Nalod wrote:Players can take a cut? Thought the union did not allow that?
Triple is either wired in or very delusional.
What, no sneaker conspiracy?
Makes sense though. In the absence of logic there is always a deep state.
Everyone in pro sports has their hand out and plenty of people want to put something into it.
High school kids seen as future NBA prospects are getting cash in hand. Sometimes sports gear. Sometimes free swag and free food. Free trips. In extreme cases, if the situation is the typical struggling single parent, it means getting the mom a job and a safe apartment and a working car. Think about it, for some kids, they are in a fatherless home, living in a ****hole, in a lousy neighborhood, with other kids jealous of their athletic success and gunning for them. Then they get a chance for their mom and kid brother and sisters to live in a real house. And sometimes it's just spoiled privileged douchebag kids with their hands out in full greed mode.
Many highly ranked prospects know their leverage and use it to demand cash from prospective future to be agents. Shills from the brands sneak forward and try to build relationships when these guys are young.
It doesn't even have to be a Tier 1 prospect from a top university likely to be a lottery pick. In AAU, plenty of teams have handlers and coaches who convince parents that their kid just needs a little "extra coaching" and "know a guy who can help" Usually a former college basketball player or a fringe former pro. Parents or grandparents pay for their kid to get this extra help, thinking they are helping their kid reach a dream. Mostly it's a scam, taking advantage of people's hopes and dreams and raw manipulation of kids.
Pro teams get interns all the time and use them and chew them out.
Prospects who take tours of universities get "hosts" to show them around the campus. Basically hot ass chicks who will **** them silly. Those hot ass chicks often end up with scholarships or essentially comped housing. Plus if you get pregnant, now you got a rich future baby daddy for you. Many universities have no problem pimping out teenage girls as whores to get a prospect to lean their way.
Some players leave money on the table in a buyout. Many do not. Many end up like Joe Smith/Glen Taylor/Kevin McHale without the open written contract.
If I don't see it, I don't have to deal with it. This is the attitude of the league, it's administration, the NBAPA, the coaches, the college system. They know it's happening, they just don't want to know or deal with it.
Crypto-Currency just makes this all infinitely easier to do now.
Why would a team pay cash on the side and not upfront? Because if it's a bad contract, that narrative could mean the difference between a GM losing his job or not. It may have cap implications as well. Lots of teams are cap locked and can only offer the vets minimum. Do you think every one of those guys are only getting the bare minimum? Why do you think the Warriors Bob Myers is such a good GM? He used to be an agent. He knows all the tricks, all the shortcuts, backdoors, handlers, and on and on and on.
Think about the kid in middle school who is dunking the **** out of a basketball and is 6'8 already and colleges are creeping around the family. Then he starts getting something as simple as free food from local restaurants. Do you think it stops there? It's a lifestyle most people can't understand. You go to a party, you just point your finger, you don't say a word. The host whispers to the girl, you go to a room and you **** her. Her and her friends if you want. You can go weeks at a time without ever opening up your own wallet. People out of everywhere just give you stuff for free.
Years ago, during a labor dispute, Patrick Ewing famously said, "Players make a lot of money, but we spend a lot of money too" IIRC, this was also during a recession. Think about how ****ing stupid you have to be to say something like that. How completely out of touch with reality and the average working person. But this is what decades of getting your ass kissed and never being told No does to a person.
The rules only matter if you get caught.
I was told that all through my college days, all through my pro days, all through my time post career. And it's true.
You'll get a situation like a Mike Bibby or a Gil Meche, where real money is left on the table. But in many cases, it's not. It just looks that way.