When Kemba Walker became a free agent this summer, he was eligible for a super-max offer from the Hornets that would have been worth $221.6MM over five years. While an offer in that range was always considered unlikely, a standard maximum-salary offer from Charlotte would have paid the All-NBA point guard $189.9MM over five years.
However, in late June, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith reported that the Hornets’ offer to Walker was “somewhere in the ballpark of $160MM-plus” (link via NBC Sports). And according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the team’s best offer wasn’t even quite that strong. League sources tell Charania that Charlotte’s best five-year offer to Walker came in just under $160MM, which frustrated the 29-year-old.
“Tough days, f—ing tough days, I can’t even lie,” Walker told Charania, referring to his free agency. “Excuse my language. It was difficult. I couldn’t see myself just being on another team. It was just hard. That’s all I’ve known was Charlotte. Definitely some tough times. I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to get the offer that I wanted, and maybe not close to it, because of cap space. I had to get my head wrapped around the feeling and picking another team.”
The Celtics didn’t initially project to have the cap room necessary to sign a player like Walker, but with Kyrie Irving, Al Horford, Marcus Morris, and others on the way out, the team gained increased flexibility. Kemba, meanwhile, became increasingly bullish on the idea of joining the C’s, with their proximity to his alma mater of UConn among the many factors that appealed to him, per Charania.
Walker ultimately landed in Boston on a four-year, $140.8MM contract, which didn’t match the overall value of Charlotte’s offer, but was a stronger deal on a per-year basis. Although it was bittersweet to leave the Hornets, the three-time All-Star said he understands “the business side of things” and isn’t upset about the way his old team handled things.
“I’m not mad at M.J. (Hornets owner Michael Jordan) or the organization for anything,” Walker told Charania. “I understand it. You have to look at both sides at the end of the day. Could M.J. have went over the luxury tax? Yeah, he could have. But why?
“At the end of the day, you have to see both sides of it. That’s what helped me wrap my head around not being around Charlotte anymore. I loved Charlotte. I had to shift my mindset more as free agency got close. I had some priorities and places I wanted to go and didn’t want to go if I didn’t stay in Charlotte, and that’s when Boston even came on the scene.”
I want his “tough days”.
It’s always hard when you think you’re gonna get 190 million and then you have to look at 150 million staring you in the face
Well, i had a situation really similar, so i know what he means. It s really hard. I Hope he will have better days in the future. It can t rain all the time, kemba.
Really similar with probably taking off a couple zeros.
No, he didn’t have anything close to similar happen, that s why there is no details. Just a teenager trying to be cool.
I read an article and that perfectly summarized why Charlotte didn’t push as hard to bring back Kemba. In the 7 years before him they made the playoffs once and didn’t get past the first round. With him they made the playoffs 2 times in 8 years, never getting past the first round. Despite how great he was in charlotte the success wasn’t there to warrant bringing him back on such a large contract.
Agree and that’s why they should have traded him!!!!!!
They did trade him.
Yeah, they should have traded him, they could have gotten picks, and most likely relieved themselves of one bad contract that could have been attached in a trade with Kemba’s $12M salary
If they sent those bad contracts with him, kiss the picks goodbye.
The problem was that the trade deadline came before all star weekend. It would’ve been bad press to trade your all star and host the game without him
I wish I could be “frustrated” by a 5 year/$150 million job offer. Heck, I (and most other people) wish to be “frustrated” by a 50 year/$150 million job offer. The greed involved in pro sports, by everyone involved, really does become sickening sometimes.
I mean sure, apples to apples we all want to be frustrated by that. But it also comes down to the fact that I doubt you bring in anywhere near 1/1000th of the revenue for your company that Kemba will over the life of this deal. Also, all the money they make in their careers comes in a short window. So of course you want his money, and of course they’re a little greedy, but they have actually earned the money by driving league revenue up, so if you don’t want them to get paid like that, stop watching. Otherwise, the argument makes no sense.
If I stop watching tomorrow and never watch another NBA game for the rest of my life, it will not affect ANYTHING. Other than depriving me of entertainment.
I’m not saying these guys shouldn’t get paid what the market allows them to. I have no problem with their salaries. My problem is when they start talking frustration regarding money that is probably bigger than GDP of several small island nations. I don’t have a problem with them getting their money, but I don’t want to hear people getting offered $150 million complaining about how it’s not enough.
Plus, if you take Kemba off the Celtics, they are still going to make a whole lot of money. So does Kemba actually bring in the money? He is just a part of an already huge money making business. Yes, they might not win as many games and that could theoretically hurt jersey sales or ticket sales. But their TV revenue will be exactly the same. And people would just buy someone else’s jersey. And someone else would step up as the team’s star. Individual players are VERY insignificant in the grand scheme of the NBA.
