Larry Bird on the current state of the League

On a recent NBA TV segment titled Basketball Stories: Indiana Glory, Larry Bird had no wasted words in summing up the present state of the NBA:

"I really like where the League's at."

That was it! Nothing more. Nothing less. But when Bird talks - I listen. And I agree totally. Having followed the League since 1960, the NBA has attained enormous popularity world-wide.

The League has never displayed the combination of skills and athleticism fans see on the court lately. And the international popularity has spawned the likes of Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kristaps Porzingis.

What's not to like? Well, maybe the NBA-as-big-business may eventually burst at the seams. Just where do the sky-high salaries stop?

In the Celtics camp, Bob Cousy in the mid-to-late 50's was the highest-paid NBA payer at $25,000.00 per season. In the late 60's, Bill Russell was high man at $100,001.00 (yes, one dollar more than Wilt), and Larry Bird was highest-paid NBA player in the 1991-92 season, making $7,070.00.

For the math folks out there, that translates to 2023 dollars as follows:

Cousy: $284,500.00/season

Russell: $967,000.00/season

Bird: $15,836.00/season

The Celtics Jayson Tatum just signed a new contract earning him an average of $62,786,682.00 per season over the next five years. Where does it stop? But I, like Larry Bird, am enjoying the NBA game of today more than ever - except (maybe) my special affection for the 1970's Celtics crew of Dave Cowens, John Havlicek and JoJo White. And obviously the top-NBA team ever - the 1985-86 Celtics.

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