Thompson got back in 1975 and he is the leader of the Free World. Neither LeBron or Amare have even won an NBA title yet. It seems to be the norm in our culture these days to reward potential, sometimes to a greater degree than a proven winner. In my book, if LeBron is worth a Bill, then perhaps Kobe will be the first 2 Billion Dollar Man. I mean he has proven himself, he has a championship ring for every finger. If we are going to start throwing money around, lets at least give it to someone who is earning it. That is if NBA owners, players and agents cannot see how much actual good they could do in the world using that money to help others rather than getting richer than many third world countries. I mean how much does one person need or can even spend in a lifetime? Imagine if these guys just took half their salaries and put it in a special fund for those who have lost the source of their occupations in the Gulf. What about a fund that helped deserving kids from urban areas be assured their college education was paid for since they were not blessed with such enormous athletic gifts?. If that happened, then I would really believe that NBA slogan you see 20 times a game during the playoffs, you know the one, "NBA Cares". What everyone seems to care about is building a super team of superstars that will glide to the NBA title, getting that piece of metal, that moment of glory, that feeling of invincibility. Is it really worth all of that and at what cost? The formula can and has been done but it is not a perfect science. The Yankees baseball team is about as close as anyone has come to honing the technique. The only NBA team to accomplish it was the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers. They began assembling the talent for that championship season in 1978. They spent millions and millions to get there. The final piece for them was the work pail center, Moses Malone, another guy who never went to college. Wow, there seems to be a pattern here. What was I thinking? Why did I waste those years with something as fool hearted as getting an education. Of course that is a silly metaphor but if I'm a kid who thinks I am that good and unfortunately more do than you can ever imagine, then maybe I skip college as well. It has a trickle down effect, I saw last year where a kid did not finish high school in order to sign a pro contract in Europe. The Sixers success was short lived considering the blood, sweat and dollars that went into it, they have not won another title since 83. I still love this game and God willing, I will be right there glued to the TV set to see every minute of playoff action but I will probably be a fan of the team playing against which ever team wins the LaBron sweepstakes. I wish these guys all the best but in a time when our country is hurting so badly, it seems amazing some people still have billions to waste on a game that started with two peach baskets at a YMCA. I bet James Naismith would have mixed feelings about his invention today. Of course on the paycheck of a YMCA worker he could not afford to go to an NBA game anyway.