Dennis Rodman was a great player in his own regard, but he was not a Shaquille O’Neal or a Michael Jordan. Hence his pay was considerably low when compared to the above superstars. This did not sit well with him, and he expressed his jealousy towards Shaq’s $17,000,000 salary in the book ‘Bad as I Wanna Be.’ Rodman then followed it with a rant on the hefty salaries received by NBA players in the book ‘I Should be Dead by Now.’
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Dennis earned a total salary of $27,000,000 in his 12-year NBA career. When compared to the current salaries, the amount seems ridiculously low for a player of his caliber. And Rodman had placed the blame on then-NBA commissioner David Stern. According to him, the precedent set by Stern is continuing to ruin the game of basketball.
Dennis Rodman blames David Stern
The salaries earned by NBA players can reach outrageous amounts at times. If a player shows a hint of potential, they can earn millions in the league without achieving accolades. Rodman expressed his concern about the current contracts that are signed by the players and blamed David Stern for bringing this trend to the league. Here is an excerpt from his book:
“(Since Stern became commissioner 20 years ago, there’s been this proliferation of guaranteed, long-term, megamillion-dollar contracts. What’s that doing to the league?) Pretty much f**king it up. The game is not like it used to be. Back in the day, every time you played, every time you went to practice, you had to fight for your position; you had to fight for your job. Today you ain’t gotta fight for shit because they’re paying players millions no matter what. In the game today, you don’t have to do a damn thing.”
Rodman believes players don’t possess the hunger to perform as their pockets are filled, and their needs are met. This results in a lack of motivation to win championships. The former champion takes an example of a player earning a guaranteed $50 million contract for six years to demonstrate his point in the book:
“They are killing incentives. Say a player has a guaranteed contract in his pocket: $50 million for six years. What is there left for him to prove? What is there left for him to do? Nothing. He’s got the Rolls, the private jet, all the beautiful women he wants, the big house for his momma. He’s thinking his ass has arrived. Wrong. To really make it in the NBA, you’ve got to win basketball games, championships. Nobody gives a f**k how much money you make when you’re out there on the court.”
Was Dennis Rodman’s argument justified?
When the NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1995-96, the average salary in the league was just $2.2 million. Patrick Ewing drew the highest salary at $18.7 million. In the next 25 years, the average salary has multiplied nearly five times to reach around $9.5 million. And the highest-paid player, Stephen Curry, earns a whopping $48 million annually.
If we take the value of the dollar appreciating in the last 25 years, the average salaries have taken a much bigger leap. Keeping aside the extravagant earnings of a select few superstars, the average player is earning a hundred times more than the average household income. As stated by Dennis Rodman, this can impact the effort put in by the players on the court.
