The Lakers are paying their players $50 per flop

[D2Procon]

Lakers Rewarded Cash For Taking Charges

The Lakers have never been known as a team that takes offensive charges, but coach Phil Jackson is attempting to change that.

Jackson called his big men "thin-chested" during the Western Conference Finals as a way of getting them to take a hit and the team has been offering an incentive of $50 per charge.

"Their whole team is kind of a charging possibility taking team. We just got to be smart," guard Sasha Vujacic said of the Celtics. "They are a very smart team that can go from block to a charge, so we've been working a lot on charges and how to take them and stuff, so we'll see."

Los Angeles assistant coach Frank Hamblin, who monitors the fines and payouts, said the team has been rewarding players for charges since late last season.

The money comes out of a pool accumulated by players' fines, such as being whistled for an illegal defense, which costs a player $25.



Read more: http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/66947/20100602/lakers_rewarded_cash_for_taking_charges/#ixzz0phygIvcV

[MiamiHeat]

Fisher can mentor these young bucks on the art of the flop.

[peteee]

isn't it against the NBA laws to offer players extra incomes beyond what's written on contracts? Stern must have been conniving to this IMHO.

[koriwhat]

what's $50 to a bunch of millionaires? come on now.

[CubanMustGo]

$50 per charge? Non-issue.

[duhoh]

that's lunch koriwhat :D

[koriwhat]

that's lunch koriwhat :D

haha that's what i thought when i read this article on realgm. haha! i just can't imagine them thinking when they are on the court and about to get run over "lunch lunch lunch!"

[The Gemini Method]

Or, a very discounted blowjob on Sunset (sex of blowee nonwithstanding...)

[TE]

they should just lock Vlade Divac in a gym with the entire Laker roster. That'll do.

[duncan228]

NBA to Lakers: Stop Monetary Rewards (http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/06/03/nba-to-lakers-stop-monetary-rewards/)
By Chris Tomasson

So much for the Lakers giving money from their fine pool to players who draw charges.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said after Thursday morning's shootaround at the team practice facility that the Lakers have been asked by the NBA to no longer give small monetary amounts to players who make such stellar defensive plays.

"It think it's ultimately (considered a salary-cap violation),'' said Jackson, whose team opens the NBA Finals on Thursday night against Boston at the Staples Center. "But I think it's incentive stuff. ... (The NBA) asked us not to do that..''

Jackson actually brought up during a pre-game media session during the Western Conference finals last week in Phoenix that the Lakers offer such incentives to players who draw charges, and touched upon it coming from a fine pool. On Thursday, Jackson said the money came from "our silly fine money.''

ESPN followed earlier this week with a story on the incentives and fines (http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/news/story?id=5241219). The story reported Lakers assistant coach Frank Hamblen as being in charge of the payouts, with a player who draws a charge getting $50, and the money coming from a pool that includes a player being fined $25 for an illegal defense violation.

An NBA official wrote Thursday by e-mail to FanHouse that what the Lakers were doing simply was "against our rules.''

So what's Jackson going to do now that the NBA has blown the whistle on the operation?

"I told them I'd give them a gold star or a red star,'' Jackson said of drawn charges.

Not that Ron Artest, the Lakers' defensive specialist, is concerned about that.

"I don't care about a gold star,'' Artest said. "I just care about winning the game.''

Artest didn't say anything about a red star.

[lakaluva's mom]

hmm, 50 dollars is the same price that is on my son's ass, OGBobbyjohnson keepin the pimp hand strong

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

what's $50 to a bunch of millionaires? come on now.


If they win $50 a few times that probably pays for calf tats. What in the world is better than free calf tats?

[LnGrrrR]

How did they not know it was a salary-cap violation? This has been mentioned before in other salary-capped leagues, most notably, the NFL.