Having a bad day at work? Money woes got you down? Does life seem unfair?
Let me cheer you up with the heartwarming story of Indiana Pacers forward Peja Stojakovic.
If you're not much of an NBA fan, you're forgiven for not knowing Stojakovic. He's a basketball player, but there's a lot of basketball he's not very good at. He doesn't rebound, he doesn't pass, and on defense, he makes Dirk Nowitzki look like...well, no one makes Dirk look good on defense, but they're both bad. (That said, ahem, I've never seen Peja step back from Shaq as he goes for a dunk with a championship on the line.) You might argue that Stojakovic just isn't as good at some things as at others, but it's worse than that-if he was a pro golfer, for example, he wouldn't even have a putter in his bag, that's how whatever-the-opposite-of-versatile-is he is.
Stojakovic is a fabulous shooter, though-possibly the best in the world-which is enough to get him named to three All-Star teams, which does nothing if not demonstrate the flaws in the selection process. That's all he does. Thank goodness for teammates.
Peja's in the last year of his contract, or would be, if he hadn't exercised an option to become a free agent.
Peja was going to make $8.1 million next year. $8,100,000! That's a lot of money. Shoot, when Ashley Lelie didn't work out in Denver this year and cost himself $100,000, I thought that was insane, but this is eighty-one times that. (Note to Lelie: when you're afraid you might not got to play as much, avoiding exercise might not help things. Just a thought.) I'd like to think even if I was rich that $100,000 would motivate me, but maybe it's just human nature to get lazy.
What motivates a man to turn his back on that much money? Why, the chance to earn even more in the future! And it's absolutely worth the risk. Here's why:
1. Peja is coming off a knee injury. His agent says it's healed, and we should all take him at his word. Of course, there's a chance that a basketball player could use his knee a lot in his line of work and somehow-I know, this sounds wild-end up with a chronic condition. But no one thinks it's chronic yet, so sign a long-term, fully-guaranteed deal while you can! (Even if it's not $8 million next year, it'll be well into the tens of millions over the next few years.)
2. Peja is 29 years old. That's not as big of a deal as the fact that next year, he'll be 30. No one knows whether Stojakovic will age gracefully. (Wait, I do-he won't.) But either way he's only got one major deal left, and coupled with reason 1 above, he's a lot more likely to make it count this year than next.
3. According to comments made by Knicks owner James Dolan, Isiah Thomas could be facing his last year in New York*. In other words: Free agents, cash in now.
By selflessly turning his back on eight million dollars, Peja will be rewarded with something of even greater value: more than eight million dollars. What a society we live in. Have a great day!
(*=unless he turns things around. Ha!)
Let me cheer you up with the heartwarming story of Indiana Pacers forward Peja Stojakovic.
If you're not much of an NBA fan, you're forgiven for not knowing Stojakovic. He's a basketball player, but there's a lot of basketball he's not very good at. He doesn't rebound, he doesn't pass, and on defense, he makes Dirk Nowitzki look like...well, no one makes Dirk look good on defense, but they're both bad. (That said, ahem, I've never seen Peja step back from Shaq as he goes for a dunk with a championship on the line.) You might argue that Stojakovic just isn't as good at some things as at others, but it's worse than that-if he was a pro golfer, for example, he wouldn't even have a putter in his bag, that's how whatever-the-opposite-of-versatile-is he is.
Stojakovic is a fabulous shooter, though-possibly the best in the world-which is enough to get him named to three All-Star teams, which does nothing if not demonstrate the flaws in the selection process. That's all he does. Thank goodness for teammates.
Peja's in the last year of his contract, or would be, if he hadn't exercised an option to become a free agent.
Peja was going to make $8.1 million next year. $8,100,000! That's a lot of money. Shoot, when Ashley Lelie didn't work out in Denver this year and cost himself $100,000, I thought that was insane, but this is eighty-one times that. (Note to Lelie: when you're afraid you might not got to play as much, avoiding exercise might not help things. Just a thought.) I'd like to think even if I was rich that $100,000 would motivate me, but maybe it's just human nature to get lazy.
What motivates a man to turn his back on that much money? Why, the chance to earn even more in the future! And it's absolutely worth the risk. Here's why:
1. Peja is coming off a knee injury. His agent says it's healed, and we should all take him at his word. Of course, there's a chance that a basketball player could use his knee a lot in his line of work and somehow-I know, this sounds wild-end up with a chronic condition. But no one thinks it's chronic yet, so sign a long-term, fully-guaranteed deal while you can! (Even if it's not $8 million next year, it'll be well into the tens of millions over the next few years.)
2. Peja is 29 years old. That's not as big of a deal as the fact that next year, he'll be 30. No one knows whether Stojakovic will age gracefully. (Wait, I do-he won't.) But either way he's only got one major deal left, and coupled with reason 1 above, he's a lot more likely to make it count this year than next.
3. According to comments made by Knicks owner James Dolan, Isiah Thomas could be facing his last year in New York*. In other words: Free agents, cash in now.
By selflessly turning his back on eight million dollars, Peja will be rewarded with something of even greater value: more than eight million dollars. What a society we live in. Have a great day!
(*=unless he turns things around. Ha!)
Comments
I agree, paying Peja that much money is insane. Consider they don't pay him to play D, divide eight million by a typical season of field goal and free throw attempts-and Peja makes at least five grand per shot attempt at that salary.
Man, I couldn't have cared less about this year's draft. It didn't have anyone really intriguing like LeBron, and it didn't have anyone I could pretend was intriguing, like Yao Ming.
The draft is exactly the kind of thing teams like to have, I don't know, a full-time GM for. Until the Nuggets take care of that I don't see how they'll make any steps to repair the roster.