Karalis: The NBA is different, but it doesn't mean 'competitive spirit' doesn't exist for players

We are entering a new era of NBA basketball. The money has already been outrageous, with 16 different players making at least $40 million last season and six slated to make at least $50 million this season. But the year after that, 12 players are already going to make $50 million or more, and that's not counting players like Jayson Tatum, who will join the list with new contracts. 

It won’t be long before the league goes from one $50 million player in 2022-23 to one on every team before this new collective bargaining agreement ends. As it stands right now, there are already five players who will make $60 million in the 2026-27 season, just three seasons from now: Damian Lillard, Anthony Davis, Jaylen Brown, Devin Booker, and Karl-Anthony Towns. 

Money is flooding the league, bringing with it the fear of complacency. On a recent episode of “Ticket and Truth,” Paul Pierce expressed concern that the money is extinguishing the fire in some of todays’ players. 

(Warning: video is NSFW)

"I don't see the competitive spirit there,” Pierce told Kevin Garnett. “I worked my whole life to get to a point where it's like, 'Damn, I just signed for a $150 million contract, and I got another $100 million in shoe deals.' … I'll never forget you said this, Ticket. If you wanna see how real a motherf---er is, give them a boatload of money." 

This question came up in a recent Q&A, where Tatum’s desire to win a championship was questioned. And to a degree, I can understand where the questions are coming from. Checking the competitive fire in today’s players isn’t quite as obvious as it used to be. 

Pierce and Garnett, as well as other former players, have a perspective that we don’t, so I’m sure they see some underlying issues that escape the rest of us. Are there players who get big contracts and believe their work is done? You bet, and that tends to be exposed pretty quickly. A lack of desire to improve shows up in camp and on the floor. 

There are plenty of people tracking the progress of these players, and if, over the course of the deal, it becomes clear the desire is waning, then teams will weigh the pros and cons of how much production is coming from a certain player and whether that guy is worth keeping.

Laziness to that degree tends to get exposed. But the bigger conversation revolves around the lives these guys can lead nowadays. 

Brown’s massive new extension is done, so he’s guaranteed about $300 million no matter what he does from now on. Jayson Tatum is easily rolling to a contract that’ll be worth more than that, setting him up to make more than half a billion dollars in gross earnings into his early 30’s and a chance to sign one more fat deal. 

Between basketball contracts and endorsements, Tatum has a chance to eclipse a billion dollars in gross earnings by the time he retires. 

Life is different for today’s NBA star.

There's nothing preventing these guys from jet-setting around the world, showing up in any exotic locale of their choice. They have the means to spend their offseason anywhere they want, mingling with whomever they choose, and partying with the glitziest A-listers. 

There's also nothing preventing you from seeing that, which leads to perceptions about players. This new generation of sports star grew up on social media. Jayson Tatum was eight when Twitter launched and 12 when Instagram joined the scene. Their formative years coincided with the rise of social platforms. 

And with that came the rise of players as brands. 

Jaylen Brown isn’t doing a ton of endorsements but he’s trying like hell to turn his “7uice” brand into something big. He’s regularly seen after practice wearing “7uice” gear on the court instead of Celtics gear, presumably because he wants the media to see the brand and to be photographed in it whenever possible. 

He’s certainly not alone in trying to build his own business rather than sell something based on his popularity. Brown is trying to own his image and likeness, building his own empire along the way, which is admirable. It’s also something that is relatively new to the league, and it requires brain power that theoretically could be put towards something more basketball-centric. 

Every calculated branding move, especially one that is tied to a game, can be perceived as a distraction. Every time a guy chooses a specific outfit, wears a certain pair of shoes, or otherwise acts in a way to enhance a brand during basketball hours, it’s seen as something that takes mental energy away from the game itself. 

This provides fertile ground for questions and criticisms. Players who fail under these circumstances are now open to the “if you weren’t so focused on this other thing, maybe you would have made that play” kind of comments. Players who make commercials, show up on social media at parties, or are seen doing things other than working out and practicing open themselves up to comments about needing to work out and practice more. 

It’s easier than ever to question a player’s motivations because it’s easier than ever to have those motivations tested. When you have the money to do anything you want, it’s pretty easy to pack up the family and just go do something fun. If I had that many zeros in my bank account, I guarantee you my summers would include beaches, boats, and booze.

But does that necessarily mean they're not working towards the ultimate goal? How many of their 16 waking hours should be dedicated to working out and preparing for the upcoming season? Two? Four? Six? 

Even the most psychotic workout plan leaves many hours of downtime to do other things. Even if some of that time is spent looking at film and studying other players and teams, there are hours and hours of time available to talk business, or whatever else, with friends, family, and advisors. 

That means commercials can be shot. That means they can get to parties. That means that a lot of the perception that comes with this new world of seemingly unlimited money ends up being mostly assumptions. 

Do some guys get massive contracts and coast? Sure. That's a tradition as old as time, and it’s not exclusive to athletes. I’ve seen people get promotions and lose focus just like you probably have, and for a lot less money. 

Big contracts can distract players from their hard work and development, but that's not just a 2023 thing. That's been happening since big contracts began. Pierce himself signed a big three-year extension in 2006 that paid him $60 million over three years. The Celtics went out and had a 24-win season the year after that was signed. 

Do you think sports talk radio gave Pierce a pass, or do you think these same questions about his competitive spirit came up back then? 

Players used to have the luxury of coming to training camp and using that time to get into shape, but that doesn’t fly anymore. If a player comes into camp out of shape or has regressed somehow over the summer, it’s obvious to everyone right away. With so many more media outlets covering the team, with social media outlets and podcasts to amplify the reporting, any offseason slip up can quickly cut a player down. 

The focus on immediate dividends adds a layer of pressure on today’s stars that didn’t exist in the past. For all the shade thrown at modern players, few look at the shape guys are in to start the season as evidence they’d been working. If workout videos aren’t posted on Instagram, people tend to think the workouts didn’t exist at all. 

Pierce’s questioning of the competitive spirit in the league ignores how the league has changed. Just because times are different, it doesn’t mean times are worse. Is today’s player a little more coddled than those of the past? Sure. The minimum wage for a first-year player is now more than a million dollars. That's what Kareem Abdul Jabbar was making in Los Angeles 40 years ago, so today’s player can afford more and do more. 

But no one gets to the league and reaches the highest level without a competitive fire that burns at a ridiculous level. Maybe it burns hotter in some guys than others, but that's just how human nature works. Some people are satisfied, some people aren’t. 

There will always be an example of a player who is just happy to be paid and who’ll never get better after that first monster contract is signed. Tatum and Brown will sit in front of a camera 40 years from now and bemoan how the league has changed and how things are too easy for that generation. It’s what retired legends do.

But that doesn’t mean they're always right. You’re not going to see video of Tatum running around the TD Garden like Larry Bird in order to get some laps in. They played a different game back then and were expected to be different kinds of players than today’s generation. Science has changed how players train. 

I think there's plenty of competitive fire in the league. Maybe it looks a little different than it used to, but it’s there. 

Things change. Just because things are different, it doesn’t mean they are worse. It can simply mean that things are just … different. And that's okay.