Dirk Nowitzki rejected four year 97 million dollar offer by the Rockets and Lakers

[JohnnyMax]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimpagels/2014/07/16/dirk-nowitzki-passes-up-most-money-in-nba-history/

Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki may have taken that discount to new levels Tuesday after signing a shockingly small $25 million, three-year contract to stay in Dallas for his 17th-19th NBA seasons.

Nowitzki had max contract offers from the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers of $97 million over four years but was reportedly never interested in any offers outside Dallas. Instead, the 12-time All-Star voluntarily took a 65 percent pay cut, leaving over $72 million on the table.

[Franklin]

The German Allah :cry

[Franklin]

I wish LG has similar level of faith in me as Dirk does in Dallas :cry

[spursfan1000]

Harden Dwight Dirk worst defensive big 3 all time.

[JohnnyMax]

Lakers are denying the story


A Lakers official disputed ESPN report that indicated the team tried to entice Nowitkzki to leave Dallas for max-level money. The report said that Nowitzki refused to enter negotiations with the Houston Rockets or Lakers. But a Lakers source familiar with the situation said the team would have never offered a max-level offer to Nowitzki considering they planned to set that money aside both to pursue LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony.

[BatManu20]

:lol if you don't think Cubes is paying him under the table. He's a multi-billionaire with more money than he knows what to do with. I guarantee you Dirk's getting a nice little cut of that.

[Captivus]

:lol if you don't think Cubes is paying him under the table. He's a multi-billionaire with more money than he knows what to do with. I guarantee you Dirk's getting a nice little cut of that.

Probably.

[BlackSwordsMan]

better than duncan :cry

[Double-Up]

There's no fucking way I'm leaving 70 mil on the table. You know some underhanded shit's going on.

[scanry]

Man that's insane. I know he's earned more than $200 mil in his career, but still leaving $70 mil on the table is insane.

Looking at both Dirk's and Tim's salaries over the years, they look nearly identical. I think both will end up making just about $230 mil.

[BillMc]

No matter the amount, Dirk deserves props, especially when he should be pissed at Cubes for breaking up his only championship team (old or not...)

[scanry]

I also get the feeling that Cuban's no longer vested in getting another championship. He basically checked out after the 11 run and you get the feeling that he no longer cares whether Dirk has a good team to contend for another run.

I also think he wants to cash in by selling the Mavs in a year or two.

[Sportstudi]

There's no fucking way I'm leaving 70 mil on the table. You know some underhanded shit's going on.

Well, on the first look you could get this feeling, I know what you mean. But you should look about all the statements Dirk has made so far in his career, especially from 2010 onwards. When he gave the Mavs their first discount, taking 80 million instead of 96, he already said that has earned more money until that point than he could ever spend in his whole life. Based on his own admission anything more would just be accumulation of something he has already enough of. Basically, you can say he doesn't give a shit about money. He doesn't spend it on any glitz and glamour, on cars, fancy mansions, bitches and some boyhood crew.

Directly after winning the title he said in an interview that he just wants to live his normal life in Dallas, playing basketball and having a family sooner or later (at that point he wasn't together with that Swedish-Kenyan woman). He doesn't care much about business or being a celebrity. After winning the title there were many facturers sending him watches, cars or whatever for endorsements, he turned down every single offer.

Somehow it seems that some folks just cannot get it through their head that some people are not motivated by only money, they don't understand what Dirk is about. He's just a humble guy that wants to live a pretty normal life with his family. He's just like that. Hard to understand if you see many of the other athletes around, hunting for one last big payday. Do you actually know which player has made the most money in the NBA based on salaries alone? No? I'll tell you: Kevin Garnett. That was also one reason why he failed in Minnesota. Besides his own shortcomings the team wasn't that good, but also mainly due to the fact that he alone ate half or even more of their cap each year. And before you now mention the payroll of Dallas in the last decade: Cuban had a habit of grossly overpaying players. There were many of those guys, but the best example is Erick Dampier. 60 million for that dude? No way in hell he deserved that amount of money.

[Findog]

I am sure Cuban will take care of Dirk somehow so that this doesn't end up being such a huge sacrifice. The new CBA constrains a player's ability to max out his salary while also having a good roster around him.

[Donkeybong]

I also get the feeling that Cuban's no longer vested in getting another championship. He basically checked out after the 11 run and you get the feeling that he no longer cares whether Dirk has a good team to contend for another run.

