Big Bucks In Sports

SHOOTING GUARD

SMALL FORWARD

POINT GUARD

NET PROFITS
Four teams charge more for tickets (the Lakers, Knicks, Celtics and Bulls), but no one asks more for a cold one than New Jersey—$7 for 14 ounces.

WHO KNEW?
It seemed like a good idea two years ago: The 2005--06 champs began last season with Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal on the books for $34 million, more than half the payroll. Overpriced underproducers Mark Blount ($7.9 million) and Ricky Davis ($6.8 million) didn't help.

LONG LIVE THE...
G.M. Billy King was canned last December but not before seeding the Sixers with talented youngsters Rodney Carney, Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young. Philly now has more cap space (roughly $12 million) than anyone.

A COLD TRAIL
For his $12,440,787 salary, forward Raef LaFrentz scored 65 points in '07--08. That's $191,396.72 per point.

AVERAGE SALARY BY NATIONALITY
Dirk Nowitzki and Andrei Kirilenko, their homelands' only NBA players, single-handedly edge China, which has two players in the league, Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian ($2.8 million).

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