🔮💰Crypto-compensation: the final (cap avoidance) frontier
Why don't more players get paid in BTC? Plus, we review Zion's new shoe
OPENING TIP
Save The Lottery is a basketball newsletter. However, alert readers will notice that it is accessed via the internet, which means that we are legally required to spend a certain amount of time writing about digital currency.
At STL HQ, we prefer our crypto memes pumped directly into our veins. It appears that NFL players are starting to feel the same way.
Sean Culkin, a Chiefs backup TE, is converting his entire salary into Bitcoin, while last night’s number one overall pick Trevor Lawrence is converting his signing bonus into a blend of Bitcoin, Etherium, and Solana. Culkin and Lawrence are following in the footsteps of NFL Crypt-OG Russell Okung, who has crypto-evangelized for years and even reportedly received half of his 2020 salary in Bitcoin.
NBA players can’t be far behind. Frankly, it’s a bit surprising that NBA players aren’t the ones at the forefront of the crypto-compensation movement. After all, Spencer Dinwiddie took on the NBA and won the right to tokenize himself, and Mark Cuban has been pumping everything from NFTs to Dogecoin. Meanwhile, the Warriors on Tuesday announced their own NFT collection, and Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive recently pulled off the meme double salchow by announcing that the Kings would offer the option for its players to be paid in Bitcoin… while being interviewed on Clubhouse.
The NBA itself has been a key player in the development of Top Shot, the NBA highlights NFT that has gone absolutely 🚀🚀🚀 this year (this LeBron dunk can be yours for a mere $240,000). NBA players themselves have gone all in on Top Shot speculating/collecting (speculecting?) and Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson are reportedly investors in Dapper Labs, Top Shot’s parent company.
But what is the point of getting your check in Bitcoin? Well, let’s take P.J. Tucker’s league average contract from 2017 for $8 million annually over four years, or $32 million in total. If, back in July 2017, P.J. had gotten paid in BTC instead of antiquated fiat dollars, he would have earned 12,942 Bitcoin over four years. Today, that would be worth a respectable…. $705,550,384.
In other words, P.J. would have made five times more than the $145 million that LeBron did over the same period. How would a minimum salary bench guy stack up? Raptors 12th man DeAndre’ Bembry has earned $7.5 million over the past four years—his BTC haul would come to $167 million.
Of course, if Lebron had elected to be paid in Bitcoin, he would have taken in $3,222,442,953 over the same four-year period, which is more than the combined cash earnings of Domino’s, Papa John’s, Wendy’s, Denny’s, and Jack in the Box… or the gross domestic product of Liberia… or the cumulative earnings of the entire US airline industry.
There are, of course, some technical challenges associated with paying players in Bitcoin. If your GM is pulling out his hair trying to move Bismack Biyombo’s $17 million contract, imagine how he would feel trying to navigate around Austin River’s $150 million Dogecoin trade kicker. And even if the finance nerds found a way to hedge Bitcoin exposure using futures, if you were an owner, would you want to take on that risk? We can already imagine the awkward silence after Tillman Fertitta has to tell Adam Silver that his son (and aspiring GM!) Patrick dropped the private key in the pool at Marquee Dayclub.
There is also the issue of the salary cap, which would become a bit less punitive if you could just pay players lower nominal salaries convertible into rapidly appreciating assets. If we were P.J. Tucker and could borrow Kyrie’s time machine for an hour or two, why stop at Bitcoin? Why not just lock in 2017 prices for Roblox shares, or first edition Pokemon Charizards, or, since you’re P.J., a few thousand pairs from the Off-White x Nike Collection?
On the other hand, P.J. could have gone with a basket of cannabis stocks, the big hypefest from 2017. Or Omni, the fifth most valuable cryptocurrency at the end of 2017. Yeah, those actually wouldn’t have worked out as well, since our intrepid investronaut would have lost just about every one of his hard earned dollars.
In fact, it occurs to us that NBA crypto-compensation is only a no-brainer if you can identify 2025’s best performing investments a few years ahead of time. And if you can do that, it’s hard to imagine why you would bother playing professional basketball. Do you know how many squat lifts and ice baths VCs have to do? None, that’s how many. Maybe KD and Klay are on to something.
GRAM OF THE WEEK
Steff Corgi pretty tough from deep.
STL INVESTIGATES: A SHOE
NBA conventional wisdom for a while now has been, “Big Men don’t sell shoes.” It’s easier for an average joe to see himself as (regular-sized) Allen Iverson or (tall, but still average-ish) Michael Jordan. And if you think of yourself as MJ, you can walk a mile in his shoes (even at $315 a pair).
But that didn’t stop Nike from inking Zion Williamson to a $75 million shoe deal before he had played a game. Couple that with the immense costs to develop and market a signature sneaker, and Nike has a lot riding on the question: is Zion a Big Man, or just a big man?
The Zion 1 dropped last week, and STL has opinions.
The initial “Gen Zion” colorway is pretty conservative, but there are some cool features here. The Z lends itself to sneaker design, and the way it is incorporated into the sole mold is cool, as is the internal strap seen beneath the toe mesh.
The base flairs in an unusual way, with the additional support apparently “inspired by the wheels on Williamson’s truck.” This might make sense if you are a 6’6” 300 pound man playing basketball, but it’s not a great look.
Designers often falter when they get into “louder” colorways, but this one is solid, with the sole getting most of the attention, while the upper is colorful without being obnoxious. Overall, this is a nicely designed shoe, but seems unlikely to get anyone really excited. It’s almost surprisingly safe for such a big release.
Still, we should point out that everything about Zion is exciting and awesome, and if Nike can manage to avoid another of these scenes, the Zion 1 should do just fine.
AT THE BUZZER
NBA players are going crazy over Top Shot (ESPN+, $)
A Marvel-branded NBA game? Sure. (Variety)
Overtime raises $80M for high school paid league (Business Insider, $)
Buddy Hield locks Tyrese Haliburton in the team bus bathroom for not passing to him enough (Reddit)
Gronk tries to void his life insurance policy by catching a football thrown from a helicopter (ESPN)