Tim Duncan never made more than $23 mil salary in a year. David Robinson never made more than $15 mil.
Tim Duncan could have gotten the max so many times in his career, but opted to take less to win titles. The smart thing to do is to secure the bag, regardless if you're touted as a LeBron or whoever the worst player in the NBA is.
This mentality is the reason why Cp3 doesn't have a ring, while KD 2, Steph has 3 and Lebron has 4. Lebron, Dwade and Bosh all took less to play together in Miami, if all Lebron thought about was the bag he'd have stayed in Cleveland and been Lilliard 2.0. I've never been there, but my opinion is for most superstars their clout or prestige makes them more money than their salary on the court. MJ for example is on his way to becoming a billionaire off of Nike when he made like 7M a year or w/e back on the Bulls. 10M less salary would mean nothing to Lebron financially but that's like the salary of a Schroedder already. The more rings you have the more money you get off endorsements.
Sure, but a ring isn't guaranteed while the money is. (Depending on the wording of the contract, and all). To date, I still see people refer to CP3 as one of the best PGs of all time, despite not having a ring. No one is diminishing his basketball resume despite not having a ring. Meanwhile, KD is a snake because he up and joined GSW at the height of their power. Meanwhile, LeBron only has those early rings because "Leastern conference" and "super team." You can acquire clout and prestige while being ringless. You can get shoe deals, adverts, etc, all without having won anything before.
Nobody is saying anything cuz he is still playing. Once he becomes washed then he'll get forgotten. People always said Steve Nash is one of the best pgs of all time too, but when talking about the greats he never gets mentioned despite having 2MVPS, I mean Cp3 doesnt even have 1 to his name. Lebron gets called names but you know people are debating him or MJ for GOAT, that wouldnt have happened if he didnt get those early rings. KD gets called a cupcake but between him and KG who has better legacy? When KD retires I bet people are gonna put him over KG in large part to those 2 rings. MJ himself rode a super team and didnt achieve anything by himself on top of quitting 3 times but he is the GOAT cuz of those 6 rings. If he didnt get those 2 three peats even if he had insane production he wouldnt be the GOAT it wouldve been Kareem. For a lot of players their contract is what makes them the most money but for superstars their shoes and clout are what makes them the most cash. Sure you get shoe deals and stuff without a ring but you wont get crazy money without playoff success. NBA salaries cap out at 40M but Lebron has a lifetime deal with Nike worth over 1B USD. Jordan not even playing anymore but still made 136M in 2019. Compare 40M vs 136M and you see why extra guaranteed money means little to superstars. Harden could sign the super super max with 50M a year in Houston but he rather play in Portland. Thats cuz the extra guaranteed 10M he can earn is worth very little to him considering how much he already has. Even if he doesnt end up winning a ring, he wont lose sleep over that missed 10M. KD didnt even risk it and took like 15M discount to sign with GSW. People say he is a cupcake snake now but we all know that rings hollow cuz he still has 2 FMVP and 2 rings at the end of the day. Ask people who are 3 best players in the NBA last 5 years and Lebron and KD will always be there cupcake snake or not.
