Robert Pack admits current NBA players have it much better now than when he played
On the first day of NBA free agency this past Friday more than $1.7 billion was handed out in contract offers.
It has been huge contracts galore, which includes Memphis Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley agreeing to a five-year, $153 million contract and former Pelicans backup forward Ryan Anderson accepting the Houston Rockets' four-year, $80 million contract. Small forward Solomon Hill, who started only three games last season and averaged 4.2 points with Indiana, got a four-year, $52 million contract offer from the Pelicans.
With the amount of substantial contracts extended by teams, Pelicans assistant coach and New Orleans native Robert Pack, 47, wished he was 20 years younger so he could be part of this current era of NBA players.
Pack, entering his second season on Alvin Gentry's coaching staff, played in the NBA as a point guard from 1991 to 2004. During the 2002-03 season, Pack played in 28 games for the then-New Orleans Hornets.
''I had that conversation with my mom, I was born too early,'' said Pack, who is the head coach of the Pelicans' summer league team that opens on Friday in Las Vegas against the Lakers. ''I talked last night about that. It's a good time to be a player.''
Pack was a member of the 1991-92 Portland Trail Blazers that advanced to the NBA Finals before losing to the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls. Pack also was a member of the 1993-94 Denver Nuggets that made NBA history as the first No. 8 seed to a defeat a No. 1 seed (Seattle Supersonics) in the first round of the playoffs.
Pack totaled just more than $23 million during his entire 13-year career. As a rookie in 1991-92 with the Trail Blazers, Pack made $130,000. He landed his biggest contract with the Nuggets when he made $4.3 million in 2000-01.
Pelicans star forward Anthony Davis will earn $22.1 million this upcoming season in the first year of his five-year extension, according to Spotrac.
''I hope the guys continue to get paid, but continue to respect the game, play hard and give the fans what they pay for.''
In Pack's heyday, the Cleveland Cavaliers had the highest payroll in the league at $23.7 million in 1993-94 and Nuggets' payroll totaled $17.3 million with center Dikembe Mutombo drawing the highest salary on the team at $3 million.
The NBA announced this past Saturday that the salary cap for the 2016-17 season will be set at $94.1 million. The minimum payroll for the league's 30 teams is $84.7 million.
The salary cap and luxury tax have soared because starting with the 2016-17 season, the NBA's new nine-year, $24 billion TV deal begins. This past season's salary cap was $70 million and luxury tax threshold was $84.7 million. For this upcoming season, the luxury tax threshold will be $133.2 million.
''The game has definitely grown,'' said Pack, who was former high school star at Lawless before playing in college in USC. ''Monetarily the guys have been able to benefit a lot better now.''