Thread by @SportsLawLust

In 1997 & 1998, Michael Jordan was not just the highest paid player in the NBA, he earned more than most teams’ entire rosters.

As the greatest of all time, he deserved it - but it was exposing a flaw in the CBA.

THREAD: How Jordan created the Max Salary Rule.

#TheLastDance

For the 1996-97 season, the salary cap for each team was set at $24.3M. Note, teams were allowed to exceed the cap to re-sign their own players without penalty.

Jordan signed a 1 yr / $30.1M deal, shattering the $18.7M mark set by Patrick Ewing the year before for the NY Knicks.

Jordan’s deal pointed to greener pastures for athletes across the professional sports landscape. Owners took notice that he had clearly reset the market.

MJ’s $30.1M was:
• 5x the highest paid in the NHL (Wayne Gretzky)
• 3x in MLB (Cecil Fielder)
• 2x in NFL (Deion Sanders)

In the 1997-98 season, Jordan signed another 1-year deal. This time, he earned $33.1M for the season - breaking his own record from the year prior.

For second year in a row, the Bulls took advantage of the CBA which allowed them to pay MJ as much as they wanted without penalty.

Salaries around the NBA rose year-over-year as he drove up the market.

Players couldn’t say they deserved more than him, but stars asking for 1/3 of his salary (~$11M) suddenly sounded reasonable. Still, with only a $26.9M salary cap that year, this trend was becoming a problem.

Chicago’s ability to give Jordan an uncapped contract, made the Bulls the highest paid team in the league both years. Teams felt this CBA loophole provided an unfair advantage.

For example, when the Bulls played the Jazz in the 97 & 98 finals, MJ made more than the entire team.

When Jordan retired after 1998, owners wanted to change rules to slow down the progression of salaries. A battle ensued with the union and led to the 1998–99 NBA lockout. It lasted from July 1st to January 20th, shortened the season to 50 games, and cancelled the All-Star Game.

When the smoke cleared, the NBA had instituted a “maximum salary” rule. It capped salaries, topping out at the maximum of 35% of the team cap, 105% of the player’s previous salary, or $14M for players with 10+ years of experience. Existing contracts were to be “grandfathered” in.

This new rule dramatically curtailed salaries, allowing Jordan to hold the highest salary record for nearly 20 years.

In 2017, Steph Curry ($34.7M) & LeBron James ($33.3M) finally broke MJ’s mark. It took them that long to reach Michael because of the max salary rules in place.

Later CBA’s fortified an additional rule known as the “luxury tax,” which penalized teams monetarily that went over the salary cap to pay their players.

The 1997 & 1998 Bulls Championship teams violated both of these rules and may have been the reason behind their creation.

It begs the question of whether a team in the modern NBA, bound by these CBA restrictions, can ever replicate Chicago’s six championships in eight years.

Until that happens, it will be hard for any new contender to challenge the Chicago Bulls place in NBA history.

#TheLastDance