I
am a huge fan of the NBA. While I
usually root for the Pistons or the Bucks, I am secretly a fan of the Miami Heat. Okay, I am a LeBron James fan more than
a Heat fan similar to when I was going up I was more of a Michael Jordan fan
than a Bulls fan. Anyway, with the
free agency craziness that is about to start, here is my argument why Dwayne
Wade should willing take a significant pay cut:
Blame.
If LeBron James leaves the Miami Heat, people will blame Dwayne Wade
because it’s his city and his team.
Dwayne Wade was drafted there, he won an NBA title there first, and he
recruited LeBron James and Chris Bosh to come play with him. Probably even more so than Pat Riley,
Dwayne Wade built this team that went to four straight NBA finals. If the team falls apart now, far shy of
the grand expectations people have for it, people will ask why. One of the obvious questions becomes:
is Dwayne Wade still worth $20 million a season? How about $15 million? If he is not or it is questionable, then
people will say LeBron James left knowing that, with the salary cap, he could
not win on a team that had to devote that much money to Dwayne Wade. Dwayne Wade was either hurt this past
season or his basketball skills are declining or both. Chris Bosh basically played as expected. He is always viewed as the third option,
so he will avoid blame in the same manner people fail to give him credit. Don’t get me wrong; I believe some team
out there is probably willing to sign Dwayne Wade to a max contract or close to
a max contract. That does not make
it a good idea. Because of the
salary cap, every contract LeBron James ever played for was a steal of a deal. I could not fault LeBron James if he
wanted the players around him to play for less than they could make
elsewhere.
Credit.
Just as much as Dwayne Wade will get too much blame if LeBron James
leaves the Heat, Dwayne Wade will receive too much credit if LeBron James stays
with the Heat and they find a way to win.
Other Financial Opportunities.
NBA players have other opportunities to make money – shoe deals, other
endorsements, etc. – and those opportunities will be greater with LeBron James
than without him. With someone as
high profiled as Dwayne Wade, these opportunities may even mean that Dwayne
Wade could make more money with a pay cut that entices LeBron James to stay
than Dwayne Wade would make if he got a max contract and LeBron James
left. Even if endorsements don’t
completely offset the pay cut, they would definitely lessen the financial
burden of taking a pay cut to keep LeBron James.
Intangible Benefits of
Winning. At a certain point, more titles have to
be more valuable than more money.
Dwayne Wade has already earned over $120 million. Think of it this way, what would you
rather have: $180 million and three titles or $150 million and six titles? Six titles puts Dwayne Wade in Michael
Jordan and Scottie Pippen territory.
Yes, they have a lot of work to do to get that far. However, Dwayne Wade has a chance at
such greatness with LeBron James and no chance without him. I hope Dwayne Wade goes for greatness
rather than money. If Dwayne Wade
asks for too much money, I hope LeBron James chases greatness elsewhere.
That’s
My Argument.
©
July 2014 Brandon J. Evans
