It's an exciting moment for sports fans when their favorite team lands the most sought-after
free agent with a contract worth hundreds of millions. But sometimes all that money
can be a curse, and before long, that multi-million dollar baby is out the door on the way to
an early retirement.
Gilbert Arenas wasn't terrible during his rookie year with the Golden State Warriors.
But in his second season of 2002-2003, his output jumped enough for him to earn Most
Improved Player honors. He became a free agent immediately after, landing a six-year, $60
million deal with the Washington Wizards. He quickly became the star attraction on a
team that hadn't been a title contender in 25 years.
Arenas' wizardly reputation was also boosted thanks to some stellar numbers. In the 2004-2005
season, he scored 25.5 points per game and led his team to its first playoff appearance
in nearly a decade. His scoring averages increased in the next two years, and he was named to
three straight All-Star squads. So the Wizards banked their future on him, signing him to
a new contract in 2008 worth $111 million for six seasons. And that's when his career
fell apart.
"What happened to you in Washington, Gilbert?"
"Which part?"
"Okay."
"The good part or the bad part?"
Arenas barely played during the 2008-2009 season because of knee problems, though he
recovered somewhat the next year, showing signs of greatness. But then there was that
off-court feud with his teammate Javaris Crittenton that culminated in the two brandishing guns
at each other in the locker room. Both players were suspended for the remainder of the season,
and the Wizards dealt Arenas to Orlando as soon as they could. By the time the final
year of his big contract rolled around, he was playing in China.
Once upon a time, Amar'e Stoudemire was considered one of the most exciting players in the NBA
and one of the key ingredients in the Phoenix Suns' playoff runs in the 2000s. The 2003
Rookie of the Year and six-time All-Star was a beast in the best sense of the word, almost
always averaging over 20 points and eight rebounds per game during his years in Arizona.
But some might say that his skills were overstated since he played alongside Hall of Fame point
guard Steve Nash for six seasons.
Nevertheless, the New York Knicks figured Stoudemire was skilled enough in his own right.
They thought he might be the one to restore glory to the once-storied franchise. In 2010,
they offered him $99.7 million for five seasons. So how did Stoudemire fare without Nash? It
was kind of like Garfunkel without Simon or Oates without Hall, which is to say he was
disappointing. His points and rebound averages fell by about 30 percent, and thanks to injuries,
he never again played a full season.
"It's never easy when you're battling injuries, first of all."
In the 2000s, Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard was one of the most dominant
hitters in all of professional baseball. He twice led the big leagues in home runs and
RBIs, he earned Rookie of the Year and MVP honors, and he led his team to a World Series
win in 2008.
Rather than lose big-hitting services to another team, it made sense for the Phillies to give
Howard as much money as possible to keep him on the squad. In April 2010, he signed a whopping
$125 million, five-year contract extension. His stats initially slipped slightly, but
they were still good enough for him to be an All-Star. Then he began a moderately quick
dive into ordinary territory, thanks in part to injuries. His batting average slipped,
and his ability to knock it out of the park dissipated. Before the contract extension,
Howard hit 222 home runs. But afterwards, he only slammed 160 dingers.
The Boston Red Sox enjoy making a splash in MLB's free agency season. Some of the organization's
recent biggest stars joined as free agents, including Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz. In
another world, Carl Crawford would be on that list, too. After the 2010 season, the Sox
signed the outfielder to a gargantuan seven-year contract totaling a cool $142 million, the
winning figure in a four-way bidding war. And he seemed worth it. In his nine years
with the Tampa Bay Rays, he showed signs of greatness. He led the American League in stolen
bases four times and triples three times, all while maintaining a respectable batting
average.
It's admittedly hard to predict how these things will turn out, but it ultimately ended
up that Crawford's best seasons were already in the books. Over the next two years, he
played in just 161 games for the Red Sox. And he didn't play all that well, amassing
just 23 stolen bases and 162 hits overall. In the middle of the 2012 season, the Red
Sox sent him away for good, trading him to the Dodgers as part of a nine-player trade.
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays selected Josh Hamilton with the number one pick in the 1999 MLB Draft.
The outfielder then toiled in the minor leagues for years, his development hampered by drug
issues and injuries stemming from a car accident. In 2002, he became severely addicted to cocaine
and failed a drug test with a Triple-A team, receiving a 15-game suspension, a pattern
that would continue. By 2005, his dependency on drugs and alcohol had gotten so bad that
he pawned his wife's wedding ring, and he moved in with his grandmother. She helped
him get clean, and in January 2006, he enrolled in a sober living program at a Florida baseball
academy.
By 2007, Hamilton had acquired both the sobriety and the skills necessary to play ball again.
He finally debuted in the big leagues with the Cincinnati Reds. The following season,
he caught fire for the Texas Rangers, amassing 190 hits and 32 home runs. Despite an alcohol
relapse in 2009 and more injury issues, he was named the American League MVP in 2010.
By the end of the 2012 season, he was so reliably great that the Los Angeles Angels offered
him a $125 million, five-year contract. Unfortunately for all parties involved, Hamilton's play
didn't match that of his peak years. In two seasons with the Angels, his batting average
was middling, and he hit only 31 home runs. After one more season with the Rangers in
2015, his MLB career came to an end.
