Comment on NBA plans to enact anti-tanking rules next season, sources say
TAG@lemmy.world 4 hours agoA lot of the Lakers luck has nothing to do with league tampering and everything to do with the fact that players’ licensing income does not count against the salary cap. Do you think a guy would rather make $1,000 shooting an ad for Big Bill’s Discount BBQ or get $5,000 to make an appearance on opening night in Dr. Dre’s new club? Do you think a player prefers to spend his day off shoveling snow from his driveway or go swimming on Venice Beach in the morning and then film a fight scene in the next Fast and Furious? Do you think his wife would rather shop at the mall or Rodeo Drive?
The Lakers don’t get players gifted to them, they sign big name free agents at a discount and trade for expiring contracts knowing that the player will take an extension. They get traded so many players because they are on every players’ preferred list of destinations because every agent makes sure it is there because the agent wants a cut of any Hollywood cameos and rap album features their player gets.
The Pau Gasol trade is a perfect example of this. He did not get traded for nothing. He got traded for his brother, Marc. Pau wanted to get out of Memphis, so the teams made a deal with him: if he could nag his baby brother into moving from the Euroleague to the NBA, Pau would get to win a ring with Kobe.
RoidingOldMan@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
I named 4 people. Luka Doncic, Pau Gasol, Magic Johnson, Anthony Davis. They were also gifted Chris Paul at one point, and the commissioner voided the trade because it was so lopsided. No team in sports history has EVER been gifted the type of stuff the Lakers have been gifted.
You name a number of reasons why players like to sign there as FAs. That’s clearly a thing also. That’s how they got Shaq. To some extent, it’s also how they ended up with Kobe (told New Jersey not to draft him). And many many more. I’m specifically talking about TRADES where the Lakers were gifted stars.
Can you find ONE source from the time that trade happened, calling it anything other than one of the most lopsided trades in history? There was universal condemnation of that trade at the time. Marc was a 2nd round pick who had never played an NBA game. Unproven 2nd rounder for a win-now All-Star? They immediately won 3 championships because of that trade! And you’re trying to pretend like it was fair value because Marc turned out to be good. You’re using hindsight to create revisionist history.