At the risk of sounding like Floyd Mayweather Jr., the money in the NBA has gone from crazy to stark-raving-needs-a-lobotomy insane.
As a capitalist, I'm all for Timofey Mozgov getting paid whatever the market dictates he's worth. As a basketball fan, I see $64 million and consider it the eighth sign of the apocalypse.
Some NFL fans actually thought the seventh sign came when the Colts signed Andrew Luck to a six-year contract extension worth $139.1 million last week. I have two words for that: Nicolas Batum.
The Hornets just gave him a five-year $120 million deal, and nobody was shocked!
Mike Conley's never made an All-Star team and he's set to sign a five-year, $153 million contract. I think that's $30.6 million a year, but my calculator exploded when I typed in Batum's numbers.
People are also yawning over DeMar DeRozan getting $28 million a year, Chandler Parsons getting $23 million a year, Roger Goodell getting $32 million a year.
Hold on. Goodell gets $32 million?
That's what Sports Business Journal reported last week. (We pause now to let Patriots fans spit out their coffee.) That's almost what a Lakers center costs these days.
Think of the legacy _ Mikan, Chamberlain, Kareem, Shaq ... Mozgov?
Mozgov averaged 6.3 points and 4.4 rebounds last season for Cleveland. Apparently the six minutes he played in the NBA Finals really impressed L.A.
If Wilt were 50 years younger and still alive, what would he be worth?
Let's take his best statistical season, 1961-62. He averaged 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds. Combined, that's about 1,380 percent better than Mozgov's totals.
Since the big Russian is getting $16 million a season, Wilt the Stilt would now be worth an annual salary of $220.8 million.
At those prices, I'm thinking comeback. Sure, there's that whole death problem. But Wilt's old agent should contact a faith healer or the producers of "The Walking Dead."
Get some life into the old chap. In the NBA's new Funny Money era, even the biggest stiff is worth $15 million a year.
