What NBA Players Have I.P.N.?

Posted by Jeff Sack under Main

I love people who think outside the box, unconventional thinkers. I mean, if Thomas Edison did not think outside the box, you would not be reading this right now! That is part of the evolution of human beings, and that is what hopefully will keep humans prospering ten millennium from now!

Scott Boras MLB sports agent is a man who thinks outside the box. Boras coined a new term last week while speaking to the New York media “I.P.N.”?and it may become the new measuring stick for sports contracts. Boras in talking about his client New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, said that A-Rod possesses I.P.N.: Iconic magnetism, historic Performance, and Network value.

When I first heard and read the statements, my first thought were that this concept can easily be transferred to the NBA as well. What players in the NBA for the 2007-2008 campaign have I.P.N.? Okay let’s go to the obvious candidates first, Kobe, Shaq,? Kevin Garnett, J-Kidd, LeBron, D-Wade. I don’t think any NBA fan will debate including any of these?six All-Stars as meeting the parameters of I.P.N. But what about one of the game’s great players San Antonio?Spurs forward Tim Duncan? Historic Performance for sure?but what better barometer than the ratings for the 2007 NBA Finals as far as Duncan not possessing the other two factors! Iconic magnetism, Network value, sorry Tim these are qualities you do not have. In fact teammamtes?Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli probably fit those parameters better than you do!

So just because you are a lock for the Hall of Fame does not necessarily mean that you are an I.P.N. player. But as athletes are looked at more and more as entertainers, how important will I.P.N. be the further we get into the millennium? Can you have it and lose it? And if so why? Age, controversy, even being traded to a smaller media market could be factors. Does Allen Iverson have as much I.P.N. with the Denver Nuggets as he did with the Philadelphia 76ers? Would Carlos Boozer have more I.P.N. in Los Angeles with the Lakers than he does in Utah with the Jazz?

Athletes contracts have always been based strictly by on field productions. But as Sports the business finds that they every day they have more and more competition for the Entertainment dollar, how important will I.P.N. become? If two point guards have exactly the same numbers, but one player is an extrovert like Gilbert Arenas, and the other is reticent like Andre Miller should it effect their contracts? How much of a factor will marketing become in determining a players value?

Society changes, values change, perceptions change. Again it is just a natural part of our ever evolving world, for better or for worse. But in the not too distant future I.P.N. may become part of the Sports lexicon.

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