Jul
13
July 13, 1981 – Magic’s $25 Million Contract for 25 Years
Filed Under On This Day . . ., Loose Balls
Remember when Eddy Curry laughed at the Chicago Bulls in 2005 when the organization offered a $400,000 annuity for the next 50 years if he failed a DNA test determining his “susceptibility to a fatal heart problem.”
Essentially calling Chicago’s proposition insulting in the midst of ugly and controversial contract negotiations, Curry refused to take the DNA test after missing the end of the 2004-2005 season with an irregular heartbeat.
With bridges burned on both sides, the Bulls quickly traded Curry to the Knicks in a deal that ultimately netted draft picks resulting in Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah.
Now imagine what Curry would think of the deal that Earvin “Magic” Johnson signed with the Los Angeles Lakers back in the summer of 1981.
Clearly wanting Johnson as part of its organization in some form or capacity for years to come, the Lakers signed the point guard after his second season to a then astounding $25 million deal for 25 years, a move that some teammates resented and reportedly left Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wondering if the Magic Man would ultimately have input on management’s basketball decisions.
While most NBA players would be heard laughing from coast-to-coast into the wee hours of the night at the idea of making $1 million per year nowadays, Johnson’s deal was quite lucrative at the time, especially when considering that the minimum salary at the end of the 1980-1981 season was reportedly $65,000.
Of course, Johnson’s salary would be adjusted in the following years to accommodate the growth in salaries given to other star players of the decade.
This adjustment would of course precede the absolute explosion in player salaries in the nineties, when the Washington Bullets gave Juwan Howard a 7-year, $105 million deal in 1996 and officially made him the first $100 million man in league history after the Miami Heat had illegally tried to do the same for him earlier that summer.
If you haven’t stopped laughing at Howard’s contract, consider some of the free agent signings at the guard position this week and see just how quickly some of these contracts will surpass or approach Magic’s original landmark deal in 1981 for 25 years.
• Clippers sign Baron Davis to 5-year, $65 million contract;
• Warriors sign Corey Maggette to 5-year, $50 million contract;
• Kings resign Beno Udrith to 5-year, $32.323 million contract;
• Knicks sign Chris Duhon to 2-year deal worth more than $11 million; and
• Spurs sign Roger Mason to 2-year contract worth just under $8 million.
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