If you view the offer against the potential, it comes off more relatable to the average person. Yes, $150 million is more money than any of us will ever see. And yes, complaining about being offered that much money is gone deaf. But I think we can all agree that being paid less money than less skilled workers is relatable. We’ve all felt like that happened to us. And I really think that’s his complaint.
“But it also comes down to the fact that I doubt you bring in anywhere near 1/1000th of the revenue for your company that Kemba will over the life of this deal.”
And this is likely what made Charlotte forego paying Walker. Their attendance is putrid, even with him playing out of his mind. The TV contract is the TV contract, so Charlotte will get their money. Walker’s presence hasn’t helped them with gate receipts or with winning, so why pay him so much money? It was truly a no-brainer to not offer him anywhere near the max. Honestly, for what the organization stood to benefit…$150M was about $100M too much.
$32MM for 5 years, or $35MM for 4 years. If you love a place, you take the 32×5. Especially since, after 4 years, getting that $20MM total difference is iffy.
Walker is probably more adaptible than Irving, but I doubt the team gets any farther. A good point is that Hayward is more likely to flourish and be worth his money with Walker than with Irving. Hayward is likely to lead in assists and Walker can live with that.
Yea but its Charlotte. That roster is terrible. Even if you like PJ and Bridges a lot.
Celtics have a better young core.
Exactly. But he has to find another reason for the press. The money reason however is pretty bogus.
Hornets played their youth a lot late in the season, despite being close to playoff qualifying, I think to impress Walker. They may have surrendered 8th place to do that. They must have known what he would be looking for in free agency. Didn’t work, he went elsewhere despite CHA’s competitive offer.
I think he lost some net goodwill there! He won’t gain in Boston what he lost in Charlotte.
No more sour grapes. Kemba wears green with pride…kick some butt. They will be a better team….kyrie was a poop disturber. Tacko!
That insult is so fresh-smelling and, well, disturbing, that I am inclined to credit spellcheck for its originality and quality.
Fall!
People can say all they want that pro athletes operate in a different world, with a different mindset—and I’m one of the first to speak up in defense of them getting huge contracts—but Walker’s comments about his contract offer are downright insulting (to anyone) and completely out of touch. If he wanted to say that he was disappointed he wasn’t being offered “market value”, fine, he has a legitimate gripe. However, to say that it was a “tough day” when he was offered more money that 99.9% of the population will see in a lifetime should make him feel ashamed.
I don’t care what any athletes makes. They are paid based on revenues their businesses generate. And the revenues that team’s generate is based on what the market will bear. If suddenly every pro athlete agreed to take 1/3 of their salaries, the cost of tickets, TV deals, merchandize, and concessions would not drop a dime, because they are set at prices people will pay. So the revenues for the teams will always be there, the players should get their fair share. But to suggest it is “tough”, like you’re not sure you’re going to be able to pay your rent or buy your kids a new backpack for school, is disgusting. It’s probably not what he meant, but he definitely could have (and should have) worded it better. It reeks of entitlement and being way out of touch with reality. (And the sad thing is that far too many athletes end up broke anyway, because they have no idea how to deal with the sudden onset of mega-cash. Same reason why a number of lottery winners go broke.)
I love when everyday civilians comment things like “how can you complain about x when you make x amount of dollars?” Shut up. No one posting on this site is in the top 100 of their profession and no one posting on this site would rather have 140$ million versus 190$ million.
this was so real.
Everyday civilians? Really?
I love it when anonymous people tell complete strangers to shut up as if those complete strangers cared one bit about what those anonymous people thought about their opinion. You don’t like what I have to say, I’m not forcing you to read it. But don’t ever tell me to shut up. You’re not my wife.
Dude, don’t take that crap from your wife. I would rather an anonymous person tell me to shut up than my wife. She needs to respect you for the kind and generous person you are. While her opinion may be valuable and helpful to you, she really ought to respect you better than to cut you off so rudely.
Dude, if I weren’t already married, I might propose to you right now. :D
No one said, “How can you complain about x”. People are just busting on the dude because he was all “tough times” That’s how it goes man. Rich people complain about things and the middle and lower classes bust on them because of it.
Been going on since there were economic systems. Nothing to get wound up about.
No one said, “How can you complain about x”. People are just busting on the dude because he was all “tough times” That’s how it goes man. Rich people complain about things and the middle and lower classes bust on them because of it.
Been going on since there were economic systems. Nothing to get wound up about.
Good enough to post twice. Actually I’m liking everyone’s posts on this page (so far).