To most sports fans, the NBA salary cap is incomprehensible–the limits can vary for every team as well as for players, based on years of service. But two years ago, Stern orchestrated an owners’ lockout to forge a new agreement that would hold down player salaries. Having kicked butt in the settlement, Stern has now sent a message to owners that he will be equally tough in defense of that deal. Smith’s contract was revealed only as a result of a lawsuit between his agent and one of his employees.
The T-Wolves, strapped by the salary cap after signing star Kevin Garnett for a record $126 million, were desperate to retain another talented big man to complement him. “Joe has to do what Joe has to do,” says Garnett. “He can’t worry about us.” Stern, too, has bigger concerns. The salary cap is, at least in part, about maintaining competitive balance; the just-completed World Series, victory redux for the biggest payroll, is proof that the NBA’s is a better way.
