NBA Salary Cap May Result in Loss of Players

ESPN’s J.A. Adande worries that the NBA salary cap may cause players like the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant to leave the NBA to play in Europe, where the sky is the limit in terms of a paycheck. For fans who call this worry preposterous, Adande cites Michael Jordan’s leaving basketball at the peak of his career to play minor league baseball for one year as an example. If Bryant and other NBA platers like LeBRon James were lured to Europe with the promise of a bigger paycheck, it wouldn’t be as big of a stretch because they would still be playing basketball (and for a lot more dough).
In an interview with ESPN last month, Bryant put his answer bluntly, asking a reporter if he knows anyone who would turn down 50 million dollars. And 50 mill doesn’t even shock people these days, as NBA stars like Yao Ming, Dirk Nowitzki and Andrei Kirilenko carried the flags of their respective nations at the Opening Ceremonies, showing that NBA stars have reached the status of athletic icons. NBA commissioner David Stern may be faced with the decision to get rid of the salary cap or to expand to Europe.

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