| 29 July 2010
In 1989, Jon Koncak signed a 6 year, $13 million dollar contract with the Atlanta Hawks and instantly assured himself a place in professional basketball history. Koncak was coming off a year where he averaged just under 5 points per game, around 6 rebs per, in just over 20 minutes a game. However, his contract made him a highly compensated professional basketball player and also a lightning rod for scrutiny from the media, fans and other players in the league. See, in 1989, Jon Koncak signed a deal paying him more per year than Michael Jordan, Larry Bird or Magic Johnson were making. His new contract earned him a new nickname: Jon Contract. For the Atlanta Hawks, Koncak may have been a nice player coming off the bench, but CLEARLY the contact offered was not equal to his contributions to the team. This is not the first time a player was over-compensated by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it seems every other team has caught the Koncak bug causing them to pay more to players than what they are actually worth. Despite all the scrutiny Koncak brought to the issue, it sure seems like his contract was the beginning of a trend rather than a change in direction.
Flash forward to 2010: The NBA is losing money by the barrel (according to Stern) and it's all because players are being overpaid and teams are unable to shed themselves of bad contracts (cough *Tracy McGrady* cough cough) when a player fails to perform to the expected levels. However, the league and the player's union are still very far apart on a possible solution. The league sent a proposal to the players union during this year's all-star weekend, and the union was so happy with the proposal that they tore it up. Then, in June, the union sent a proposal to the NBA which apparently had so many good things to say about it they didn't say anything at all. Now, we are still waiting for a counter-proposal from the NBA, which Players Assoc. director Billy Hunter expects soon, and unless the two sides can change the course of these talks it sure looks like a lockout is a real possibility for 2011.
So to honor the NBA, the collective bargaining process, and to help us get through the month of August (Please, no more coverage of Dez Bryant NOT carrying Roy Williams shoulder pads): The Real Shaq teams up with other bloguin geniuses to compile a list of the WORST contracts the NBA has had since the last lockout in 1999. And boy, let me tell you there are some good ones on here. Here's how it works: every week day in August one of the fabulous bloggers from around the Bloguin network will write about a bad contract and make their case for why it's one of the worst contracts the NBA has ever had. At the end of the month of August, everyone (that's you!) will vote to create a starting 5 "all-star" team of the worst contracts since '99, which may end up consisting entirely of players who were signed by, traded for, or appeared in a courtroom with Isiah Thomas.
Make sure to check back often as we update each weekday with new "bad contracts" for you to consider. A running list will be available here at TheRealShaq.com. This should be a lot of fun, and I sincerely hope you all enjoy reading these half as much as we will wince while writing them.
WhiskeyDizzy is a writer and Co-Founder of TheRealShaq. Have more links, tweets or funny articles? Email WhiskeyDizzy here and we'll get them up on the site for you. You can always Email The Real Shaq with general comments or questions about the site. Follow us on Twitter and get the more interesting links and retweets from the NBA and it's players, all in 140 characters or less!
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