Jalen Brunson's Pay Cut Dominance

David paid for a sling

Twelve years ago, I stumbled into a bit of accidental controversy. Perhaps that part isn’t a surprise but the source of the backlash might be: An article crediting Tim Duncan. The TrueHoop piece titled, “Tim Duncan willing to pay the price for titles,” established the logic of Timmy taking a pay cut in order to help his Spurs win another championship. Deadspin responded with a scathing article (can’t find it) because my framing was somehow violative of the pro-union, anti-owner ideology over there. I just saw what happened as labor making a choice, though: Tim Duncan gets to pay for what Tim Duncan wants and Timmy wants a title.

The question on my mind is whether such an act should be considered part of a player’s overall value. In real sports terms within a salary capped league, it certainly is. We just don’t, understandably, debate player rankings with this aspect incorporated.

With that, and specifically underpaid Jalen Brunson now in mind, this message comes from Nick Culver of the aptly named Unlikely Shortcuts Substack.

Relatively new sub and I’ve been loving your NBA coverage. Was building this when you dropped “The Knicks Are Breaking My Understanding of Basketball” and found the narrative really matched up.