Throwback Thursday: January 17, 2019

Here's something I found earlier today:

A Jarring Look At How Much The Biggest NBA Salaries Have Changed In 25 Years

Cork Gaines Jan. 9, 2014, 3:47 PM

It is no surprise that salaries in professional sports continue to rise. But looking back to how much players made just 25 years ago shows how drastically salaries have changed.

Recently, Darren Rovell of ESPN came across a list of the 15 highest-paid players in the NBA during the 1988-89 season as originally reported in Sport Magazine.

Those 15 highest-played players 25 years ago had an average salary of just $1.9 million or approximately $3.7 million in today's dollars. For comparison, the 15 highest-paid players in the NBA this season will make an average salary of $20.3 million.

On the next few pages we will take a look at the 15 highest-paid players in 1988-89 and how they compare to the current highest-paid players in the NBA (2013-14 salary information via Spotrac.com).

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For the comparison of the salaries of players #15 through #1, use this link:

https://www.businessinsider.com/nba-highet-paid-2014-1

Look at #6.  Larry Bird (Boston Celtics) and Dwight Howard (Houston Rockets)

Larry Bird's 1988-89 salary: $1.8 million.  I think that is the same year that Kevin McHale accepted a $1.2 million contract.  Kevin decided to take less than Larry Bird because, well, he wasn't Larry Bird.  IMO, he was always a pretty smart guy.

Dwight Howard's 2013-14 salary ($20.5 million) was over five times what Larry Bird's inflation adjusted 1988-89 salary was.  5.594444 to be exact.  That's crazy.

Anyway, use the link and enjoy the article.

gyso