Steinberg: Money isn’t always No. 1

I am always amazed by the prevailing stereotype that superstars in sport make free agency decisions based on money alone. The blockbuster decision by Oklahoma City Forward Kevin Durant to sign with the Golden State Warriors once again illustrates how critical winning a championship is to impact players. They have generally aggregated significant fortunes in the years leading to current free agency and are already on their way to lifetime security. Having represented star players in the NFL, MLB, and the NBA for the last 42 years, the decision-making process in determining where to sign is very different than portrayed publicly.

Players and agents consider what the conditions and options will be at the end of a current contract far in advance of when the decision-making point occurs. A calculation is made as to trying to time the player’s best performance and desirability with rising revenue in the sport and the most desirable options among teams. Players like the Cavaliers’ LeBron James signed one year contracts last year knowing that a huge boost in television revenue was coming over the next two years that would create an increase in salary-cap allocations and provide for much larger contracts. Back in 1984, Warren Moon timed his departure from the Canadian Football League so that it would coincide with the presence of the USFL and the lack of free agency in the NFL. That put him in the unique position of having three leagues and twelve teams competing to sign a young, proven franchise quarterback.

The critical component of the process is encouraging a player to do an internal inventory of his values and priorities. How important is short-term financial gain, long-term financial security, geographical location, family considerations, profile, and endorsements? How important is being on a winning team, the quality of coaching, the system that is run, the facilities? These will fit differently into different athlete’s lives. Everyone in America values being well-paid and having security, but for these athletes in free agency, making another couple hundred thousand dollars doesn’t make the difference in their ability to take a vacation or fix up the roof on their house. They are already in a favored financial status.

Athletes have many qualities that make them unique — one of them is hyper-competitiveness. These are the folks that will try to beat you at tiddlywinks. They want to win! I learned early never to compete with athletic clients at sports. I beat one of my early clients in ping pong (the only sport I had the slightest chance of doing so) and he refused to talk to me the rest of the day. They are acutely aware of their position in a sport as it relates to their peers. They want to be known as greatest at their position and have legacy in their sports. Nothing confers legacy and status more than winning. Of course every athlete wants to be well-compensated, but what alters their life and career is winning. Given the chance, most star athletes will choose the franchise that gives them the best opportunity for championship rings.