Larry Sanders: Why I Walked Away From the NBA

[dubnation]

Exactly. I dunno what everyone's problem is with him quitting. People are too stupid to understand that money isn't everything to everyone. Just because most of us here would like to get paid to play basketball for a living doesn't mean that someone who actually has the talent to so should. Well put

I agree, but I have to admit it does irk me that he walks away with near $20M. Wish him the best of luck though.

[Milbuck]

Exactly. I dunno what everyone's problem is with him quitting. People are too stupid to understand that money isn't everything to everyone. Just because most of us here would like to get paid to play basketball for a living doesn't mean that someone who actually has the talent to so should. Well put

So give up the big majority of your contract. It's okay to have problems that prevent you from doing your job...but that doesn't mean you deserve to get paid. If money truly doesn't matter, don't take half of your $44 million contract and try to act like you don't give a shit about the money.

[SpanishACB]

Exactly. I dunno what everyone's problem is with him quitting.

pity maybe?

do you think such a bum is going to succeed at anything else after a life of being a NBA player?

[Demitri98]

So...

Basketball was just my job.

I'm a normal guy.

I love basketball but I don't feel like I can play anymore.

Basketball is not my true purpose in life.

[navy]

I would have quit and kept the 44 million.

[Draz]

Walking away with $30+ million. Dam. Can't go wrong.

[chocolatethunder]

pity maybe?

do you think such a bum is going to succeed at anything else after a life of being a NBA player?

I don't really care what he does. He's free to do anything he likes. I'm not sure even how to define success. Success to him may be sitting around and painting and feeling like he did a good painting in a month. To others it may be selling three shitty paintings a month. It's all relative.

[chocolatethunder]

I agree, but I have to admit it does irk me that he walks away with near $20M. Wish him the best of luck though.

Hey man, the Bucks could have negotiated to pay him less I imagine.

[chocolatethunder]

So give up the big majority of your contract. It's okay to have problems that prevent you from doing your job...but that doesn't mean you deserve to get paid. If money truly doesn't matter, don't take half of your $44 million contract and try to act like you don't give a shit about the money.

As i said in another reply (sorry I don't know how to reply to multiple people in one response), the Bucks didn't have to pay him that. They could have been stingy but they weren't and that's on them.

[DMV2]

I have no problem with him walking away from the game, but taking a boatload of millions with him is highway robbery.

"Sanders wil receive approx. $15.2 of remaining, spread over 7 years per stretch provision.

Contract buyout reached on February 21, 2015."
http://www.basketball-reference.com/...sandela01.html

Why did he even sign a 4-year extension in the first place if he knew this isn't his passion anymore?

[dubnation]

As i said in another reply (sorry I don't know how to reply to multiple people in one response), the Bucks didn't have to pay him that. They could have been stingy but they weren't and that's on them.

Just close the quote and open a new one, like:

[QUOTE=dubnation]"..."[endQUOTE]

---

[QUOTE=Milbuck]"..."[endQUOTE].

Back to your point, though, I wonder what goes on in the process. I imagine -- and I have no idea how it really works -- the process involves a lot of lawyers on Larry's side using the CBA to extract as much $$$ as they can out of the Bucks, rather than the Bucks being charitable. If anyone has more info on the buy-out process I'd be interested.

[AirTupac]

I have no problem with him walking away from the game, but taking a boatload of millions with him is highway robbery.

"Sanders wil receive approx. $15.2 of remaining, spread over 7 years per stretch provision.

Contract buyout reached on February 21, 2015."
http://www.basketball-reference.com/...sandela01.html

Why did he even sign a 4-year extension in the first place if he knew this isn't his passion anymore?

He may be an idiot, but he's not a retard

[chocolatethunder]

I have no problem with him walking away from the game, but taking a boatload of millions with him is highway robbery.

"Sanders wil receive approx. $15.2 of remaining, spread over 7 years per stretch provision.

Contract buyout reached on February 21, 2015."
http://www.basketball-reference.com/...sandela01.html

Why did he even sign a 4-year extension in the first place if he knew this isn't his passion anymore?

It's these kind of questions that really show immaturity and lack of understanding. Again, who knows what was going on in his head when he signed it. Maybe he was thinking that he was going to get better and get things under control. Maybe he hadn't really been having a lot of issues yet. You don't know. But saying that " I would do X so I can't understand why he didn't do what I would do" is totally foolish. I don't know why he signed that extension. Maybe he was thinking "shit, this is a ton of money, I have a lot of people depending on me, I can suck it up and play out this extension." Did that ever occur to you? Maybe the pressure of having even more money just made him crumble that much faster. Like it or not no matter how much money, fame or whatever is at stake, people aren't robots, they're humans and have problems just like people without money.

Again, I'm not saying he's some great guy or I wanna be his best friend, I'm just looking at this objectively.

[DMV2]

He may be an idiot, but he's not a retard

But it seems like he's expecting people to feel sorry for him.

He comes off more like a jackass and a contract thief than anything.

I wouldn't be mad if he donates a lot of that to charity.

[DMV2]

It's these kind of questions that really show immaturity and lack of understanding. Again, who knows what was going on in his head when he signed it. Maybe he was thinking that he was going to get better and get things under control. Maybe he hadn't really been having a lot of issues yet. You don't know. But saying that " I would do X so I can't understand why he didn't do what I would do" is totally foolish. I don't know why he signed that extension. Maybe he was thinking "shit, this is a ton of money, I have a lot of people depending on me, I can suck it up and play out this extension." Did that ever occur to you? Maybe the pressure of having even more money just made him crumble that much faster. Like it or not no matter how much money, fame or whatever is at stake, people aren't robots, they're humans and have problems just like people without money.

Again, I'm not saying he's some great guy or I wanna be his best friend, I'm just looking at this objectively.

His personal issues, personal life is on him. He's free to do whatever he wants in life. However, his contract is a partnership and a commitment between him and his employer, the Bucks. And the guy just got away with $15 million to do nothing.

This would never happen to everyday working folks like us, we wouldn't be able to command a buyout like this (getting 34% of your salary to do nothing) because we have personal issues at home or whatever.