Another week, two more giant, megawatt NBA contract extensions. It’s like deja vu. 

Last week, Paul George, this week…Giannis Antetokounmpo and Rudy Gobert. Antetokounmpo signed a five-year, $228 million dollar super max contract extension with the Milwaukee Bucks. A supermax contract is one that is worth up to 35% of the salary cap of a team. Rudy Gobert agreed to a five-year, $205 million dollar extension with the Jazz. These are great moves for the teams and it makes their star players happy. 

Until they aren’t. 

In this age of players forcing their way out – player empowerment, as it’s known – it’s refreshing to see players showing loyalty to their teams. But, will it last? How long before Giannis decides he wants to be with a larger market team? I don’t even know what the point of contracts are anymore in the NBA. All I can see is that it guarantees the money a player gets, but it doesn’t guarantee the team keeps the player. If you are a superstar and you aren’t happy with where you are at, just demand a trade. Like James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, or any number of NBA stars. 

I understand stars should have a say in their careers. But in the regular world, if you sign a contract, you are usually legally bound. Right now, the players are making the rules and contracts aren’t that binding. 

So, where does this leave teams and the players they left behind? Can a team truly make a run for a championship if the one or two players that can get them there can demand a trade and leave at any time? Players want to leave for a team poised to win a championship.

In addition, you also have players demanding trades after being courted by stars on other teams. This was a big deal when LeBron, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh got together and decided to play for the same team, the Miami Heat, where they ended up winning two championships together. Players now follow that as an example, trying to draw star athletes away from other teams to their own, in order to win championships. 

In the case of Giannis, he supposedly showed Bucks management the texts he was receiving from other star players around the league that were trying to lure him away from Milwaukee. I’m sure this gave him a certain amount of leverage for his contract… Gobert, for his part, did not take a supermax contract, instead choosing to leave money on the table so the team had more room in the salary cap. 

The NBA is a business and the players know their value in it, especially the stars. They have the control because Adam Silver knows the league depends on its stars almost more than any other sport. But maybe it’s time to call them something other than contracts. Maybe pinky swear?

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