Gladys had the Pips. Jalen had the Knicks.
Jalen Brunson has become the face of the NBA after leading New York to its first championship in 53 years. And he had help — re-signing OG Anunoby and trading for Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges — because the star guard took $113 million less when he signed a four-year extension in 2024.
He wanted the freedom not to be burdened by what could happen if he were injured. It gave the Knicks financial elasticity to surround him with better players.
So, the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic should follow this blueprint. That is what I have read and heard over the last week. And it could not be more incorrect.
The compensation model in professional sports is designed to suppress players’ earning power. There are caps when drafted, required waiting periods to enter free agency and short careers.
Listen, if a star wants to take less, it’s his choice.
Brunson wanted lifetime security sooner, and the byproduct was that it benefited the Knicks’ roster-building.
Jokic, 31, was a second-round draft pick. He made $4.129 million in his first three seasons. And he has maxed out his contracts since, leaving him with $302.6 million in career earnings.
When Jokic broke out as a star in his second season, he did not receive a raise.
Why should he take a haircut now?
He is a three-time MVP. He has earned every cent coming his way. Is it his responsibility to create financial wiggle room?
It’s unfair to ask if those conversations were not had last summer with Jamal Murray, who did not play like a max player until this past season.
Jokic is eligible to sign an extension this summer worth either $214 million over three years or $278 million over four seasons. There is a reason he declined to sign last year, to put himself in this position.
It is silly money. We all get it. But he is the greatest Nuggets player ever. If anyone deserves the biggest check, it is him.
He is also part of a union. There is a responsibility to take the most as an elite star because of the market it sets for younger and future players.
What bothers me is that it falls on the player, and if he doesn’t acquiesce, he is not obsessed with winning. Well, Jokic won a title. So, there’s that.
And he has made the Kroenke ownership group a ton of money through sellout crowds, merchandise and playoff runs. Why is it OK to believe Jokic should take a pay cut and not demand the Kroenkes enter the second apron?
It feels like a double standard.
The parade had not reached its conclusion down the Canyon of Heroes in New York City, and Knicks owner James Dolan proclaimed on WFAN that “There’s certain things in the NBA that you’d have to be suicidal to do. One of them is the second apron. Cannot go into the second apron.”
The penalties for doing so are harsh, like restrictions on picking up mid-level exception players and trading first-round picks for seven years out.
It is messy. No doubt. But that is the system the NBA created to prevent dynasties.
Brunson did what he felt was right. Good for him. But, just because he won a championship, his decision should not set a precedent.
Feeling a Draft: The chances of the MLBPA agreeing to a 12-round draft that makes high school players ineligible until two years removed from graduation are almost zero. It would help college programs, turning them into the minor leagues, a model that has long existed for the NFL. But college coaches are measured by winning at the highest levels, not development. So would they have the players’ best interest in mind? And what guarantee is there that MLB won’t turn around and cut even more minor league teams, eliminating jobs? Welcome to labor talks. It’s going to be a greasy next eight months.
What took so long? Nike is finally preparing to release Caitlin Clark’s signature shoe, years after the sides entered into a partnership. The Caitlin 1 goes on sale on Oct. 1. I will never understand how Nike, specifically, and the WNBA, generally, were not prepared to capitalize and maximize Clark’s star power. She remains a great player, but the mania is tempered.