I also think he wants to cash in by selling the Mavs in a year or two.

I don't think that's the case at all. Cuban still attends most of the games. What owner would do that if he didn't give a shit about winning?

Honestly, I do think some underhanded shit is going on. Either promises were made about Dirk's role with the organization post retirement or one of Cubes affiliates is going to compensate him some how. There are so many ways to get around this shit.

[Killakobe81]

Already refuted by Lakers and already posted.

[Killakobe81]

Besides how could either pay that to Dirk if they were chasing Melo and/or Bosh? Story smells of bullshit, but dirk is a great guy and superstar. No need to exaggerate though.

[Sportstudi]

Already refuted by Lakers and already posted.

True, but the Rockets offered the max. That's certain.

[baseline bum]

Maybe Dirk just doesn't give a shit about the $70 million and wants a second ring in Dallas at any cost. Occam's razor tbh.

[baseline bum]

Besides how could either pay that to Dirk if they were chasing Melo and/or Bosh? Story smells of bullshit, but dirk is a great guy and superstar. No need to exaggerate though.

You don't think Houston would have taken Nowitzki over Bosh? I probably would have.

[scanry]

True, but the Rockets offered the max. That's certain.

Probably to piss off Donnie after that Parsons offer sheet.

[Killakobe81]

All this wild reporting smacks of let's paint Dirk as a saint since I am paying motherfucken Chandler Parsons more than you spin, from Cubes.
Love dirk he said he would take less and did ... but story has benn exaggerated at least on Lakers end. WOuld have loved dirk in L.A. though ...

[Sportstudi]

All this wild reporting smacks of let's paint Dirk as a saint since I am petting motherfucken Chandler Parsons more than you spin from Cubes.
Love dirk he said he would take less and did ... but story has benn exaggerated at least on Lakers end. WOuld have loved dirk in L.A. though ...

fair enough. I honestly also don't think the Lakers offered the max as they were trying to get Melo or LeBron.

[Sportstudi]

Probably to piss off Donnie after that Parsons offer sheet.

Not sure, but I think that was even before that offer sheet. I might be wrong though.

[Thread]

fair enough. I honestly also don't think the Lakers offered the max as they were trying to get Melo or LeBron.

Gee, Ss choosing the high road. You'll be outcast.

[Sportstudi]

Gee, Ss choosing the high road. You'll be outcast.

Probably, but for sure not by the Lakers and their mediocre cast this season.

[diego]

Do you actually know which player has made the most money in the NBA based on salaries alone? No? I'll tell you: Kevin Garnett. That was also one reason why he failed in Minnesota. Besides his own shortcomings the team wasn't that good, but also mainly due to the fact that he alone ate half or even more of their cap each year. And before you know mention the payroll of Dallas in the last decade: Cuban had a habit of grossly overpaying players. There were many of those guys, but the best example is Erick Dampier. 60 million for that dude? No way in hell he deserved that amount of money.

I remember having a discussion similar to that with the folks running the Minnesota Timberwolves 11 ½ years ago. The whole concept of max guys was in its infancy, born in the nasty 1998-99 lockout that wiped out hundreds of games and millions of dollars for folks on all sides of that NBA labor dispute. You might not recall it now -- commissioner David Stern's lockout beard and some silly quotes attributed to Patrick Ewing and Kenny Anderson seem to be the most indelible images of that owners vs. union schism -- but the Wolves were in the middle of the lockout, both before and after.

It was Minnesota owner Glen Taylor who agreed in October 1997 to a staggering $126 million contract extension for Kevin Garnett, a second-year player, signing at the time the richest multi-year contract in pro sports history. That was a last-straw move to management, who battened down in 1997-98 for what suddenly looked inevitable: No NBA business until a new world order was imposed. It took nearly seven months and a curtailment of the 1998-99 season to 50 games -- Phil Jackson's "asterisk" version -- to get there.

After the lockout, fans were introduced to the concept of maximum salaries, the tippy-top of new pay scales. Players who were already earning more than the new limits -- such as Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Juwan Howard and, of course, Garnett -- were "grandfathered" in, but for those who would sign new contracts from that point on, the best they could hope for was to "max out."

