The Inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament has come to an end. The Los Angeles Lakers and the Indiana Pacers battled it out in Las Vegas for the glory of hoisting the first NBA Cup and taking home an extra $500,000. In the end, it was Anthony Davis who took the charge of leading the Lakers past the finish line. Putting up a magnificent 41 points, 20 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 blocks, AD led the way, and his teammates backed him up.
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With the Lakers winning the NBA Cup, they now are set to receive $500,000 each as prize money. However, the same won’t be applicable to the 3 two-way players on the roster. According to NBA.com,
“Two-way players make about $559,000 this season. If they’re on the title-winning team in Las Vegas, they’ll get $250,000 more. That’ll be a 45% raise over what those guys expected to make this season.”
The Lakers have three two-way players on their roster: Colin Castleton, Alex Fudge, and D’Moi Hodge. The three of them are making $559,000 this season. With the NBA’s rules about the two-way players, they’ll be pocketing an extra $250,000. That’s nearly a 50% bonus for these young players.
On the one hand, $500,000 for LeBron James amounts only up to 1.05% of his salary. On the other hand, these two-way players would get a nice 45% raise on their salaries. However, the State of California might have something to say about the same. According to sources, after the state taxes, the players are set to take home only $231,000 of the $500K. This means they’d lose nearly 54% of their bonus money on taxes.
When it comes to the two-way players, the tax slab may be lower, but they might end up losing over 30% of their $250,00 as well.
Anthony Davis had a Shaquille O’Neal-esque night in Vegas
With the biggest game of the early season on the line, the Lakers had one of their stars step up. Anthony Davis, who was leading the defensive charge for the team this season, reminded everyone that he could play offense as well. After AD put forth a huge performance, LeBron James stepped up and praised his teammate.
“That was a Shaq-like dominant performance.”
LeBron on AD’s 41 PTS and 20 REB in the In-Season Tournament Championship:
“That was a Shaq-like dominant performance.” pic.twitter.com/53kINiNaXI
— NBA (@NBA) December 10, 2023
Even Shaquille O’Neal saw the speech and approved of the same. He made it known on his Instagram story.
Shaquille O’Neal agrees with LeBron on AD’s ‘Shaq like dominant performance’ tonight – pic.twitter.com/P88BhQt74M
— What are NBA Celebs Upto? (@NBACelebsUpdate) December 10, 2023
Now if Anthony Davis can keep up his performance, we might see the Lakers celebrating again in June as well.
