FEBRUARY 10, 2017 7

$0.25B BARGAIN
Dirk Nowitzki is not only an all-time great, his salary has also been an incredible value.
BY EVAN HOOPFER l ehoopfer@bizjournals.com l 214-706-7123 l @DBJHoopfer

D
29,797 irk Nowitzki has made nearly $242 million — or about a quarter of $1
billion — in his 19-year career for the Dallas Mavericks.While that’s a
POINTS 7th all-time

10,681 lot of money for playing basketball, he has actually been underpaid
relative to his performance. Nowitzki is one of the all-time greats.
REBOUNDS
33rd all-time
How great? There’s a statistic that quantifies NBA players’ overall performance
21.8 called “win shares.” For example, in Nowitzki’s 2006-07 season when he won
CAREER PPG MVP, he had 17.7 win shares. That means if you took Nowitzki off the Mavericks
87.9% that season, the team would win 17.7 less games.
FREE THROW % He has never been the highest-paid player in the NBA, but during his career,
38.1% he’s had more win shares in a season than the highest-paid player in the league
3-POINT % 13 times. He has taken a smaller salary in the past to help the team with the salary
R 13-time All-Star cap, but this year Nowitzki is making a career-high $25 million. The negotiations
R ‘06-07 NBA MVP between Nowitzki and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban weren’t typical. Nowitzki
R ‘10-11 NBA champ
/Finals MVP asked for a number, but the team had more money to play with so they gave him
AS OF FEB. 5 more than he asked for.

SHOWING DIRK’S VALUE Dirk

salary
Highest-paid
player salary
Dirk win
shares
Highest-paid player
win shares

WIN SHARES $2M $4M $6M $8M $10M $12M $14M $16M $18M $20M $22M $24M $26M $28M

0.8 3.3 ’98- $1.47M

$18.5M Patrick Ewing
’99

8.1 18.6 ’99- $1.58M

’00 $17.1M Shaquille O’Neal

14.6 11.8 ’00- $1.69M

’01 $19.6M Kevin Garnett

13.4 12.8 ’01- $2.16M

’02 $22.4M Kevin Garnett

16.1 15.6 ’02- $10.1M

’03 $25.2M Kevin Garnett

11.5 18.3 ’03- $11.3M

$28M
’04
Kevin Garnett
$12.6M
15.6 11 ’04-
$29.5M
’05
Shaquille
O’Neal
17.7 6.2 ’05- $13.8M
’06 $20M Shaquille O’Neal

16.3 10.7 ’06- $15.1M

’07 $21M Kevin Garnett

12.9 12.9 ’07- $16.4M

$23.8M Kevin Garnett
’08

10.9 7.1 ’08- $18.1M

’09 $24.8M Kevin Garnett

$19.8M
12.3 9.4 ’09-
$23.03M Kobe Bryant
’10

11.1 10.3 ’10- $17.3M

’11 $24.8M Kobe Bryant

7.6 6.2 ’11- $15.4M

’12 $25.2M Kobe Bryant

$20.9M
5 10.9 ’12-
$30.45M
’13
Kobe Bryant
10.9 -0.4 ’13- $22.7M
’14 $30.45M
Kobe Bryant
7.2 0.2 ’14- $7.97M $23.5M
’15 Kobe Bryant

6.8 -0.4 ’15- $8.33M

’16 $25M Kobe Bryant

0.8 7.8 ’16- $25M

’17 $30.96M LeBron James

$2M $4M $6M $8M $10M $12M $14M $16M $18M $20M $22M $24M $26M $28M

SOURCE: Spotrac and Basketball Reference NBA PHOTOS/GETTY IMAGES