The Dumbest Contracts In NBA History

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Can you imagine getting paid 64 million dollars to play one game for a team? Well, that happened. That's not even the craziest story in this video. Being a top five pick in the NBA Draft is no easy feat, but for John Konkak, the harder part was playing well in the league and living up to his draft hype. While attending college at SMU, the 7-foot center had a lot of Scots looking at him, while having an amazing four years in the basketball program. In the 123 college games, John averaged 14 points, 9 rebounds, and 1 assist. In the 1985 NBA Draft, he was selected fifth overall by the Atlanta Hawks. After his fourth season, he became a restricted free agent, and the Pistons offered him a $2.5 million contract that would triple his salary, making $675,000 a year. In 1988, the Atlanta Hawks offered him a whopping six-year, $13 million contract, after he averaged only four points and six rebounds the previous season. Surprisingly enough, John would never reach numbers like that again. This contract gave him a bigger salary than the two Hall of Famers, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird. After signing the deal, he was and will forever be known as John Contract. At the time, the high school star and soon to be Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal saw how much the mediocre John Concak was making, and he decided to quit football and concentrate on basketball. With this contract being so high for such an average player, there was no question that people were confused. Super agent Mark Flesher said, every agent in the business was surprised by the numbers. Obviously John was happy about the contract, even if no one else was. During an interview, he said, I'm happy with it. I think you have to look at it this way. You look at a figure you think is a fair one, then play with it, see what you can come up with. With Gilbert Arena's proven worth in the NBA, his situation with one team led to a rule named after it. In the 2001 NBA draft, Gilbert was selected with the 31st pick in the second round to the Golden State Warriors. In his rookie season with the Warriors, he started 30 games and he averaged 11 points, but the Warriors still finished last in the Western Conference that season. After the 2002-2003 season, he was traded to the Washington Wizards. After flipping a coin to decide what team to sign with between the Wizards, Warriors, and the Clippers, he signed with the Washington Wizards with a deal of six years worth $60 million. The Warriors wanted to match the offer, but they couldn't because of their salary cap, which made it not possible to match. The situation led to the Gilbert Arena's rule, which allowed teams to sign back restrictive free agents that weren't picked in the first round. He was having knee problems before the Wizards decided to give him in the same contract, and the knee injury would bother him for the rest of his career. He tore his MCL and his meniscus, and he only played 15 games for the Wizards in the 2007-2008 season, only 55 games total after signing his outrageous contract of $60 million.
With a lot of people saying that Gilbert's contract is the worst contract ever, Gilbert said this during an interview with TMZ. Well, it could be. I'm not arguing that it's not. During the interview, he soon found out that his contract is listed at number one for the worst contracts ever, and he was shocked. With Joe Smith being the first pick in the draft, alongside signing one of the biggest deals in the NBA at the time, his personal decisions led to him spinning all of his insane contract. Joe Smith was the first overall pick in the 1995 NBA draft, and he should have been a big target for teams after the lockout in 1999 Instead, he signed a one-year deal with Minnesota for $2.1 million. The big shot of the 90s signed such a small contract because him and his agent struck a secret deal with the team that was worth $86 million for seven years. He had the big contract, but he would sign a one-year contract to lower the salary cap for the Timberwolves. When the agent for Joe Smith and Kevin Garnett left his old firm, the agent sued and the secret deal was revealed to the public. The owner Glenn Taylor and general manager Scott Layden were banned for almost a year for breaking the NBA's salary cap rules with his illegal deal with Joe Smith. The outcome of this being revealed to the world, the Timberwolves lost four of their next five first-round draft picks destroying their team, just as Kevin Garnett was reaching his prime. The whole situation made the Timberwolves organization suck for almost a decade, and it ultimately ruined Smith. He eventually returned to the Timberwolves with a much smaller contract of $34 million for six