The goal of hockey, like most sports, is to score more points than your opponents. Thus,
its biggest stars tend to be the guys who score the most points. So for an NHL team
to select a goaltender with the number one pick in the draft, it must mean he's a near-impenetrable
fortress of defense.
That’s exactly what happened in 2000 when the New York Islanders selected Rick DiPietro
with the first overall pick. He made good on his reputation during his first several
years, saving 90 percent of the pucks that came at him. Islanders management summarily
rewarded him for his hard work with a contract extension worth $67.5 million. That's objectively
a lot of money, but when worked out on a per-season average, it's somewhat reasonable, as the
contract was set to last for 15 years.
In DiPietro's first two seasons after securing his finances forever, he got even better.
But then injuries destroyed his career. He suffered several concussions and blows to
his hip and knee that required surgery. Between 2008 and 2013, he appeared in just 50 games,
which add up to less than a full season. He officially retired in 2013, as the Islanders
bought out the last eight years on his contract.
"Did I have the amount of success I wanted to have in the NHL? Absolutely not. But I
will say this. I had the right- I had all the right intentions."
The man some call A-Rod and others call Mr. Jennifer Lopez actually got massively paid
twice. In 2000, Alex Rodriguez left the Seattle Mariners and signed a $252 million, ten-season
contract with the Texas Rangers. Under that deal, he played extremely well, both for the
Rangers and after he was traded to the New York Yankees in 2004. He was an all-around
superstar who routinely led the league in runs, home runs, and other big stats, which
made him an annual All-Star selection.
Just after the 2007 season, in which Rodriguez was named the American League MVP for the
third time, he re-upped with the Yankees to the tune of $275 million over ten years. That
was a new salary record for Major League Baseball. The old record, naturally enough, was Rodriguez's
old $252 million deal. The 2007 season would also wind up as Rodriguez's last great year.
His stats in 2008 dropped drastically as he began an inevitable decline due to age. He
was 32 years old at the start of that season, after all. Performance-enhancing drugs also
played a role in his fall, as he's admitted to using steroids between 2001 and 2003.
"In an interview with the DEA, A-Rod admitted he did in fact take performance-enhancing
drugs. He told the truth in exchange for immunity."
Owing to various performance-enhancing drug offenses, Major League Baseball suspended
Rodriguez for the entirety of the 2014 season. He followed that up with two more middling
years with the Yankees before he hung his cleats up for good.
In 2016, Chandler Parsons certainly looked like a franchise player or even a future legend,
at least from the point of view of the Memphis Grizzlies. Ignoring his last two seasons in
Dallas, when he missed dozens of games due to injury, the Grizzlies signed the small
forward to a massive four-year deal. Worth an estimated $94.8 million, it was the maximum
amount the team could offer.
Parsons immediately delivered for the Grizzlies. But what he delivered was not what the team
was hoping for.
"Chandler Parsons misses two free throws. And, uh, the crowd, the crowd wants something
positive to happen for Chandler, but…"
Instead, he offered more of what he'd been up to the past few seasons: declining statistics
and sitting on the bench because of injuries. Memphis got rid of Parsons after the 2018-2019
season, and he landed with the Atlanta Hawks. Since signing his lucrative contract, he's
yet to play more than half a season or average more than eight points per game.
After a quiet rookie season with the Chicago Bulls, seven-foot-tall Eddy Curry established
himself as an effective scorer and rebounder. In 2005, the Bulls were looking to trade him
away, and the New York Knicks landed him with an ample contract worth $60 million over six
years. But the Knicks completely overlooked the fact that while Curry's numbers were respectable,
he'd never been an All-Star. They also ignored the fact that he had potentially career-ending
health issues. That big deal was contingent upon Curry staying strong. If he had to retire
early because of his heart health issues, he would forfeit some of that cash. But Curry
passed the physical tests and then hit the court.
Initially, it seemed like the Knicks had made a good investment. In the 2006-2007 season,
Curry racked up career bests in points-per-game and rebounds-per-game averages. But then he
faltered, struggling with both injuries and weight gain. His production and time on the
court significantly dropped off. He went from suiting up for 59 games in the 2007-2008 season
to just ten over the next two years before sitting out the 2010-2011 season altogether.
After some brief bench-warming stints in Miami and Dallas, his NBA career ended in 2013.
Tennessee Titans tackle Albert Haynesworth was a defensive luminary in the 2000s. Some
said he was a dirty player, but he was nonetheless effective. In 2007 and 2008, he earned back-to-back
selections for the Pro Bowl and the NFL's All-Pro first team. Right after that 2008
season ended with a narrow playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens, he was a free agent,
and one of the most in-demand ones. Ultimately, it was the Washington Redskins that won the
Haynesworth sweepstakes, thanks to their offer of an incredible seven-year contract worth
$100 million.
But when Haynesworth made it to D.C., it became clear pretty quickly that he wasn't a good
fit. He declined to participate in both optional pre-season activities and mandatory team workouts.
He also pushed back on the coaching staff's requirement that he play nose tackle in a
defensive plan that was different than the one the Titans used. And when he did get on
the field, his stats fell off precipitously. After two seasons, Washington traded him to
the New England Patriots, who waived him almost immediately.
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