At 37 years old, with almost two decades of NBA wear and tear on his body, Kobe Bryant is set to be the league's highest-paid player in 2015-16.
For the seventh consecutive season.
Now, Bryant's current deal—a two-year pact worth $48.5 million—was signed in November 2013, long before the Los Angeles Lakers actually knew how much of the old Kobe was left in a 35-year-old body rehabilitating an Achilles injury.
Yet, even then, Bryant's contract was viewed as a lifetime achievement award, not a harbinger of what he could still do. And while legacy deals such as his are a problem, they're part of a larger dilemma.
The NBA's collective bargaining agreement is, as Larry Coon's CBA FAQ shows, set up to pay players more later in their careers. And because of this arrangement, being the NBA's highest-paid player—or among its highest-paid players—doesn't mean what it should.
Familiar Faces, Excessive Contracts
Since the 1999-2000 campaign, which is as far back as ESPN.com's individual salary database goes, only three different players ha ...
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Article written by Dan Favale
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