Nov. 9--Something is wrong with the NBA when the New York Knicks and Memphis Grizzlies pay Stephon Marbury and Antoine Walker, respectively, $21 million and $9 million to sit on the bench.
Sure, they can practice and work out before games, but do they actually earn these exorbitant salaries? Nope.
There is no explaining how these decisions, presumably coaching-oriented in some respect, can be cost-efficient.
Wouldn't most businesses hope to make such lavish expenditures pay some type of dividend? Perhaps the Knicks and Grizzlies will get something out of the salaries either via a trade or salary cap reduction. Right now, it's just money into the pockets of players whom the organizations have deemed incapable of helping their teams.
From an organizational standpoint, that's just one more reason paying guys to sit would be so distasteful.
On the other side of the ledger, how and where does one sign up for this Marbury-Walker program. I'd go back to college to study for that down-the-road deal.
This decision to sit and pay instead of play to get paid is a topic the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association need to address soon. There's no need to wait for a collective bargaining session. The current scenario is doing nothing good for any party, even those getting paid.
Marbury is 31, and Walker is 32. Both have warts, as do we all. However, to think they no longer can play is incorrect. And if they were bad influences on players around them, wouldn't it be best to cut them?
Marbury may not have many supporters on the Knicks' roster, but Walker is respected by current and former teammates alike.
John 'Get Right' Salmons Kings forward John Salmons earns the nickname "Get Right" for many reasons. As unique as his game is, he is solid offensively and defensively. As much as he holds the ball, he contributes when given minutes.
However, Salmons gets this nickname because when he has the rock in his hands, he's going to get right. It takes a certain ability to go where you want to go even when the defender knows where you want to go.
Salmons uses his shake-and-bake fake to get right. He uses his jab step to get right. His head-and-shoulders pump fake is designed to get his defender off-balance. The defender backs up, and Salmons can take his jump shot. Or he can use the off-balance defender however he wishes to, yes, get right.