The Wolves felt the impact of that immediately -- and in some ways still are feeling it. The new salary scale shoved a glass ceiling between Garnett and his presumed sidekick, Stephon Marbury, the brash Coney Island point guard who was drafted one year after the 7-foot power forward. Uh-oh: Marbury's next contract could not exceed $86 million, a huge gap from what Garnett would be paid, creating an untenable situation for the proud and headstrong Marbury. He demanded and (because Minnesota believed the kid truly would walk away from a budding Malone-Stockton situation) got, 18 games into the truncated season, a trade to the New Jersey Nets.

But wait, there was more: Forward Tom Gugliotta, the Wolves' first All-Star, was offered a "max" deal to stick around as a versatile frontcourt option and big brother to the two young stars. But Gugliotta had tired of Marbury's act and, after being shuttled from Washington to Golden State to Minnesota in trades, wanted some say over his whereabouts. So he signed with Phoenix for about $67 million, the "max" at that time for players who changed teams.

The Wolves, in a scramble to replace Gugliotta, signed Joe Smith. And we all know how that worked out for them (salary-cap circumvention = irate Stern = loss of three first-round Draft picks = irrelevancy ever since).

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/steve_aschburner/07/19/max.guys/index.html

is your argument that garnett should have known the rules would change a year after signing his contract? in fact, i dont know if KG ever signed a "max" contract because they didnt exist when he got that one, then he got extensions on that contract, and im pretty sure his contracts after that with boston were for less than the max. the wolves FO sucking balls may have had a little something to do with the wolves sucking balls too.

as for dirk... i think its highly commendable to take a cut to win. but taking a huge cut to lose sounds kind of stupid, and at least from here thats what it looks like dirk is doing, i also immediately thought there must be something happening under the table.

[Sportstudi]

is your argument that garnett should have known the rules would change a year after signing his contract? in fact, i dont know if KG ever signed a "max" contract because they didnt exist when he got that one, then he got extensions on that contract, and im pretty sure his contracts after that with boston were for less than the max. the wolves FO sucking balls may have had a little something to do with the wolves sucking balls too.



I actually found once a table were all of KG's contracts were summed up and also the extensions he received including the relation to the most possible amount of money he could have received. Have to look for it, maybe I'll find it again. It was an amazing job by him and the agent in terms of money, but it for sure didn't help the team in most cases as it forced Minnesota's FO to play lowball in any contract negotiations with other players. And that's for sure on Garnett.

[m>s]

ive always wondered what stops teams from coming to an under the table agreement..say cuban agrees to give dirk 50 mil under the table who would really know?

[diego]

I actually found once a table were all of KG's contracts were summed up and also the extensions he received including the relation to the most possible amount of money he could have received. Have to look for it, maybe I'll find it again. It was an amazing job by him and the agent in terms of money, but it for sure didn't help the team in most cases as it forced Minnesota's FO to play lowball in any contract negotiations with other players. And that's for sure on Garnett.

did you read the article? he signed in 97 and the changes came in 98 (in fact im pretty sure they didnt go into full effect for a couple years) minnesota management was put between a rock and a hard place but neither they nor garnett knew the changes that would come, how is that on garnett, please explain?

here is a table for you:

dallas mavericks lux tax payments 02/03 - 06/07 - 69 million
wolves 02/03 - 06/07 - 24 million

mavs 07/08 - 12/13- 81 million
celtrics 07/08 - 12/13- 45.5million

mavs 06 finals run, 17 mill in taxes; '11 championship run, 18.9 million
celtics 08 championship run, 8 million taxes; '10 finals run, 15 million

but according to you the difference was garnetts contract, not that the mavs were willing tax payers while the wolves werent (only the knicks have paid more, even the LAKERS dont go over the cap as much as the mavs do)
you could very well argue kg's teams had better bang for the buck.

[Spurs9]

Maybe Dirk just doesn't give a shit about the $70 million and wants a second ring in Dallas at any cost. Occam's razor tbh.
Assuming he even gets a ring during that time period, is any ring worth 70million? You can find them on ebay :lol No one with any business sense would turn that down over almost the same amount of time playing.

[baseline bum]

Assuming he even gets a ring during that time period, is any ring worth 70million? You can find them on ebay :lol No one with any business sense would turn that down over almost the same amount of time playing.

Dude has $200 million. Why does he still need to be a slave to the dollar? He is set for life already.

[Leon Black]

Dirk doesn't have 100k chains and watches like these other niqqers. Dude lives a modest lifestyle.......... money is not an issue

[Ghazi]

Dirk at $25m is a bargain... $97m would be overpaying for his projected 4 year prpduction imo.