Editor, The other day, I visited an NBA websites (Insidehoops.com) and I was amazed. There was an article about the most paid NBA stars and believe me, the figures were unbelievable. Apparently, Dallas Mavericks player, Jason Kidd, is the highest paid point guard in the NBA with an annual salary of $21.37m while Lakers star Bryant, with a remuneration package of $21.26m tops the shooting guard earnings list. Boston Celtics power forward, Kevin Garnett, who earns $24,751,934 is the highest paid player overall in the NBA.Did u know? Did u know that maintaining such stars on the payroll leaves NBA franchises with a huge wage bill? Last year, Dallas Mavericks led the wage bill charts with $97,496,177 spent on player salaries. Cleveland Cavaliers ($90,843,932), Boston Celtics ($90,096,624), Detroit Pistons ($87,461,049) and Chicago Bulls ($79,519,753) complete the top five NBA clubs wages bill. The typical NBA franchise is now worth a record $379m two per cent more than 2007. The new eight-year agreements with ABC, ESPN and TNT that began with the 2008-09 season are worth $7.4b, 21 per cent more than the prior deals on an annual basis. There is absolutely no comparison with our local clubs (APR, Espoir and Marine among others). Maybe its time for talented Rwandans to try to aim for the NBA. We need the money as well! Kacyiru
