Jalen Brunson left millions on the table. Here's why it shouldn't become the standard

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I saw this recently and, not surprisingly, had some thoughts I wanted to share.

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Jay Williams: 'I've talked to a couple of different players that could be Supermax this year or next year — they're starting to feel a little pressure from team owners by saying, 'Yo, Jalen Brunson left 113 million dollars on the table. What are you going to do?''

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On the surface, Williams' point is understandable. A precedent now exists where a star player made a major financial sacrifice, his team added key pieces, and that team won a championship. So the natural question becomes: why wouldn’t everyone do this?

Here’s why, in my opinion, Brunson’s situation should be respected as exceptional and not turned into a standard that other players are pressured to follow.

Brunson will be remembered for the rest of his natural life and beyond for taking an incredible risk and leading one of the marquee teams in the NBA to a championship. Over the years, I have had numerous clients with the opportunity to play with the Knicks. I have always said that a person can win anywhere, but winning in New York is entirely different. That has clearly proven to be true. It is an incredible story with a great ending, and every person involved deserves to enjoy it.

But the idea that this should start a trend does not add up to me, because the circumstances that allowed it to work were finite and almost impossible to recreate. The family history between the Brunson family and Knicks management has been well documented for good reason, and it clearly played a major role in the trust that defined the relationship from the outset. Still, unless you own the team, everyone works for someone.

If the sun, moon, and stars had not lined up for this New York team on its path to a championship, it is very possible the owner would have held everyone involved accountable. If two extremely key players on Eastern Conference teams had not sustained catastrophic injuries, or if Joel Embiid had not gotten appendicitis two weeks before the playoffs began, perhaps we would be having a very different conversation. Those variables exist every year, and that is what makes this such a risky thing to try to recreate.

Why does the risk fall unevenly on players

I have said it before, and it is worth saying again: far too often, the risk in all of this is placed on the side with the smallest window of earning power and the most to lose: the players. With the apron system now in place, this has become an increasingly convenient talking point for teams looking for coverage to reduce payroll and limit contracts at every level.

In my career, LeBron James is the most underpaid professional athlete in any sport, and that has been true for the better part of the last 20 years. Somehow, the discussion of where and how he ends his incredible career is now tied to how his salary fits into a team’s cap and whether he should take a pay cut to continue. That is difficult for me to comprehend. If we proposed a model where LeBron could pick any team and play for the minimum, but every team in the league also had to pay him that minimum, 30 teams paying him approximately three million dollars each, that would still be a value contract for everyone involved. LeBron, along with Steph Curry, deserves every ounce of gratitude the business can give them for the way they have carried the league.

Back to my original point: the idea that any player making a contractual sacrifice automatically leads to success does not align with what I have seen repeatedly. Once a player sacrifices money, he is handing a tool back to an organization to make decisions he does not control, while still carrying the results of those decisions. There is not an NBA player I have met who, while playing, has the perspective required to be a good general manager. Putting players in the position of making personnel decisions does not help anyone.

What Dwyane Wade's example shows

I recently saw Dwyane Wade discuss this very concept on a podcast, and his experience is instructive. D-Wade is one of the clearest examples from this generation of a player who made a major financial sacrifice, went through the process, and then spoke honestly about what it meant. What he said basically: no matter what, this is a business.

He sacrificed a large sum of money to win championships, which he did repeatedly. He created a legacy with an organization that will stand the test of time, as shown by a statue and a street that carries his name. But the reality is that the money Wade sacrificed did not come back. When his career was over, and he entered the 'what’s next' phase of life, he chose ownership. We all understood the Miami Heat's position when they chose not to sell him a portion of the franchise at a discounted rate, even though you can argue without hesitation that he raised the value of that franchise more than any other person. He had to move on and join the ownership group of another team he never played a second for. None of us asked, 'How does that happen?' Because the answer is simple: that’s business.

For me, I will always be aware that the players I work with are on the talent side of the NBA equation. They are a part of the business that is not permanent, but they have windows where they are the only non-replaceable piece of it. Those windows do not exist forever. The franchises they play for do, and that is simply the reality of all this.

So while this worked out perfectly for one player and while we will all remember it fondly, it should not become the standard anyone else is held to. Brunson’s choice deserves respect. But using it as leverage against other players ignores the risk, the timing and the rare circumstances that made it possible in the first place.

Bernie Lee is a long-time NBA agent who represents six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler.

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This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Jalen Brunson left millions on the table. Here's why it shouldn't become the standard

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