MovieChat Forums > Sonicsgate (2009) Discussion > Jim Mcalvaine's contract

Jim Mcalvaine's contract

posted 15 years ago by dongsong
4 replies | jump to latest

someone in the movie said that his massive contract was the hex that doomed teh Sonics. I remember that contract as a kid and remembered seeing the domino effect it had on the league. After that contract, so many more unproven bigmen got sizable contracts and paralyzed thier salary cap. (Andrew declerq anyone?)

I saw that cause and effect of the contract, but i never realized it actually caused teh demise of a NBA franchise. This movie had plenty of behind the scene perspectives. great job.

[–] edabomb 14 years ago

Yea, well I guess they're assuming Shawn Kemp wouldn't have gone off the rails like he did at the time had he been amongst the top paid players in the NBA. I think Kemp was a ticking time bomb.

[–] davcar-1 13 years ago

Mcalvaines contract certainly provided the ammo for Kemp to leave. But the lock out did huge damage to the careers of Shaun Kemp and Vin Baker. After the lock out the two players came back and were completely out of shape and over-weight both had terrible seasons and both players confidence were shattered and they were never able to get back to their all star form. Of course both Kemp and Baker were also both alcoholics which also contributed to there demise as players. But the bottom line is the lock out caused demise to the sonics not the trade period.

As for the contract for big man absolutely right the amount of 7 footers got ridiculous contracts after the signing of mcalvaine. Calvin Booth, Jerome James, Matt Geiger, Adonal Foyle. Even above average/good centres started getting paid over 10 million a year Tyson Chandler, Brenden Haywood, Eric Dampier that contract has set a trend that has lasted for 10 years or more in the NBA.

[–] MovieCriticMarvelfan 13 years ago

I think more than anything it came down to Kemp's lack of desire to play the game with same effort which was due more to having to start all over with different team(s), going in a different direction. If you look at his stats during the lock out season and one season following it, they were good, but then they went down drastically. Shawn was always a guy, who was physically fit at the top of his game. I think more than anything, the effects of starting over, and his personal problems (he did have a few chances to comeback to the league which he ultimately did not take advantage off) finally tore him down.

"We have guided missiles and misguided men."

[–] doggie_rodriguez 8 years ago

someone in the movie said that his massive contract was the hex that doomed teh Sonics.

I don't know if that was really the case. It happened nearly a decade before the team actually left.

That slime-ball of an NBA commissioner had more to do with the team leaving than an overpaid center from the 90s.