It's stupid to think that a player doesn't have the ability to play less motivated after he gets paid. Everyone has given you plenty of examples, yet you call it a coincidence...and I'm sure I can give you 100 more examples of it in the NBA. Playing a sport is a job. When you want a promotion, you do everything possible to get it, work as hard as possible, work overtime, do things you usually don't do. Once you get your promotion, you're at that point where you can kick back again, still working hard...but not at a high level. Just because a player isn't working his ass off, every single hour of the day and every minute of the game, doesn't mean he's not playing at a pro level. Erick Dampier went nuts in Golden State, during his contract year, grabbing 12 boards and scoring 12 points per game (nuts compared to his previous seasons), and he was always contesting shots at the rim. Once he was paid, he wouldn't demand the ball much in the post, he didn't contest as many shots, and he probably knocked off an hour every workout session, because he lost muscle mass. Once Sasha Vujacic was handed his $5 million a year, he started partying, ended up with Anna Kournikova, didn't give it his all in practice, and his game suffered because of his negligence, dedicating more time away from the game because, simply put, he had the money to do what he wanted, was locked up in a binding contract, and he shot pathetic for an entire season (and now counting the second season) because of it. It's not difficult to figure out. You pay a player big money for 4-6 years, and you run the risk of them slacking off. You give them the opportunity to MAKE that money, and you'll see more production from him than you ever have.
