Hoops Habit
Fansided

Lakers, Pistons and Celtics: The Championship-Caliber Contracts of 1985-1989

By N.B. Lindberg

LOS ANGELES, CA - May 1988: Kareem-Abdul Jabbar #33, head Coach Pat Riley, James Worthy #42, owner Jerry Buss and Mychal Thompson #43 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrate in the locker room after defeating the Detroit Pistons in the 1988 NBA Finals, at The Forum, Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - May 1988: Kareem-Abdul Jabbar #33, head Coach Pat Riley, James Worthy #42, owner Jerry Buss and Mychal Thompson #43 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrate in the locker room after defeating the Detroit Pistons in the 1988 NBA Finals, at The Forum, Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 6
Next
New York Knicks
(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

1986 NBA Champion: Boston Celtics
League Salary Cap: $4,233,000
Championship-Caliber Contract: Larry Bird and Danny Ainge

The 1985-86 Celtics are a legendary team. They went 67-15 and 40-1 at home in the regular season before going 11-1 in the Eastern Conference playoffs to reach the finals. This was Larry Bird’s finest season. He posted a career-high in Win Shares and Win Shares per 48 en route to his third consecutive and final MVP award.

“Larry Legend ” wasn’t cheap at $1.8 million, 42.5 percent of the salary cap, but the best player in the league is worth every penny. He combined, between the regular season and playoffs, for 20 Win Shares worth an estimated $2.03 million in value. His $231,840 in surplus-value, 5.4 percent of the cap, was just the icing on the cake for the Celtics.

Related Story. Every NBA team's Mount Rushmore. light

If Larry Bird was the top-executive worth every penny then Danny Ainge was the overqualified intern. His salary of $550,000 took up only 13 percent of the salary cap and he produced 9.5 Win Shares over the course of the regular season and playoffs, worth $980,817 in value. Ainge provided $430,817, 10.2 percent of the cap, in surplus-value for a  Celtics team that finished with the fourth-best record in league history in 1986. The Celtics, unlike the Lakers, did not blow by the cap with abandon, which makes Ainge’s contributions all the more important.

Both Robert Parish and Dennis Johnson could have made this list as well as Kevin McHale. This Celtics team was an all-time great team for a reason and has become a blueprint for dynasties for years to come. Have two all-time players outplay their exuberant contracts and surround them with a bunch of players who are underpaid and overperform.

Building a dynasty sounds simple but in practice, it takes ingenuity, luck, and a little bit of good ole’ fashioned labor exploitation. This was the Celtics’ third and final championship with this core before sputtering out due to injuries, age, and a new rising power in the East.