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Noble as they might have been, aging legends who have accepted steep hometown-discount deals didnt do so for charity.Future Hall of Famers such as Dirk Nowitzki and Tim Duncan, men who have cashed NBA paychecks worth well more than $200 million each, simply valued winning with the only franchise they ever played for more than maximizing their wealth.The negotiations with Duncan and Nowitzki have always been handled quietly, devoid of the kind of drama and public posturing that ultimately led to the stunning divorce of the Miami Heat and Dwyane Wade, whose Chicago honeymoon officially began Friday with his introductory news conference.The hometown discounts werent as steep for Wade, who was never the Heats highest-paid player, but they started at a much earlier stage of his career. They each sacrificed financially for the sake of the franchise, but Duncan and Nowitzki never felt the kind of disrespect that Wade did during his last couple rounds of contract talks with the Heat.For Duncan, the financial sacrifice paid off in playoff dividends. In his final four seasons, when his salaries were a fraction of his market value, the San Antonio Spurs averaged more than 60 wins per season, won eight postseason series, advanced to a pair of Finals, and floated down the river for the fifth time as the featured attraction of a championship parade. Duncan made about $35 million during the steep-discount stage of his career, including the player option for next season he exercised a couple of weeks before announcing his retirement in what amounts to a $5.6 million farewell gift from the franchise.For Nowizki, leaving more than $30 million on the table the past two seasons didnt work out nearly as well. The Dallas Mavericks won a total of two playoff games in that span, increasing that tally to five in five seasons since the franchises lone title run in 2011.No wonder Nowitzki decided to opt out of the final season of that three-year, $25 million deal. He was more than willing to take less money to give the Mavs a chance to compete for championships in his twilight. Competing for the No. 6 seed? Pay the man.Mavs owner Mark Cuban did just that, giving Nowitzki a two-year, $50 million deal after negotiations that essentially consisted of handing the longtime face of the franchise a blank contract, seeing his suggested price, then suggesting Dirk beef up the numbers a bit more.Its a deal that prompted comparisons to the last contract of another one-team legend: Kobe Bryant, whose two-year, $48.5 million extension drew criticism. Not that Kobe cared.Its the popular thing to do, Bryant said of hometown discounts when asked about the topic during a Dallas visit in the first month of the 2014-15 season. The player takes less, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I think its a big coup for the owners to put players in situations where public perception puts pressure on them to take less money. Because if you dont, then you get criticized for it.Its absolutely brilliant, but Im not going for it. I know the new head of the players association aint going for it, either.Two years later, Nowitzki aint going for it, either. Not under these circumstances, at least.Asked that day about Bryants comments, Nowitzki explained that he willingly took a massive pay cut because his priority was to compete my last couple of years at the highest level. He cited the signing of Chandler Parsons and the trade for Tyson Chandler as good moves by the Mavs made possible by his discount deal.We feel like weve got a good group, Nowitzki said at the time, and hopefully we can make it work.We all know how that worked out. Parsons is gone to the Memphis Grizzlies after two injury-marred seasons with the Mavs, who werent willing to make a long-term investment in him after the forward had more knee surgeries (two) than playoff game appearances (one) during his Dallas tenure. Chandler left last summer when the Mavs wanted to put him on hold while pursuing DeAndre Jordan in free agency.It would have been a much different story if Jordan didnt jilt the Mavs after temporarily committing to Dallas. The Mavs probably would have been battling for home court in the West last season and may have become an intriguing destination for free agents this summer. In that case, Nowitzki likely would have been comfortable playing out the final season of his discount deal, allowing the Mavs front office to use every possible dollar to upgrade a team with real hopes of a long playoff run.But reality for the Mavs is constant shuffling of a roster around Nowitzki, who had grown frustrated after following up a title run with five years of failing to make it out of the first round. Hes not a hypocrite for cashing in on this contract; hes a realist.Dallas isnt in nearly as dire straits as the Los Angeles Lakers were when Bryant signed his last deal. The Lakers were coming off a 27-55 campaign in which Bryant played only six games while recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon. Over two seasons, they won a combined 38 games while Bryant made $48.5 million, but his presence was a box-office bonanza, especially during his 2015-16 farewell tour.In other words, it could be argued that Bryant was a bargain for the Lakers as the leagues highest-paid player the past two seasons. And Bryant, whose career earnings of more than $328 million rank behind only Kevin Garnett, knew that would be true.I think youve got to look at the business of basketball, Bryant said during that November 2014 visit to Dallas. I think for a lot of writers, for a lot of fans, they have a very tough time distinguishing the two.This is a business, and you have to look at individuals and what they generate and the market that theyre generating revenue in. And you cant separate those. People have a hard time separating that stuff. From a business perspective, you have to take that stuff into account, and you have to try to -- as a player -- be in situations where it can be a win-win for everybody.A win-win for Nowitzki and the Mavs would have been using his discount deal to construct a legitimate title contender. It worked once, when Nowitzki took $16 