Another bad news hit the Kansas City Royals: Their head coach shed tears as four of his star players made a final decision to terminate their huge contracts.

Another bad news hit the Kansas City Royals: Their head coach shed tears as four of his star players made a final decision to terminate their huge contracts.

The Kansas City Royals received further devastating news when their head coach broke down in tears when four of his top players decided to end their enormous contracts.

The history of basketball is full of cautionary fiduciary stories. Gilbert Arenas signed a six-year, $111 million contract in Washington, during which he missed nearly the whole season, and there was an armed standoff in the locker room a la the Old West. There are overpriced reserves—backup center Jon “Contract” Koncak receiving $13 million from the Hawks—injury-related bad contracts (Bill Walton on the Clippers and Grant Hill in Orlando) and foolish contract provisions (the Warriors giving rookie Chris Webber a 15-year contract with an opt-out after just one year). Look out anytime the pay cap abruptly increases significantly. While the cap increase in 2016 allowed the Warriors to get Kevin Durant, it also made it possible for the Lakers to contract Mozgov and Luol Deng. Giving and taking of the cap. Examine some of the worst NBA contracts ever.

Some odd acquisitions resulted from the introduction of restricted free agency in 1988, but none more so than the six years and $13 million the Hawks paid fifth-year player Jon Koncak in 1989, after he had averaged 4.7 points and 6.1 rebounds the year before. Over the course of the contract, which paid more than Larry Bird’s or Michael Jordan’s wages at the time, he would never match those pitiful figures. He became known as “Jon Contract” as soon as he signed this contract. After witnessing how much the utterly unimpressive Koncak was earning, reportedly high school great Shaquille O’Neal made the decision to give up football immediately in order to pursue his basketball career.

The great player Ben Wallace belonged in the Hall of Fame, but in 2006, at the age of 31, he began to deteriorate. Even though the Bulls already had Tyson Chandler, who was only 23 and had five years left on his contract, a younger, less expensive, taller, and better version of Big Ben, they still offered him a four-year deal worth $60 million. For P.J. Brown and J.R. Smith, whom they also tossed, the Bulls dumped him in New Orleans. In fifteen months, Big Ben was a Cavalier. Without him, the Pistons made it to the conference finals; their biggest mistake was trading Allen Iverson for Chauncey Billups. Five years later, the Bulls gave Wallace’s teammate Richard Hamilton far too much money, demonstrating they had learned nothing.