Top 10 overpaid players - and the runner up is ....

[lefty]

Top 10 overpaid NBA players: Is Kobe Bryant No. 1? Posted by Guest (http://shatterthebackboard.com/author/guest) on June 21st, 2012 07:00 AM | NBA (http://shatterthebackboard.com/category/nba)
Share on facebook (http://shatterthebackboard.com/top-10-overpaid-nba-players-kobe-bryant-1?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=top-10-overpaid-nba-players-kobe-bryant-1#) Share on google_plusone_share (http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&winname=addthis&pub=unknown&source=tbx-250&lng=en-US&s=google_plusone_share&url=http%3A%2F%2Fshatterthebackboard.com%2Ftop-10-overpaid-nba-players-kobe-bryant-1&title=Top%2010%20overpaid%20NBA%20players%3A%20Is% 20Kobe%20Bryant%20No.%201%3F&ate=AT-unknown/-/-/509025fcaf581440/2&frommenu=1&uid=509025fcfb4e80fa&description=Is%20Kobe%20Bryant%20of%20the%20Los%20 Angeles%20Lakers%20overpaid%3F%0A%0ASports%20fans% 20hold%20strong%20opinions%20about%20which%20pro%2 0basketball%C2%A0players%20deserve%20their%20massi ve%20...&ct=1&pre=http%3A%2F%2Fnetwork.yardbarker.com%2Fauthor%2 Farticle_external%2F11060213%3Fwidget%3Dtrue&tt=0&captcha_provider=nucaptcha) Share on tumblr (http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&winname=addthis&pub=unknown&source=tbx-250&lng=en-US&s=tumblr&url=http%3A%2F%2Fshatterthebackboard.com%2Ftop-10-overpaid-nba-players-kobe-bryant-1&title=Top%2010%20overpaid%20NBA%20players%3A%20Is% 20Kobe%20Bryant%20No.%201%3F&ate=AT-unknown/-/-/509025fcaf581440/3&frommenu=1&uid=509025fce7b8c3b0&description=Is%20Kobe%20Bryant%20of%20the%20Los%20 Angeles%20Lakers%20overpaid%3F%0A%0ASports%20fans% 20hold%20strong%20opinions%20about%20which%20pro%2 0basketball%C2%A0players%20deserve%20their%20massi ve%20...&ct=1&pre=http%3A%2F%2Fnetwork.yardbarker.com%2Fauthor%2 Farticle_external%2F11060213%3Fwidget%3Dtrue&tt=0&captcha_provider=nucaptcha) Share on linkedin (http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&winname=addthis&pub=unknown&source=tbx-250&lng=en-US&s=linkedin&url=http%3A%2F%2Fshatterthebackboard.com%2Ftop-10-overpaid-nba-players-kobe-bryant-1&title=Top%2010%20overpaid%20NBA%20players%3A%20Is% 20Kobe%20Bryant%20No.%201%3F&ate=AT-unknown/-/-/509025fcaf581440/4&frommenu=1&uid=509025fc8a3017d6&description=Is%20Kobe%20Bryant%20of%20the%20Los%20 Angeles%20Lakers%20overpaid%3F%0A%0ASports%20fans% 20hold%20strong%20opinions%20about%20which%20pro%2 0basketball%C2%A0players%20deserve%20their%20massi ve%20...&ct=1&pre=http%3A%2F%2Fnetwork.yardbarker.com%2Fauthor%2 Farticle_external%2F11060213%3Fwidget%3Dtrue&tt=0&captcha_provider=nucaptcha) Share on twitter (http://shatterthebackboard.com/top-10-overpaid-nba-players-kobe-bryant-1?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=top-10-overpaid-nba-players-kobe-bryant-1#) Share on digg (http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&winname=addthis&pub=unknown&source=tbx-250&lng=en-US&s=digg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fshatterthebackboard.com%2Ftop-10-overpaid-nba-players-kobe-bryant-1&title=Top%2010%20overpaid%20NBA%20players%3A%20Is% 20Kobe%20Bryant%20No.%201%3F&ate=AT-unknown/-/-/509025fcaf581440/5&frommenu=1&uid=509025fcf33bff68&description=Is%20Kobe%20Bryant%20of%20the%20Los%20 Angeles%20Lakers%20overpaid%3F%0A%0ASports%20fans% 20hold%20strong%20opinions%20about%20which%20pro%2 0basketball%C2%A0players%20deserve%20their%20massi ve%20...&ct=1&pre=http%3A%2F%2Fnetwork.yardbarker.com%2Fauthor%2 Farticle_external%2F11060213%3Fwidget%3Dtrue&tt=0&captcha_provider=nucaptcha) Share on stumbleupon (http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&winname=addthis&pub=unknown&source=tbx-250&lng=en-US&s=stumbleupon&url=http%3A%2F%2Fshatterthebackboard.com%2Ftop-10-overpaid-nba-players-kobe-bryant-1&title=Top%2010%20overpaid%20NBA%20players%3A%20Is% 20Kobe%20Bryant%20No.%201%3F&ate=AT-unknown/-/-/509025fcaf581440/6&frommenu=1&uid=509025fcd7ab4186&description=Is%20Kobe%20Bryant%20of%20the%20Los%20 Angeles%20Lakers%20overpaid%3F%0A%0ASports%20fans% 20hold%20strong%20opinions%20about%20which%20pro%2 0basketball%C2%A0players%20deserve%20their%20massi ve%20...&ct=1&pre=http%3A%2F%2Fnetwork.yardbarker.com%2Fauthor%2 Farticle_external%2F11060213%3Fwidget%3Dtrue&tt=0&captcha_provider=nucaptcha) Share on reddit (http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&winname=addthis&pub=unknown&source=tbx-250&lng=en-US&s=reddit&url=http%3A%2F%2Fshatterthebackboard.com%2Ftop-10-overpaid-nba-players-kobe-bryant-1&title=Top%2010%20overpaid%20NBA%20players%3A%20Is% 20Kobe%20Bryant%20No.%201%3F&ate=AT-unknown/-/-/509025fcaf581440/7&frommenu=1&uid=509025fc90458ea3&description=Is%20Kobe%20Bryant%20of%20the%20Los%20 Angeles%20Lakers%20overpaid%3F%0A%0ASports%20fans% 20hold%20strong%20opinions%20about%20which%20pro%2 0basketball%C2%A0players%20deserve%20their%20massi ve%20...&ct=1&pre=http%3A%2F%2Fnetwork.yardbarker.com%2Fauthor%2 Farticle_external%2F11060213%3Fwidget%3Dtrue&tt=0&captcha_provider=nucaptcha) Share on email (http://shatterthebackboard.com/top-10-overpaid-nba-players-kobe-bryant-1?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=top-10-overpaid-nba-players-kobe-bryant-1#) More Sharing Services (http://shatterthebackboard.com/top-10-overpaid-nba-players-kobe-bryant-1?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=top-10-overpaid-nba-players-kobe-bryant-1#)

