Ouch! Missed free throw costs San Antonio Spur $100,000
Don Harris
SAN ANTONIO -- Basketball players and fans know a missed free throw can cost you the game. But what if missing one ended up costing you $100,000?
The Spurs' Matt Bonner was recently the focus of an article on unique contracts. A NBA writer did a story on some of the more oddball incentive clauses in the league, and Bonner reportedly has one of them.
According to Dave D'Alessandro of the N.J. Star-Ledger, "Matt Bonner of the Spurs gets $100,000 if the sum of his field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and his 3-point percentage matches or exceeds 169 percent."
But the story gets better. News 4 WOAI did the math. Bonner shot 49.6% from the field, 44% from 3-point land and 73.9% from the free-throw line. The magic number 169. He fell short at 167.5%.
But had Bonner made just one more free throw, 18 of 23 instead of 17 of 23, the total would have been 171.8. And if his contract has that clause, he would have made an extra $100,000.
And you think you want the Spurs to shoot better from the line - WOW!