Will Scott Layden's efforts ever pay off?
by Chad Ford


Somebody cut up Scott Layden's credit cards.

Take the cash out of his wallet, burn the remaining checks and gather all the loose change from the couches. No money orders, traveler's checks or I.O.U notes scribbled on company letterhead will be accepted from this moment forward. And don't forget to lock up the silverware in the MSG kitchen.

The Knicks spent $85.4 million in player payroll last season, more than any other team in the league, and didn't win a single playoff game. Didn't even get to play in a postseason game. Didn't even come close to it with their sorry 30-52 record.

But Layden isn't alone.

Over the last 12 years, only twice has the most expensive team turned out to actually be the best team. The Bulls won two of their six titles in 1997 and 1998 while also having the highest payroll in the league.

And even then, the Bulls' payroll was swollen with Michael Jordan's salary of $63 million over those two years, making up 47 percent of the team's entire payroll. To put that in perspective, Jordan made more than twice as much as the next highest-paid guy in the entire league in 1997 and $13 million more than the runner-up in 1998.

The point being, pay MJ non-godly (yet worthy) wages and the most expensive team in the league would have never won the NBA title since the Bulls began their reign in 1991. And probably long before that, too.

Last season, the Lakers claimed their third championship in a row with the 12th-highest payroll in the league, $32 million below the Knicks or about 38 percent less.

In 1999, the Spurs won their only NBA Title with the ninth-highest payroll in the league, $29.3 million below the Knicks' league-leading $69.4 million or about 43 percent.

In 1996, the Bulls won the title with the 15th-highest payroll in the league, $19.8 million below the Knicks' league-leading $43.3 million or about 46 percent less.

The Rockets, though, won the title in 1995 with a payroll of only $17.5 million, 24th in the league and $24.5 million less than the Lakers or about 59 percent less.

Money can't buy love, happiness or, so it seems, an NBA Title.

Over the last 12 seasons, the average payroll of the championship team has been roughly $35.7 million. In that same span, the league-leading team in terms of salary has averaged $50.6 million. The NBA champion has won the title while paying about 30 percent less in payroll than the league leader.

In fact, of the remaining nine teams (minus those two Bulls squads and the Lakers), not one of them has ever gone on to win a championship in ensuing years. Only one of them even made as far as the championship series. Four of the Top 10 highest-paid teams last season didn't even make it to the playoffs. Three of the remaining six didn't make it out of the first round. On the other hand, five of the bottom 10 paid teams in the league made the playoffs, three of them advancing into the second round.

Heck, the Nuggets paid out $54.4 million (or $1 million more than the Lakers) last season to win a grand total of 27 games (or 31 fewer than the Lakers not counting playoff victories). Most of that money went to Antonio McDyess, $11.7 million to be exact, a player who scored a grand total of 113 points in 10 games last season.

And dagnabit if Layden hasn't already traded for him as word comes in that the Knick president passed up on Dikembe Mutombo from the Sixers in a trade that didn't involve Allan Houston, Latrell Sprewell or McDyess and, instead, signed Michael Doleac and his 4.6 points per game last season to a three-year deal.

There never seems to be a good pair of scissors around when you need them.

what a tacky article by chad ford.

Posted by Dan1078:

That was a silly little artcile by Chad Ford.

The whole article centered on the simple idea of how teams that win championships dont always have the biggest payroll.

I got the message in the first paragraph, I didnt even have to read the entire article.

What a rag.

Chad Ford has become a poor man's version of Peter Vescey. Speaking of Petey, where has he been all summer, why no rumor columns from him?