http://shatterthebackboard.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/kobe-bryant-300x200.gif (http://shatterthebackboard.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/kobe-bryant.gif)

Is Kobe Bryant (http://shatterthebackboard.com/tag/kobe-bryant) of the Los Angeles Lakers (http://shatterthebackboard.com/tag/los-angeles-lakers) overpaid?


Sports fans hold strong opinions about which pro basketball (http://www.888sport-betting.com/basketball) players deserve their massive salaries, and which ones don’t. One fan, however, has gone further than the average barstool commentator –- Southern Utah University economics professor David Berri.

(http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--kobe-bryant--dirk-nowitzki-among-nba-s-most-overpaid-.html)
According to Berri, NBA players are paid for high scoring, so the more points an athlete racks up, the more money he earns. Berri believes that this overlooks other (http://shatterthebackboard.com/category/other) factors that contribute to a victory, such as shots taken, turnovers, rebounds and fouls. :lol

These and other elements are included in the “Wins Produced” algorithm.


“Wins in basketball (http://www.bet365sportsbookonline.com/basketball) are primarily about a team’s ability to get and keep possession of the ball and then turning those possessions into points,” Berri told CNBC.com in an e-mail. “In 2011-12, NBA teams paid $1.9 billion for 990 regular season wins. This means that the cost per win was $1.946 million. Given the cost of each win and knowing both how many victories each player produced and his salary allows us to see which players were overpaid.”

All salary information was provided by Berri, who used data from the NBA draft (http://shatterthebackboard.com/tag/nba-draft) projection site DraftExpress.com and from basketball (http://shatterthebackboard.com/tag/basketball) analyst Patricia Bender. All data was compiled by Berri’s colleague Arturo Galletti.
Check out David Berri’s 10 most overpaid players in the NBA.

The list:
10. Tyrus Thomas (http://shatterthebackboard.com/tag/tyrus-thomas), Charlotte Bobcats (http://shatterthebackboard.com/tag/charlotte-bobcats) (overpaid by $12,459,225)
9. Deron Williams (http://shatterthebackboard.com/tag/deron-williams), Brooklyn Nets (http://shatterthebackboard.com/tag/brooklyn-nets) (overpaid by $12,784,867)
8. Dirk Nowitzki (http://shatterthebackboard.com/tag/dirk-nowitzki), Dallas Mavericks (http://shatterthebackboard.com/tag/dallas-mavericks) (overpaid by $12,851,295)
7. Corey Maggette, Charlotte Bobcats (overpaid by $12,862,248)
6. Mehmet Okur, Brooklyn Nets (overpaid by $12,988,657)
5. Chris Kaman, New Orleans Hornets (http://shatterthebackboard.com/tag/new-orleans-hornets) (overpaid by $14,613,480)
4. Amar’e Stoudemire, New York Knicks (http://shatterthebackboard.com/tag/new-york-knicks) (overpaid by $14,918,309 )
3. Antawn Jamison, Cleveland Cavaliers (http://shatterthebackboard.com/tag/cleveland-cavaliers) (overpaid by $17,402,350)
2. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers (overpaid by $19,693,258)
1. Rashard Lewis, Washington Wizards (http://shatterthebackboard.com/tag/washington-wizards) (overpaid by $21,167,231)

[Mitch]

We don't pay players to win, we pay them to make their team - their franchise, money. Does winning lead to increased income for a team? Yes, but to a point. Players such as Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant do not have to win in order to make their team money, they simply have to radiate their superstar presence. There are players that are required to win in order to justify their salaries, such as Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs, who do not have a large sphere of media influence but their success props their respective franchises up.

