Why did Magic Johnson accept a 25 year, $25 million contract w/ the Lakers?

A better question is why any team would sign someone over a 25 year period, with no guarantee that the player would be healthy for that long.

[QUOTE=Kblaze8855]He signed for twice what doctor J made the previous year...for the next 25 years. Imagine that....getting 25 years of double the biggest stars money after your rookie season?

Moses Malone had the first million dollar(single season) deal like a year earlier. Kareem wasnt even making a million. bird made like 600 thousand at the time.

People had million dollar deals but spread over years. Pistol Pete had the first million dollar deal I think. And it was like a 3-4 year deal.

Magic had no way of knowing how insane deals would get after the Hawks broke the system by giving Koncak Bird/Jordan/Barkley money.[/QUOTE]

How old are you bro? Kblaze is freaking full of knowledge.

[QUOTE=tmacattack33]A better question is why any team would sign someone over a 25 year period, with no guarantee that the player would be healthy for that long.[/QUOTE]


Teams get insurance on players contracts just for that reason.The Lakers and Buss made a commitment that they wanted Maajic a Laker for the rest of his life.

[QUOTE=starter]This is not true. I remember watching Lakers/Celtics first finals on the 80's (I think 84) live on CBS prime time. TBS used to broadcast many many playoff games also (mid-80's).[/QUOTE]

Then your memory is likely faulty.

From 1975 to 1986, you could not count on all the games in the NBA finals to be broadcast live.

In earlier rounds, only weekend games were live, and only on the west coast. Anything else was broadcast on tape-delay at 11:30 p.m. after the late-night news.

TBS began their affiliation with the NBA in 1984-85.

In 1986, neither TBS or CBS carried Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, relegating that to local TV. This would be the last time any NBA Conference Finals game was not aired on a national network.

During the 1989 NBA Playoffs only 13 of the 24 Games 1-3 in Round 1 appeared on TBS or CBS. For example, none of the four games from the Seattle-Houston first round series appeared on national television.

[QUOTE=JMT]Then your memory is likely faulty.

From 1975 to 1986, you could not count on all the games in the NBA finals to be broadcast live.

In earlier rounds, only weekend games were live, and only on the west coast. Anything else was broadcast on tape-delay at 11:30 p.m. after the late-night news.

TBS began their affiliation with the NBA in 1984-85.

In 1986, neither TBS or CBS carried Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, relegating that to local TV. This would be the last time any NBA Conference Finals game was not aired on a national network.

During the 1989 NBA Playoffs only 13 of the 24 Games 1-3 in Round 1 appeared on TBS or CBS. For example, none of the four games from the Seattle-Houston first round series appeared on national television.[/QUOTE]


I think your mistake the 80 lakers/Sixers game was show live. The last tape delayed game was 79 Bullets/Sonics . But that was 30 years ago I could be wrong.

[QUOTE=JMT]Then your memory is likely faulty.

From 1975 to 1986, you could not count on all the games in the NBA finals to be broadcast live.
[/QUOTE]

I think I was talking about 1984 NBA FINALS.

Well, this is what is written on the source that you have gotten your info from:

WIKI:
[QUOTE]While [B]CBS would stop using tape delay after the 1981 NBA Finals[/B], many first round playoff games were not nationally televised (a practice that didn't begin until 1995).[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=DTreats]Also, $25 million is A LOT of money for a poor urban kid .[/QUOTE]
either you're a racist or you've NEVER read or seen Earvin's life story

which ever it is...you're on ignore

Also back then, you could probably go to about every game without having season tickets, as they were affordable. Today, I go 1-2 times a season, usually buying 100-150 dollar tickets.

[quote=jbryan1984]Also back then, you could probably go to about every game without having season tickets, as they were affordable. Today, I go 1-2 times a season, usually buying 100-150 dollar tickets.[/quote]

Best seats for a Jazz game were $12 in 80-81!

It would be like a player today signing a contract of $700 million for 25 years.