million less than a maximum contract during the summer of 2010 to ease the luxury-tax burden on Cuban, who immediately invested the savings into acquiring Chandler on a salary-dump deal.It wasnt for a lack of effort, but the Mavs couldnt find a way to parlay this most recent Dirk discount into a roster that was a threat in the West.Nowitzki, whose two-year deal -- with only $5 million of his salary in the second season guaranteed as essentially retirement insurance for the Mavs -- ensures that he wont have to hear any noise about possibly leaving to chase a ring in his 20th season, settled for more money and a chance to keep competing for a spot in the playoffs.His previous deal still helped the Mavs during their annual roster remodeling, as his $12.5 million cap hold made it relatively easy to create room to sign Harrison Barnes to a four-year, $94 million deal and trade for Andrew Bogut in a salary-dump deal. This contract will make it tough for the Mavs to be aggressive bidders in next summers free-agency market if Nowitzki returns, but thats a small price to pay after two decades of legendary service.The Mavs are good enough to fight for a playoff berth. They wont have to watch Dirk, who hopes to join Kobe as the lone members of the NBAs 20-year, only-one-team club, suffer the indignity of playing in meaningless games as his career winds down.Duncan was rewarded for his financial sacrifice by being able to compete for a championship until he rode off into the sunset. Precious few get that luxury. Nowitzki wont be on that list. The end of his career will likely be more lucrative and less fulfilling than he wanted. Jarrett Stidham Jersey . Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on Friday night. Irving Fryar Jersey .C. -- Al Jefferson joked that he feels he can score from anywhere on the court. https://www.patriotssportsgoods.com/Womens-Andre-Tippett-Inverted-Jersey/ .S. Open champion Justin Rose birdied the first hole with a blind shot he hit to a foot of the pin, and he stayed in front Tuesday until he completed a 4-under 67 for a two-shot lead over Jason Dufner in PGA Grand Slam of Golf. Custom New England Patriots Jerseys . It was the second consecutive win for the Pacers (2-5), who lost their first five preseason games. Jeff Teague led the Hawks (1-5) with 17 points and eight assists and Al Horford had 12 points and seven rebounds. Mike Scott scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. Drew Bledsoe Womens Jersey . Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty good place to start laying the groundwork. "They are a very good defensive team," Penguins forward Brandon Sutter said. The hottest stretch of Alex Norens career has come a few weeks too late.If only two of his three European Tour wins since early July hadnt arrived after the qualification period for the Ryder Cup ended and Darren Clarke had selected his captains picks.I wasnt on their minds, Noren says.Too bad for Clarke. With Noren on the team, the Europeans might not have been humbled at Hazeltine.The 34-year-old Swede is easily playing the best golf of his life -- and, as a consequence, earning more money than he could ever have imagined.Please take a week off and give someone else a chance, English golfer Chris Paisley tweeted Sunday, hours after Noren won the British Masters at The Grove to take his 2016 prize money over 2 million euros ($2.2 million).The hot streak began when Noren won the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart the week before the British Open. He lost in the final of the Paul Lawrie Match Play in early August, won the Omega European Masters in September, and then triumphed at the British Masters at the weekend.Noren woke up Monday at a career-high No. 18 in the rankings and is guaranteed to play in all the majors in 2017, which means a first appearance at Augusta National for the Masters.Ive been trying to get into the top 50 to play in more (big) tournaments, Noren told The Associated Press in a phone interview from his hotel after arriving for the Portugal Masters in Vilamoura. But to get into the top 20, I really couldnt dream about it.Noren appreciates the upturn in fortunes more than most golfers would.In 2014, he played just two events because of tendinitis in both wrists that required surgery. Every time he tried to play, he got extreme inflammation in the wrists and lost most of the movement in them. He was told not to compete or train.That year, he earned less than 5,000 euros ($5,500) in prize moneey.ddddddddddddMaybe it was good for me that I had this injury, Noren said. I could do something else other than golf.There have been more changes in perspective for Noren this year.He and his girlfriend, Jennifer, had their first child -- Iris -- early this year. Suddenly his mood stopped depending on the numbers on a scorecard.Maybe thats the biggest contributor to my form this year, Noren said. Golf was everything to me before ... It put a lot of pressure on me.He has also decided to spend less time at the range. That has meant practicing at a different club -- Ullna Golf Club, near Stockholm -- which Noren says doesnt have a driving range.I play a lot more golf on the course than before and try to achieve scores even when my game doesnt feel so good, he said. Before, if I played nine holes and I didnt feel so good, I went to the driving range. Now I use the course as my driving range, hitting extra balls here, extra balls there.Noren said he might take advantage of his lofty ranking by playing more events on the PGA Tour in future, allowing him to play the best tournaments against the best players on the best courses. But he said he will not turn his back on the European Tour.But in the short term, Noren has the end of the best season of his career to focus on. He is currently ranked fourth in the Race to Dubai and must be one of the favorites a month out from the World Tour Championship finale.I know how tough golf can be. Ive had my really bad runs before, so I dont take it for granted, Noren said.Im just really happy with what Ive done this summer. I have more self-confidence now than before. But I honestly dont feel that other people are looking at me in a different way. ' ' '