The NBA : Publication of Salary List Stirs Up League

Not many who earn a living from professional basketball were happy last week when virtually all the salaries of National Basketball Assn. players were published in the Detroit Free Press.

General managers were upset because they try to keep such matters private, and Larry Fleisher, head of the NBA Players Assn., called the publication of the salaries “a disgraceful bit of journalism.”

The view here is that since NBA fans are largely responsible for paying players’ salaries, they have a right to know how much the players are being paid.

General Manager Les Habegger of the Seattle SuperSonics does not agree.

“I think it immediately provides opportunity for fans to react negatively to the NBA, the game of basketball and the individual players,” he said. “People assume anybody getting a million dollars is infallible. But we know that’s not true.”

According to Fleisher, not all of the salary figures published were accurate. Fleisher said that the list was not provided by the players’ union but from a “black book” compiled by the league last February.

“The giveaway is the salary they had for Bill Walton ($3.35 million),” Fleisher said. “That salary is based on an option-clause provision that the Clippers never exercised.”

General Manager Carl Scheer of the Clippers confirmed that the published salary of Walton reflected the terms of his old contract, which expired after last season. After a summer of free agency, Walton signed a multiyear contract two days into training camp.

“They must have used last year’s book on Bill’s contract,” Scheer said. “In his new contract, he earns a much lower base salary, but he can earn a lot more than that previous figure ($3.35 million) with several incentives we’ve agreed to.”

In most cases, however, the Free Press figures were correct to the penny.

Besides breaking down the highest paid players by position, Free Press writer Charlie Vincent listed all-overpaid and all-underpaid teams.

Two Lakers--Jamaal Wilkes at $860,000 and Mitch Kupchak at $1.15 million--were the forwards on the all-overpaid team. Kupchak has battled to make it back from knee surgery, and Wilkes lost his starting spot early this season.

Larry Spriggs at $90,000, starting in Wilkes’ place at forward for the Lakers, is on the all-underpaid team, along with former UCLA center Mark Eaton, who makes only $133,000 for the Utah Jazz.

Meanwhile, the New York Knicks dominated Vincent’s all-injured team. Center Bill Cartwright at $600,000, forward Truck Robinson at $540,000 and forward Marvin Webster at $450,000 have guaranteed contracts and have missed the entire season because of injuries.

The lowest-paid player, according to the list, is Denver Nugget reserve guard Mike Evans, who makes only $65,000. That is surprising because Evans is the Nuggets’ third guard and figures prominently in Coach Doug Moe’s fast-break offense.

“I didn’t like the news coming out,” Evans told the Denver Post. “I wanted to keep it quiet, hoping something could be done about it after the season. And all of a sudden, every newspaper in the country prints my salary. I know sports are in the limelight and people like to read about athletes, but some things should be sacred.”

Shortly after the salaries were published, Denver President Vince Boryla said, in so many words, that Evans was lucky to be in the league after having done time in the Continental Basketball Assn.

“He hasn’t done that much,” Boryla said.

Evans’ reply: “I didn’t like what was said, I think I’ve made some contribution to this team--and not just this year. I really don’t see how what I did in the past was overlooked.”

It was a tough week for Frank Layden, coach and general manager of the Utah Jazz.

Monday night against the Clippers at the Sports Arena, Layden was upset because he believed the officials were favoring the Clippers. He asked guard Darrell Griffith to take a piece of chalk and draw an outline of a dead body on the court to make his point.

Griffith did it, but the officials didn’t find it funny.

Three days later against the Lakers at the Forum, Layden walked off the court, up a ramp and out of the building with two minutes left in the game, which the Jazz were losing.

Michael Jordan, rookie star for the Chicago Bulls, apparently can’t wait until next month’s NBA all-star dunking contest. Jordan says he will attempt a dunk that mere mortals only dream about.

“I will dunk from the foul line,” Jordan said. “I used to do that all the time at North Carolina after practice. I don’t think anybody’s done it in a game...I’ve got some things that people have never seen. I’ve got some glide. And I plan on showing people.”

Boston’s Larry Bird on Jordan: “Michael Jordan is the best I’ve ever faced. Forget about that rookie garbage. He’s the best. I used to think it was Moses (Malone), but now there’s no doubt in my mind. It’s Jordan.”

Hal Childs, Golden State’s assistant general manager, recently sent the following memo to his employees: “I have been informed by the Oakland Coliseum that the Miami Dolphins will be working out the week of Jan. 14 at the outdoor facility. I have also been informed that these workouts are closed. That means we can’t watch, troops. As far as I’m concerned, it also means the Dolphins will not be able to watch us practice.”

The Dolphins won’t be missing much. The Warriors have the NBA’s worst record, 10-26.