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Fresh off a wonderful weekend of playoff-like NBA basketball, the NBA rarely lives up to the hype they build up for their marquee matchups. Sure, you have those moments, like Thursday night’s Lakers/Celtics clash in Boston, which had the feel of a NBA Finals game in the middle of the winter. But 9 times out of 10, the big matchup doesn’t measure up. It is usually those games you aren’t paying attention too that delivers the biggest moments of the season. Much like overhyped regular season games, often when players receive big off-season contracts, the expectations go through the roof. As we approach the NBA All-Star break this week, I wanted to point out five players this year that have truly lived on past glory to attempt to remain relevent. In a league that is all about winning, these four have underachieved, and been overpaid all season, and as part of President Obama’s stimulus plan, should be expected to donate the remainder of their season’s salaries to their cities’ economy, for job growth, the homeless, something that will be beneficial.

1. Baron Davis(Clippers) – Everything was all good for B-Diddy a few short seasons ago. Leading the upstart Golden State Warriors to the NBA playoffs, and then pulling off an improbable first round victory over the Dallas Mavericks was the highlight of Baron’s career. During this past off-season, Davis signed a 5 year, $65 million dollar deal with the Clippers, and was expected to be the player to turn the franchise around. The results thus far have been underwhelming, and some think Davis would be expendable, but no other team in the league would want to take on his bloated contract. Davis numbers across the board are down, and don’t show any signs of turning around this year. [click to continue…]

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