Forbes' list of Top 10 overpaid players in NBA is asinine

This plain reeks of troll bait. My bet is that Forbes intentionally came up with an absurd list to draw attention to itself. I could make up a list of top ten players in the league, but that wouldn’t carry much weight as there is no quantitative criteria with which one can objectively rank players. We can all agree on which players in the league belong in the top 10 and everyone’s list is bound to have the same players, barring a few changes. But the exact order of those players is always subjective and only carries as much weight as the source which is making the list. So when someone like the Forbes magazine comes up with a top ten list, people perk up their ears and take notice. Especially when it’s a negative list like the ‘Top 10 Overpaid players’ list. The very first name on the list makes one question the objectivity of the list. Carmelo Anthony is at the top of the list. And there is no worse time this list could have come out than yesterday.

1. Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks) – $19.4 million

Ppg- 28.3Rpg- 6.5Apg- 2.6

Right now, Carmelo Anthony is riding a three game streak of consecutive 40 point games while shooting over 60% from the field. In recent memory, Michael Jordan did it in 1991-1992 season and Bernard King did it in 1984-85 season. Each of those three players did it for three consecutive games. The New York Knicks are now on a 11-game win streak and are second in the Eastern Conference with a 49-26 record. Carmelo is a big reason why they are in that position. His teammate Amare Stoudemire is making more money then Melo ($19.4 million) while contributing a tithe, only 14.2 points with 5 rebounds. And he’s just played 29 games this season.

2. Ben Gordon (Charlotte Bobcats) – $12.4 million

Ppg- 11.5Apg- 2

Ever since Ben Gordon went from being a Bull to a Piston, the tag of an overpaid player has stuck with him. The Pistons were perennial powerhouses until they chose to jettison their ageing core for gambles like Charlie Villanueva, Rodney Stucky and Ben Gordon.

3. Joe Johnson (Brooklyn Nets) – $19.75 million

Ppg- 16.3Rpg- 3.1Apg- 3.6

Joe Johnson has long since been the face of albatross contracts in the NBA. In Atlanta, the pressure was huge on him to elevate his game from a star to a superstar, but he never quite pushed that ceiling. Now in Brooklyn, he has a chance to transcend his limits with Deron Williams and Brook Lopez to help him shoulder the load. But his numbers will never do justice to his humongous contract. He ought to be number 1 on this list.

4. Hedo Turkoglu (Orlando Magic) – $11.8 million

Ppg- 2.9Rpg- 2.4Apg- 2.1

Hidayet is his actual name. In Hindi that translates to ‘advice’. Here’s some hidayet for you, OVERPAID! This season he has played 11 games and started only one game. There was a time when he was leading the charge on offense for the Magic alongside Dwight Howard. But those days are long gone. What remains is the contract he earned by his play in those days.

5. Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks) – $20.9 million

Ppg- 17.2Rpg- 6.9Apg- 2.4

Again, this is a bad time to put the name of the face of a franchise on this list. Dirk had a slow start to the season and, with his offseason surgery, he ended up missing 27 games. Dirk had a 20-point 20-rebound game this season and has improved his game as the season has gone on. He is one of the most unguardable players in the league, and it’s hard to justify him being overpaid.

6. Corey Maggette (Detroit Pistons) – $10.9 million

Ppg- 5.3Rpg- 1.4Apg- 1.1

Forbes has used advanced metrics to come up with this list. One which probably doesn’t quantify things like funny quotes. When you spout wisdom like this to describe your offense- “Sure, there’s penetration and scoring, but are you really happy with what you’re seeing?”, that ought to be worth a couple of extra dollars on your contract.

7. Rudy Gay (Toronto Raptors) – $16.5 million

Ppg- 18.2Rpg- 6.1Apg- 2.7

It beats me how Forbes can include Rudy Gay this high and ignore his teammate Andrea Bargnani, who averages 12.7 points with 3.7 rebounds and averages 9.2 million. Perhaps being traded from the Grizzlies made one think that Gay is not worth keeping around – one doesn’t just trade a franchise player away on a whim. But there are worse players who belong higher up on this list.

8. Stephen Jackson (San Antonio Spurs) – $10.1 million

Ppg- 6.1Rpg- 2.8

Jackson is only playing 19.6 minutes per game this season. His contract is not one the Spurs can be proud of. He was a long range bomber of some repute but he is now shooting 27% from downtown. Definitely overpaid.

9. Chris Kaman (Dallas Mavericks) – $8 million

Ppg- 10.7Rpg- 5.5

The caveman is not averaging excellent numbers but numbers don’t really measure the impact of a 7 footer like him. The Mavericks traded down when they let Chandler walk and replaced him with Kaman, but in 20.9 minutes per game Kaman is averaging decent numbers. He is a trifle overpaid though.

10. Arron Afflalo (Orlando Magic) – $7.8 million

Ppg- 16.5Rpg- 3.7Apg- 3.2

Why he is overpaid, I have no idea. Those are decent numbers for the money he is making. For his career, he averages 9.9 points per game; this season he is averaging 16.5.

I’d like to think that Forbes’ list was compiled using incomprehensible statistics which quite possibly make some sense in justifying this list, but I can’t shake off the feeling that this list is nothing more than troll bait. Carmelo’s inclusion at number one alone gives credence to that. And the rest of the list doesn’t help either.