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United States coach Jurgen Klinsmann criticized what he sees as an American custom of sports teams catering to star players, in quotes released on Wednesday.
Klinsmann, who left star midfielder Landon Donovan off the U.S. World Cup squad last month, singled out the NBA as ignoring his philosophy of favoring a player's future potential over past accomplishments.
The German native told The New York Times Magazine in December that he could not understand why the Los Angeles Lakers would give Kobe Bryant a two-year contract extension for $48.5 million, when the 35-year-old basketball icon's best days are likely behind him.
"This always happens in America," Klinsmann said in the interview, which was released on Wednesday. "Kobe Bryant, for example -- why does he get a two-year contract extension for $50 million? Because of what he is going to do in the next two years for the Lakers? Of course not. Of course not. He gets it because of what he has done before. It makes no sense. Why do you pay for what has already happened?"
I agree with him in the sense that we see a lot of players well past their primes still getting paid big money because of their name and their past accomplishments. Lets face it... in any profession the quality of your resume and your experiences helps you land better paying jobs, so this is no different.
However when an injury riddled Kobe Bryant is getting that kind of money and at his age... it only hurts the Lakers as a franchise... especially in a salary-cap sport.
Now... look at a guy like Mike Trout for the LA Angels... he's making $1 million a year right now...
22 years old... in his first 2 full seasons in baseball he's averaging .324 BA - 28 HR's - 90 RBI's - 40 SB's - 119 Runs scored... made All-Star team both seasons... won Rookie of the Year... and finished 2nd both years in MVP voting. HE ABSOLUTELY WILL... GET PAID BIG BUCKS.
At 22 though... and the potential of 10+ years of the above numbers... he deserves it.
So as I said... I agree with Klinsmann when it comes to the older athletes... but when young guys like Trout come along in any sport producing how they are you bet they will be paid handsomely for it.
Kobe made the Lakers 100's of millions of dollars. He will continue to make them 100's of millions of dollars. It's really pretty simple. Klinsmann is an idiot for not seeing that star power pays the bills regardless of ability.
Kobe made the Lakers 100's of millions of dollars. He will continue to make them 100's of millions of dollars. It's really pretty simple. Klinsmann is an idiot for not seeing that star power pays the bills regardless of ability.
I'm pretty sure it's the fans who buy the tickets and pay for merchandise and tv revenue etc etc etc that makes the Lakers hundreds of millions of dollars.... thus allowing teams to spend X amount of money on these players... doesn't mean it's money well spent. Has Kobe helped with all of which I listed? Sure has... but even the fans hit a breaking point. The Lakers are expected to win... and when the fans are shelling out thousands of dollars towards a lousy product, they'll even start to get impatient... no matter how many championships he's won.
It gets to a point where it becomes a "What have you done for me lately" scenario......
Klinsmann is a coach - not a CEO. He talks about ability not shirt sales.
Yeh, because everyone in British sports are there purely down to ability right? I guess the team who wins the premier league every year has nothing to do with how much money it has to spend either. Thats why so many teams have won it.. oh wait a second
Manchester City won the league in England, they got ride of the popular, but fading, Carlos Tevez - brought in Sergio Aguero and reaped the benefits.
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