While the entire sports world is swept up in Kevin-Durant-to-the-Warriors fever, what's easy to forget is that while Durant is the biggest splash of free agency (by far), he'll hardly go down as the highest paid player this off-season.
That honor goes to Mike Conley, who signed a five-year, $153 million contract with the Grizzlies, a deal which, as things stand is the richest in NBA history. As my colleague Nick Schwartz pointed out, with the deal, Conley joins Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant as the only players in NBA history to make more than $30 million a year.
So with Conley's salary going up exponentially, it also raises the fascinating question: How will Conley spend all that newfound money? He was asked that query on ESPN Radio Tuesday morning, and admittedly, gave an answer that left a lot to be desired.
"Really to be honest, I don't even know," Conley said. "Maybe my wife a car or something. Outside of that, I don't think I'm touching it that much."
Oh man. What can we say other than.... BORING! Hey Mike, if you're reading this article just know that you're a star now, one of the highest-paid athletes on the planet, and we need a little bit better answer than "a car for my wife." Unless that's a flying car, that answer is totally and completely unacceptable.
That's especially true when you consider all the other flashy (or at least more fun) things that other athletes who've recently signed massive contracts have decided to buy with their first big purchase.
For example, what was Andrew Luck planning on buying a few months back, before he agreed to his new massive deal?
"Maybe a robot ping pong thing that hits balls back at you," Luck told the Indy Star. "My buddy has one and swears by it."
Totally weird, but totally awesome at the same time. Or, how about new Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff?
"I think I'm going to get like a nice massage chair," Goff told Jimmy Kimmel. "That's not very useful for more than a month."
Dee Gordon made maybe the most unlikely (and least healthy) purchase immediately after signing a $50 million deal with the Marlins: Some chicken nuggets from McDonald's. These tweets were sent just hours after agreeing to the deal.
And finally, there's Buddy Hield, who like Conley focused on family after being drafted by the Pelicans last month. He told reporters that he'll buy his mom a house.
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