While LeBron James’ one-game suspension is a big punch in the faces of the Lakers going into the game with the New York Knicks, it also brings a financial advantage to them.
CBSSports reports that LeBron James’ one-game suspension will save the Lakers a fairly significant chunk of change.
The suspension itself will cost James $284,004, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. That alone is fairly significant, but it gets better for Los Angeles. They will be awarded a luxury tax credit of $142,002, half of that money, which ultimately projects to save them $532,508 in total. Why so much? Because the luxury tax is not dollar-for-dollar. The tax goes up the deeper a team delves into it, and the Lakers, with a payroll of nearly $157 million, are far above the line. That means that savings of any kind are amplified.
Lakers fans obviously don’t care if the Buss family saves money, but such savings are meaningful considering how the Lakers built their roster. This is a team with 10 players making minimum salaries. They chose not to re-sign Alex Caruso at a discount largely because of the luxury tax costs. This is not a team that is willing to spend recklessly. Savings matter to this front office.
LeBron James is on a one-game suspension after hitting Detroit Pistons center Isaiah Stewart in the face during Sunday’s game. I think LeBron James’ suspension will benefit the Lakers more if they are able to beat New York Knicks. That will be a double win for them. They end up saving $500K and grabbing points too.
The only people who are suffering here are Stewart because he is losing two game checks and the Knicks fans who won’t be able to see LeBron at MSG this year because he is suspended.
Lakers are counting their saved money right now.
Flip to the next page for tweets about the incident between LeBron and Isaiah.
