James Harden of the Houston Rockets has signed a four year contract extension that will run through the 2022-2023 season. It is reported that the deal will be worth over $170 million over four years. Harden will now earn $228 million total through the end of his contract.
In the 2016-17 season, Harden averaged 29.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 11.2 assists per game. Harden was playing on the level of eventual MVP Russel Westbrook, and as such, deserved to be paid like an elite player. That being said, this is an impressively large deal that may leave some wondering if Harden is worth this type of money.
Harden’s new deal even outdoes Steph Curry, who just signed a 5 year, $201 million dollar deal. These massive deals are the result of league wide revenue growth which grew to $8 billion in the past year. The only other league to beat out the NBA is the NFL, with $14 billion in league wide revenue.
According to Forbes writer Vincent Frank:
This all comes on the heels of the NBA striking a nine-year, $24 billion national television deal with ESPN and Turner Sports. That has a direct impact on how max salaries and the cap itself work. With increased television revenue and skyrocketing popularity, the NBA is in the midst of the greatest era in its history, It really is the sports equivalent of trickle-down economics. If the owners and the league are making bread, so will the players.
The economics of the NBA is changing quickly. Tell me what you think about it. Is Harden worth upwards of $40 million a year?
Personally, I follow the NHL and the NBA pretty closely, and I find it amazing that Connor McDavid will makes the same amount as Kelly Olynyk next year. I understand how the popularity of the two leagues diverges, but I still think it’s amazing nevertheless.
Something to note, while NFL makes more top line revenue - players get a slightly smaller percentage and have more mouths to feed.
In other words, have your kids dribble instead of run routes
Not sure why everyone has been making such a huge deal out of this. The dude just signed a max contract as he should. This is going to be the norm for every max contract from here on out. It's not like he got special treatment or anything.
I see absolutely nothing wrong with the Rockets maxing him. Everyone complaining that he isn't worth 40 mil a year is going to be shitting their pants when Deandre Jordan gets a 4 yr/160 million or 5/200 million offer next summer.
I think most of the outrage has been similar to what you're hearing from guys like former NFLer Terrance Knightly who don't see it as fair that NFLers and other pro athletes don't get paid what guys in the NBA get. And Deandre Jordan will be another in a long line of big men that NBA teams will grossly over pay for.
It's fucking stupid that athletes get paid as much as they do. Their contributions to society are dismal at best, and half of them blow it all on stupid shit. America needs to wake the fuck up.
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