The 1987-88 NBA season featured a common theme of the 80s. The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics were both really good. The Detroit Pistons were becoming a dynasty, and a young man named Michael Jordan continued to impress everyone. In the NBA, the league is heralded by stars, and those stars are paid a lot of money. That was not always the case back in this time.
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Jordan won the league MVP this season, as well as many other accomplishments. He was not one of the league’s top players. The same goes for Charles Barkley, assist leader John Stockton, up-and-coming scorer Karl Malone, and one of the best two-way players Hakeem Olajuwon. It proved that not every great player needed a large contract to produce. The Pistons made the NBA Finals, and not a single player on that team made the top 10 in salary. However, the highest-paid players featured plenty from the dynasty teams, the Lakers and Celtics. We will take a look at that right now.
These are the highest-paid players from the 1987-88 season.
10. Dominique Wilkins – $1,445,000
For the cost of the players, Wilkins made this investment worth it. Wilkins was named to the All-Star Game this season and was a Player of the Week three times. Wilkins was the second-best scorer this season. He scored a total of 2,397 points and was the only other player to average at least 30 points per game.
Wilkins averaged 30.7 points and made a second-best 909 field goal. With that said, he took a lot of shots. Wilkins led the league in field goals missed (1,048) because he was heavily used on offense. He led the league in usage percentage (35.2%). He also made the top 5 in free throws (541). The end of the year was capped off with making the All-NBA Second Team.
9. Alex English – $1,500,000
Credit: ESPN
English was a great investment for the Nuggets this season. English made the All-Star roster. For the season, English averaged 25.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and shot 49.5% from the field. It was the ninth consecutive season that English played in at least 80 games.
The Nuggets would have been a completely different team without English. If he was out, the offense would have been half of what it was. The Nuggets made the playoffs and won a playoff series before losing in the second round. Teams rely on their stars and their investment showed up this year.
8. Jack Sikma – $1,600,000
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Sikma was a reliable player this year. While being the eighth-highest-paid player in the league at this time is a stretch, Sikma produced a solid season for the Bucks. Sikma averaged 16.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.0 blocks. He missed out on the All-Star Game, but he led the league in free-throw percentage.
The 6-foot-11 forward shot 92.2% from the line. Having a big man shot that well at the line is not something you always see. Sikma outshot the likes of Larry Bird (91.6%) to take the free-throw crown. All in all, Sikma was not a bust despite being a well-paid player.
7. Ralph Sampson – $1,736,333
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For the Warriors, this was a hard pill to swallow. By this time, Sampson was entering the stage of his career where injuries were detailing his production. The 1986-87 season saw Sampson play in 43 games due to injuries. His return saw him play 19 games before being traded to the Warriors. There, he played 29 games and averaged 15.4 points and 10.0 rebounds. It was the last time we ever saw Sampson average a double-double.
Due to his knee and back pain, Sampson fell out of favor in Houston, which resulted in the trade. He never played a full NBA season again in his NBA career. Sampson would be traded the following season to the Kings. Unfortunately, we never got to see his true potential for a player that deserved a contract like this if you base his first three seasons in the league.
6. Larry Bird – $1,800,000
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Great players make a great deal of money. By this time, Bird had led the Celtics to two championships and had won three consecutive MVPs from 1984 to 1986. It was just two years past that time, but Bird remained a supreme player. Bird won Player of the Week in the first week of the season. He kept that production throughout the year, scoring the third-highest total points (2,275) and finishing third in the scoring title (29.9 PPG).
Along with his second-best free-throw percentage, Bird also scored the third-most field goals (881) and the fourth-most 3-point field goals (98). He played the fourth-most minutes (29.0) and had the second-best player efficiency rating (PER) to only Michael Jordan, as well as value over a replacement player. The First-Team All-NBA player had a solid case for being the league’s top-paid player this season.
5. Robert Parish – $2,038,333
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The Celtics dynasty relied on Bird but also the likes of Robert Parish and Kevin McHale. The surprising part is that Bird was the team’s best player, but Parish was making more money by offering $200,000. It’s not that Parish had a bad season. He had the second-best field goal percentage (58.9%) in the league. It’s just that Bird provided a lot more.
Parish averaged 14.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game. He played in 74 games and averaged 35.5 minutes per game. These are solid numbers, regardless. The Celtics made the Conference Finals before losing to the Pistons 4-2. We have seen this many times. To have stars, you must pay for them. The Celtics paid their stars and were rewarded with a successful season.
4. Moses Malone – $2,145,000
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By this time, Malone remained a top player in the league, reaping the benefits of a contract that paid him a ton of money. He was a fruitful player in the league this season. His 372 offensive rebounds were the second most. He was just 13 offensive rebounds from beating out Charles Barkley. Malone also made the fourth-most free-throws (543) and made the All-Star Game.
Malone averaged 20.3 points and 11.2 rebounds and played in 79 games total for the Washington Bullets. The Bullets qualified for the playoffs as the seven seed. The team pushed the Pistons to five games in the first round of the playoffs before losing 3-2. Without Malone, that might have been a sweep.
3. Patrick Ewing – $2,250,000
The Knicks made the young star a top-paid player quickly into his NBA career. At least Ewing lived up to the contract. Defensively, Ewing was one of the top rim protectors, finishing with a second-best 245 blocks and averaging a third-best 3.0 blocks. He joined Mark Eaton and Benoit Benjamin to average at least three blocks per game.
Ewing led the league in personal fouls, but it shows he was active on the defensive side. That helped Ewing land an appearance on the All-NBA Second Team and All-Defensive Second Team. The Knicks made the playoffs as an eighth seed but were defeated by the Celtics 3-1 in the first round.
1T. Magic Johnson – $2,500,000
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The top two paid players in the league were on the same team. “Money buys championships” was on full display this season as the Lakers capped off the year by winning a title with the league’s top two highest-paid players. Starting with Johnson was a Player of the Week once for the Western Conference. He was among the top guards in the league, finishing with the third-most total assists (858) and second-most assists per game (11.9). Johnson was named to the All-NBA First Team and the All-Star Game.
Most importantly, he was a critical part of the Lakers’ repeating as champions. Johnson was the 1987 Finals MVP and had another successful postseason. By this time, the Lakers completed their fifth championship run. With the win, it confirmed the notion that Johnson was the greatest point guard to ever play in the NBA. When you are the best, you are going to be paid like it, and that is exactly what the Lakers did when they signed him to a $25 million contract extension.
1T. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – $2,500,000
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By this time, Abdul-Jabbar was entering the final stages of his career. He was selected as an All-Star, but he was not the same player that was averaging a double-double. Abdul-Jabbar averaged a modest 14.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game but played in 890 games and averaged 28.9 minutes. While these numbers might not have been worth being paid by the highest-paid player in the league, Abdul-Jabbar had done enough to earn this contract.
For starters, most players on their last major contract don’t always produce when age starts to set in. Abdul-Jabbar shot 53.2% from the field this season. He gave the Lakers valuable minutes. He didn’t have to be the second-best player because they had Finals MVP James Worthy on the team. He just needed to do enough. For his role in the past, he deserves this money, having won six MVPs and five titles. This year, he got paid and won a sixth ring. The Lakers invested $5 million on two stars. It’s safe to say that the investment lived up to the rewards.
Source: fadeawayworld
