My buddies Ben and Skin recently asked, "who is the most valuable athlete in the DFW Metroplex?" They didn't ask "who is the best player/athlete," they asked about the "most valuable."
Webster's Definition of Value:
a fair return or equivalent in goods, services, or money for something exchanged
In other words, value directly relates to price. Dirk is a great player - but he is paid like a great player. As a result, he is not the most valuable player in the metroplex - at least not for this exercise.
Dallas Sports Keg will be taking on a 3-part series over the next few days titled: Ben-and-Skin's-and-Dallas-Sports-Keg's-Most-Valuable-DFW-Athlete-Award...also known as BASADSKMVDAA. Not the catchiest moniker - but we're not a freakin' advertising agency! We will examine the Mavericks, Cowboys and Rangers (since Bob Sturm is the only guy in town that watches hockey - we chose not to include the Stars in this exercise).
Part One: Mavericks
Brandon Bass - $826k
19 minutes/game
8.6 points
4.4 rebounds
To compare
Erick Dampier - $9.55 mm
23.6 minutes/game
5.5 points/game
7.2 rebounds/game
Other than the Dampier household, Maverick fans believe that Bass is the better option. If you take salaries into account - it's absolutely no contest.
- Side Note -
When Erick had his first child, do you think that he was only allowed to hold him while standing in a jump-house? Seriously, there is no way the family entrusted stonehands with a baby on any non-bouncy flooring, right? Or maybe they created the "Erick-baby-holding-room" IN the house - installed bouncy floors and walls - that way, when Erick inevitably dropped the infant, he would simply bounce around the room until he finally came to rest.
You know - maybe they could design the room similar to a basketball-return system - the one where when you shoot and the ball travels down a tunnel of netting only to return to the original shooting location. They could build the room angled in a way that would allow the baby to be dropped - bounce harmlessly off the floor, walls and ceiling - before rolling back to Damp's feet. At that point, Erick could again pick up the baby - and seconds later - when he dropped him again, the process would repeat! I am almost positive that the Dampier house has a room like this. If not, he should. Seriously - we are saving lives here!
- Back to original programming -
Dampier makes about 11.5 times more than Bass despite producing similar results. Bass wins this contest - stonehands down.
Mavericks #2
JJ Barea - $1.5 mm
19 minutes/game
7.4 points
3.3 assists
1.40 turnovers
Jason Kidd - $21.3 mm
35 minutes/game
9 points
8.4 assists
2.33 turnovers
Barea's numbers factored out assuming that he also averaged 35 minutes/game, as Kidd does:
Barea (projected totals given 35 minutes/game)
13.6 points (.389 points/minute x 35 minutes)
6.1 assists (.174 assists/minute x 35 minutes)
2.58 turnovers (.074 turnovers/game x 35 minutes)
Obviously, we have to make several assumptions to build these types of comparisons. Could Kidd still hold the "lunch-pale" title if he was only asked to play 20 minutes/game? Would Barea's tiny Puerto-Rican heart hold up for 35 minutes each night? We could go on and on...
But regardless of the assumptions made, Barea appears to be a bargain. He makes about 14-times less than Kidd - yet he scores at a higher rate. Though Kidd still maintains an advantage in the assist department, their overall numbers remain fairly comparable.
Barea scores more points.
Kidd dishes out more assists.
Both turn the ball over at a similar rate.
One makes $21.3 million; one makes $1.5 million.
Bass and Barea are obviously the two most valuable players on the current Mavericks' roster. Deciding between the two was difficult - but please enter our thought process:
Brandon Bass is a 6'8, 240-pound black guy. He is supposed to be a bad-ass athlete. It would actually be an embarrassment to him (and his family) if he wasn't a professional athlete. Barea is a 5'10 Puerto-Rican. He should be pimpin' someone's ride - not playing in the NBA.
When Bass walks into the gym, everyone looks and says, "Man...that dude must play football or basketball. He's a beast!" When Barea enters a gym, you want to hand him your dirty towel and let him know that "shower #3 has some kind of weird fungus and you should probably do some scrubbing."
Congratulations, JJ Barea. By winning the Mavericks' most valuable player award, you have been entered into the BASADSKMVDAA Finals where you will face off against the most valuable players selected from the Dallas Cowboys and the Texas Rangers.
