Rick Fox Explained How He Lost $33 Million With The Celtics And Signed With The Lakers For Just $1 Million

Rick Fox is one of those players who had the chance to play for the two best teams in NBA history, the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. In fact, he only played for those franchises during his 13-year NBA career. 

He was a good player in Boston and was highly valued by people within the organization, but a difficult decision made him go to the other side, joining the Los Angeles Lakers in 1997, six years after he entered the NBA. 

Scott was really good on the Lakers, as he helped Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal capture three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 through 2002 while starring in big duels. 

Rick Fox Losing Money On The Celtics Was A Blessing In Disguise

Things could have been very different for the small forward if the NBA didn't force the Boston Celtics to decide between him and Lakers center Travis Knight. According to John Jefferson Tan of Basketball Network, the C's wanted to get Knight and also keep Fox, who would get $33 million on the Celtics. 

David Stern, then NBA commissioner, forced the Celtics to pick between one of their gems, and they went with Knight. 

“I was furious. This was really late in the game, and teams didn’t have any money left for free agents. So instead of making $33 million, I was pretty much available for $1 million. Which made me the hottest remaining free agent on the market,” Fox said in Jeff Pearlman’s book “Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty."

In the end, the Lakers landed Fox, and the rest is history. Rick became somebody important in Los Angeles, with some chicks even confusing Jamie Foxx with him. Rick would become a solid player for the Lakers, helping the Purple and Gold to win three consecutive championships to create one of the best dynasties we've seen in recent years. 

During his career, he earned $34 million ($59 million adjusted for inflation), which was only one more million than he would make in Boston if he signed that new deal. During his Lakers career, he never made a lot of money, and in 2001, Shaq and Kobe made so much money that Fox only got $3.4 million, which was still enough to be the 5th highest-paid player on that team.