'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAHAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFAABAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAB//aAAgBAQAAAAA+M//EABQBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL/2gAIAQIQAAAAP//EABQBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT/2gAIAQMQAAAAT//EACEQAAAFBAIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIDBAURAAEGEhMhIiNC/9oACAEBAAE/AMFwhqd8JyFydnQ71E9gKShOGmCEvnncceUB+acWFYlcFKcBPIEo0Rdh72ttF4mv/8QAGREAAgMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIAEWHR/9oACAECAQE/AGJWt4J//8QAGREAAgMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIAEVHw/9oACAEDAQE/AGUV2mf/2Q=='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
One of the biggest NBA news stories before the All-Star Game was that six-time All-Star Blake Griffin and the Detroit Pistons had agreed to a buyout. The buyout is worth $13.3 million and it is the 7th largest buyout in NBA history.
A buyout is essentially when the player and the team reach a conclusion to part ways and one agrees to pay the remaining value of the contract to the other.
5 biggest NBA contract buyouts in league history
It often happens that the team and player don't see eye-to-eye, sometimes their ideologies don't match or the player starts to decline in his game. Often a trade is no longer an option and the only way out of an ugly contract is a buyout.
As mentioned earlier, Blake Griffin's buyout is the 7th largest ever, so let's take a look at the 5 Biggest buyouts in NBA history.
#5 Deron Williams - $16 million
Deron Williams signed a 5-year $99 million deal with the Brooklyn Nets in 2012 but after a few years together, he realized that the team isn't the right fit for him. The relationship between the Nets and Williams had turned ugly and the two desperately needed to part ways.
In 2015, Williams agreed to a buyout with the Nets from his final two seasons and was eventually waived by the team.
The deal worked out for both parties. The Brooklyn Nets went under the tax bracket, avoided repeater tax, and saved $40 million. Deron Williams, on the other hand, signed a $10 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks shortly thereafter.
#4 Shawn Kemp - $18.7 million
In the offseason in 2000, Shawn Kemp was traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Portland Trail Blazers. However, shortly after the trade, Kemp's play began to decline significantly. His years with the Trail Blazers were riddled with problems stemming from his excessive weight, as well as cocaine and alcohol abuse.
In fact, his first season in Portland ended early as he entered rehabilitation voluntarily for cocaine abuse.
He started in just 3 games that season while averaging just 6.5 points compared to the season prior in Cleveland, where he started all 82 games and averaged 17.8 points per game.
After two embarrassingly poor seasons, the Trail Blazers waived Kemp prior to the 2002-03 season.
#3 Derek Fisher - $20.6 million
This is one of those rare occasions where the relationship between the team and the player didn't turn toxic. In 2007, Derek Fisher's daughter was suffering from retinoblastoma, a degenerative and rare form of eye cancer that mainly occurs in children.
Given the rarity of the disease, Salt Lake City apparently didn't have the specialists required to treat the illness at the time.
So on July 2nd, 2007, Derek Fisher requested the Jazz to release him from his contract so that he could relocate to a team and city that would have the "right combination" of specialists that could help fight his daughter's condition. The Utah Jazz honored his request and Fisher signed with his former team, the LA Lakers.
#2 Larry Sanders - $21.9 million
Larry Sanders' story is one of the more recent ones and given the situation in 2021, it is a tough pill to digest. He was suspended for marijuana use multiple times and released a statement after his suspension saying "I believe in marijuana".
Following his second suspension in 2015, the Milwaukee Bucks announced that they were buying out Sanders' contract.
Shortly after the buyout news, Sanders released a video of himself where he explained his situation. He had entered a program at Rogers Memorial Hospital for anxiety, depression, and mood disorders. He said that he couldn't devote his time and energy to basketball and that it wasn't worth it.
#1 Bison Dele - $31.7 million
Brian Williams, aka Bison Dele, suddenly announced his retirement from the NBA in 1999. He was just 30 years old at the time and many believed he was still in the prime of his career.
Dele had been averaging career-highs the season prior to his retirement and was an NBA champion with the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls in 1997.
He was the Detroit Pistons' highest-paid player at the time but had strained relationships with the team's management. He decided to walk away from the remaining five years of his contract.
It is also theorized and reported that he was never passionate about basketball to begin with, and he had earned enough money to leave professional sports behind.
Guess the Lakers players!