Players are not paid based on their wins added, but the wins they added can correlate with their salary. If a player has a large influence on the media or presence overseas, this is much more valuable to a business (let us not forget, sports teams are in fact businesses) than a winner. If we are overpaying a player then that means we are paying somebody more than they are worth on and off the court.

I don't expect you and other armchair GMs to understand this; there is a reason why I sit in the VIP box with Dr. Buss while you sit in the 4 dollar nosebleed seats (or the 8 dollar frontcourt seats) of your franchise's arena.

[lefty]

:lol

[Raven]

quite fair tbh... of course it is assumed that 1$ is worth the same on every team which obviously is not the case..

[BRHornet45]

son most of those salaries are old and outdated at this point. Kaman for example was only paid $14M because he was in the final year of his contract and to be quite frank, he earned that money for making less money with the Clippers and putting up All-Star numbers.

Eric Gordon should be #1 on an updated list because he is going to make ... 13.7M, 14.3M, 15.0M, AND 15.5M ... over the next four seasons while being injured AT LEAST 60% of the time. he has never once done anything to earn those salaries unless you count putting up 20 points per game ONE TIME on one of the worst teams in the league at the time while only playing in 56 games doing so (missed 26 games due to monthly period cycles).

[Juggity]

We don't pay players to win, we pay them to make their team - their franchise, money. Does winning lead to increased income for a team? Yes, but to a point. Players such as Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant do not have to win in order to make their team money, they simply have to radiate their superstar presence. There are players that are required to win in order to justify their salaries, such as Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs, who do not have a large sphere of media influence but their success props their respective franchises up.

Players are not paid based on their wins added, but the wins they added can correlate with their salary. If a player has a large influence on the media or presence overseas, this is much more valuable to a business (let us not forget, sports teams are in fact businesses) than a winner. If we are overpaying a player then that means we are paying somebody more than they are worth on and off the court.

I don't expect you and other armchair GMs to understand this; there is a reason why I sit in the VIP box with Dr. Buss while you sit in the 4 dollar nosebleed seats (or the 8 dollar frontcourt seats) of your franchise's arena.

"Marketing value" of players is way overrated. You can market anyone above a threshold of skill given a sizable market and an established team. Boring though he might be, Tim Duncan would be easy to market in a place like LA or NY. In fact, he would certainly be deified and beloved if he played in one of those places. Causing trouble doesn't sell that many tickets compared to winning games or scoring a lot/blocking a lot of shots.

[Mitch]

"Marketing value" of players is way overrated. You can market anyone above a threshold of skill given a sizable market and an established team. Boring though he might be, Tim Duncan would be easy to market in a place like LA or NY. In fact, he would certainly be deified and beloved if he played in one of those places. Causing trouble doesn't sell that many tickets compared to winning games or scoring a lot/blocking a lot of shots.

Michael Jordan of the unknown Chicago Bulls (pre-1984) and Lebron James of the irrelevant Cleveland Cavaliers (pre-2003) would like to argue your points. It was not their wins which put their franchises on the map, it was the kind of player they were. Michael Jordan had made the Bulls the most popular team of the 1990s because he had been winning, but before that the Chicago Bulls were completely irrelevant and only began to be taken notice of after Jordan - he had made them relevant before winning. Your argument that the media can prop any player up like this is invalid because the Cavaliers are far from a large market team - but they attracted media attention and Lebron's effect still remains in that excuse for a franchise.

A player of a certain caliber persona and physical appearance (eg Shaq effect on Orlando) attracts the media. The Lakers are not relevant because of the media, but in actuality it is because the team continues to take advantage of the lasting effect each player has on the media. If a small market team holds high profile players consistently and long enough, they will essentially be seen as big market teams. In this day and age, location does not determine the market anymore - now it is the reputation and grasp of the media that does.

Tim Duncan would not have a similar sphere of influence in LA as Kobe Bryant did. He would be popular, but he lacks the foreign appeal and polarized personality Kobe Bryant has. The media would not focus on him as much because he is not controversial, which is an extremely valuable quality if you look at how teams such as the 1989 Pistons were put on the map. You cannot argue that any player can be artificially propped up in the eyes of the media, it takes certain mixtures of skill level on the court and persona off the court to create this effect you see in Kobe Bryant or Lebron James.

I know this and that is why I keep Kobe Bryant around instead of replacing him with a younger and cheaper superstar. We cannot replicate his sphere of influence with any other player, not even Lebron James would truly replicate his worldwide popularity and polarization.

[DeadlyDynasty]

There's no such thing as an overpaid Laker when you have the TWC war chest they have.