Larry Bird is regarded as one of the most important players in the history of the NBA. Most are aware of Bird’s spectacular performances on the court.
But Larry Legend is also responsible for why NBA players started getting guaranteed contracts. Executive Director of the NFLPA, DeMaurice Smith, recently shared the story about how Larry Bird changed how NBA players were paid in a recent episode of the ‘Earn Your Leisure’ podcast.
“Why are more NBA contracts guaranteed than NFL contracts? So if you go back in history, you take a look, there was a two-year story,” Smith said. “Moses Malone, when he renegotiated his contract, he broke the bank. He had the largest contract in NBA history. The next year, Larry Bird comes up to renegotiate his contract. Larry Bird says, ‘I want more money than Moses Malone.’
“Celtics go, ‘No.’ Larry Bird says, ‘Okay, I looked at Moses Malone’s contract, and I noticed that he had a base salary of X, he got a bonus if he got Y.’ If he became MVP. He got a bonus if they won the world championship. He got a bonus if he sold a certain amount of apparel. Larry Bird’s agent, Bob Woolf, came back and said, ‘We want the same money as Moses Malone, but we don’t want any incentives tied to it.’ So Larry Bird’s contract in basketball became the first contract where it was fully guaranteed.
“No incentives. No nothing. And so from that point forward, every major free agent had their contract structured like Larry Bird’s contract. That’s how they got guaranteed contracts in basketball. Not by their CBA, but by custom.”
(Starts at 23:04)
The story just goes to prove how important Larry Bird truly was to the NBA. Bird and his agent may have done it to match the contract of Moses Malone, but it ended up in changing the future of contract negotiations for NBA players.
How Much Money Did Larry Bird Make In His Career?
Larry Bird was one of the best players in the NBA during the 1980s. He led the Boston Celtics to three NBA Championships in the decade. On top of that, Bird also won three MVP awards.
Keeping that in mind, Bird undoubtedly received a high salary during his tenure with the Celtics. Our very own Kyle Daubs broke down Larry Bird’s salary for each season in a detailed manner.
For his career, Larry Legend earned $24.07 million in salaries. But that number could have been higher if Bird didn’t reject $4.5 million from the Celtics just to retire three days before his contract automatically renewed.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