years. After getting all of his money for these contracts, Joe Smith is now broke. During an interview, Joe said, A lot of people think once you sign a contract, you're an automatic millionaire. But it doesn't work like that. Nobody really explained that and broke that down to me. Then Uncle Sam, out of the $3 million, Uncle Sam's probably got to take $1.5 million of that. That's just something I had to learn. With Penny Hardaway being considered one of the better point guards in NBA history, doesn't take away from the fact that he signed two ridiculous contracts. After Hardaway's impressive rookie season with the Orlando Magic, averaging 16 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game, he made the NBA All-Rookie Team and he went into a contract holdout. After negotiating and then signing a contract worth $65 million over 13 years, it allowed him to be a restricted free agent after one season. And during an interview, Penny said, I'm more nervous about this contract than I was about the first one. The Orlando Magic head coach said that he was pleased to make Hardaway a rich man. When he said during an interview, we think as a matter of principle, this is viable from an economic standpoint, not just for the team, but for the whole league. Apparently Hardaway was seeking a contract for over 12 years worth $134 million when no one in the NBA had ever signed a contract worth over $100 million. He was then traded to the Phoenix Suns, where he signed another ridiculous contract and got a maximum deal of $87 million over 6 years. And this contract happened 2 years after Penny suffered a knee injury. At 2 years into the contract, Hardaway had 2 micro fracture surgeries on one knee. With Joakim Noah being that annoying dominant force in the paint, his massive contract only boosted his ego, but injuries got in the way of him playing barely anytime. Joakim Noah was picked by the Bulls with the 9th pick of the 2007 NBA Draft. During his time with Chicago from 2007 to 2015, he averaged 12.6 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 5.4 assists. And the 2013-2014 season was Joakim's best season. During the summer of 2016, the Knicks decided to sign a washed up Joakim Noah to a 4 year $72 million contract. During an interview after signing the contract, all Noah had to say was, it was a dream come true. Noah's body was so beat up that he only played 29 games the year before the Knicks signed him, so there was no reason to give him such a ridiculous contract. During his second season of the contract, Noah only played 40 total minutes in the entire season, meaning he made $450,000 per minute. And during his entire Knicks career, Noah had only played 95 games, and he admitted that his problem with partying is what caused him to struggle in New York. When the Knicks released him after the 2017-2018 season, Noah still got the entire value of his contract before he went to go play at the Grizzlies. With Brian Reeves being considered one of the biggest draft busts in NBA history, he also signed one of the craziest contracts as well. Brian Reeves was a seven foot center from Oklahoma State where he averaged 17 points, eight and a half rebounds, and one assist in 136 games. Brian was the first draft pick for the Vancouver Grizzlies, going sixth overall in the 1995 NBA draft. In his rookie season, he had an amazing year. He averaged 13.3 points and 16.2 points the next year, which led Brian to his biggest contract. In 1997, after just two seasons, the Grizzlies gave Brian a contract of six years worth $61 million. The only problem with that big of an investment in Reeves is that he wasn't in good condition in the off season and he had a problem staying in shape. Brian claims that the reason that he didn't work out is because in the small town of Gaines, Oklahoma, with a population of about 300 people, he didn't have anyone to play basketball with, nor did the town have a gym for him to work out in. After the NBA lockout in 1999, he weighed 315 pounds. He's probably the last player to chew tobacco. After three seasons, Brian struggled with a lot of injuries and back pain, naturally due to his size. 2001, he had to retire, only playing three seasons of his contract because he couldn't recover from his back problem. Brian was humble when it came to his contract and the money that he earned while playing in the NBA. During an interview, he said, all these contracts blow your mind, even though one, two, three million dollar contracts are big for throwing a rubber ball into the metal ring. But at the same time, you're a product on the floor, you're entertainment, you're a lot like actors. You have to put something out there people want to come see. Jason Williams went from a solid NBA player who signed big contracts to his life falling apart due to bad habits and