No. Once they win the title, they get 48 hrs of R&R (72, if it was a sweep). Other than that, they need to get their over-paid butts into the gym! You don't hear about Durant being in Vegas - he is already working hard on getting better for next season!
Not sure you actually believe anything you posted since you tossed in three "I'm just trying to provoke" smilies at the end, but if you do actually believe this: what makes someone overpaid? Making more than you? Making more than they need to survive?
How about making more than Bayless (and Batum, while he was injured, for that matter).....who is constantly working on his game...physically or, at least, cerebrally.
Are you talking specifically about Oden? Because oldmagrouch used "they." Unless he was counting Oden's prodigious penis as a second person, he was widening it beyond Oden (to pro basketball players in general, was my guess). And potential deserves higher pay. It's like any asset in the financial world: more perceived upside increases the cost of it, more perceived risk lowers the cost. Oden had, and has, much more perceived upside than Bayless or Batum. Production will obviously matter and his injuries have added risk, which will lower his next salary (compared to what he would have gotten minus the injuries). I don't believe "work ethic" (real or perceived) should be the basis of pay, beyond how you feel it affects his upside. Not that I have any reason to believe Oden's work ethic is poor. But, for example, people believed Rasheed Wallace didn't work hard/hard enough. Maybe. I don't know. But even if so, with whatever work ethic he had, he produced what he did and should have been paid for his on-court results. Maybe he could have been even better (and earned even more money) had he worked harder. Maybe other players worked harder but, if they didn't produce as much, they shouldn't have been paid as much. I'll work my butt off for an NBA team, but it won't get me a cent (rightly) since I won't produce anything in an NBA game.
The guy is 22 and a millionaire. Let him have some fun. There are so many variables we don't know that it's asinine to jump to conclusions. As long as he is ready for training camp he can do as he pleases.
The Blazers took a risk selecting Oden #1. I would just hope that, in light of all the injuries, Greg is devoting a reasonable amount of time towards re-habbing himself. I was very impressed upon hearing that Batum spent a large amount of his injury-off-time studying various players he'd eventually have to face (Dirk Nowitzki comes to mind) so that he would be ready when called upon. I wouldn't expect any less from Greg.
Your only mistake was giving one fuck what Chode In Portland, Dwight Jaynes and that other moron had to say about the Blazers.
I think everybody is missing the point here. At least Greg isn't so bored he is taking pictures of himself and sending them out on the internet.
I totally agree with anybody who thinks this is a non-issue ... that said, I can see why it might rub some people the wrong way. The guy already had questions about his "love of the game" before he was drafted, and after the string of disappointing injuries, taking time off to "have fun" might come across as being unprofessional, or undedicated. For me, all I care about his ability to contribute when the new season rolls around. If he shows up in October, fat and out of shape and not appearing to be ready then I guess stories like these will be relevant fodder for people that wish to criticize his commitment and professionalism. In the meantime, "meh."
That's simple. People in the entertainment industry should be paid based on how much they entertain me. By that measure, many current and past members of the Blazers owe *me* money! Sadly, my efforts to collect from Polka bands, talk radio personalities, and the creators of reality TV, have become bogged down in the courts - so I won't be getting to the NBA for awhile.
They are paid by you as much as they entertain you. Meanwhile, I've made a killing buying credit default swaps on your derived entertainment from those sources.
And maybe he would have worked harder had he been paid more, and more importantly had he been shown more respect.