a leg injury. The 6'10 center played basketball for St. John's University. During his 72 games at college, Williams averaged 15 points, 6.8 rebounds, and half an assist per game before entering the draft. Williams was the 21st overall pick in the 1990 NBA draft by the Phoenix Suns. He was then traded to the 76ers and then to the Brooklyn Nets, where he got his big payday. After only starting 12 games in his first 3 seasons, he finally got a full time starting position in the 1996-97 season. After a remarkable season, he got picked up for his first and only All-Star game, which then led to his contract extension. During the negotiation for his contract, the Nets were offering Williams over $100 million, but soon changed their minds, which made Jason really upset, enough to make him consider signing with another team. During an interview, Williams said, Yeah, I would have left. After that first offer, I was really upset. I heard from 5 or 6 teams who wanted me to leave the Nets out of spite. And spite was there because I thought, man, if you're going to treat me like that, I have to get up out of here. In 1999, the Nets signed Williams to a 6-year $86 million contract to keep Jason long term. But 3 months after signing the contract, Jason broke his leg after colliding with a teammate. Not a metal plate inserted into his leg, resulting in him never playing basketball again. With Ben Wallace being a solid role player, but not a superstar by any means, he got paid like a top dog, which came back to bite the team who paid for him. While attending a community college in Cleveland for 2 years, the defensive phenom averaged 17 rebounds and nearly 7 blocks per game. He then transferred to Virginia Union University, where he averaged 13.4 points and 10 rebounds. Even with great stats like that, he still went on to draft to the NBA. While he was in the NBA, he played for a lot of different teams. During the 2005 season with the Detroit Pistons, Ben averaged 10 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks. By the age of 31, even with the skill declining, Chicago Bulls offered him a 4-year $60 million contract. After the 2006 season with the Bulls, Ben Wallace would never averaged worth of 6 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 assists for the remainder of his career. After only one season with the Bulls, he was traded to the Hornets and then the Cavaliers. When it comes down to it, Ben obviously cared more about a big contract than he did about winning. When he said during an interview with the Bulls general manager and the head coach, I wasn't gonna leave Detroit to go to a team that wasn't gonna be a contender, I'm glad to be a part of a young, scrappy team. With Timofey Mazgov helping the Cavaliers win their first championship in team history, he then went on to sign arguably the worst contract in Lakers history. In 2010, Mazgov signed a 3-year $9.7 million contract with the New York Knicks. Mazgov made his name known during a game against the Detroit Pistons, where he scored 23 points and he had 14 rebounds. He was then traded to the Denver Nuggets where he played from 2011 to 2015 Then in 2015, he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers to play alongside LeBron James. And he even helped the Cavaliers win their first championship in franchise history. He became the first Russian player to play in the NBA Finals. And after the Finals win, Mazgov and teammate Shasha Khan became the first Russians to win a final. After the season, it all went downhill for Mazgov when he signed a 4-year $64 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2016 The Lakers received a ton of criticism for this outrageous contract considering he only played one game with the Lakers before being traded. In one season on the contract, Mazgov made more in one season than Michael Jordan did in his first eight seasons in the NBA. In one season, he made more money than the entire 1990-1991 Chicago Bulls roster, including head coach Phil Jackson. A lot of people made jokes about this contract mistake, like Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press tweeting out saying, I fully expect Shaquille O'Neal to come out of retirement if Mazgov is getting $16 million a year. After his debut with the Lakers, after signing his ridiculous contract, Mazgov would never see an NBA court again due to a knee injury. He finished his NBA career averaging 6.8 points and 4.9 rebounds, and he's now back playing in Russia. Hey, yo, dog, I'm thinking about getting some surgery, get my legs extended so I'm like 7 and a half feet tall. And I'm just going to get like a nice little 2 mil on the bench contract. You know what I'm saying? What am I doing here making YouTube videos? But hey, bro, this video is over. Click on this one on the screen, dog. It's big fire.