50 million might be an exaggeration, but the point is that without a max salary limitation, Lebron would likely make much more than he currently does. The max salary in effect subsidizes teams that have the elite players because they can pay them less than they would have if there was no max. The idea that are players are worth less than the max because that's what Lebron makes is flawed, there are only a few elite players. Less than elite players will be able to get the max because there are 20 or more teams that will be competing for those second rank players, any team that refuses to pay max for those guys will end up with third rank players at best. In the end players are worth what teams are willing to pay for them. Fans often have opinions about what players are worth based on how good they think they are, but that's a misguided way to look at it. There is a market, sometimes you can get a player for less than you feared, and sometimes it costs more than you hoped. Al is a max player, there is no doubt about that. You might wish that we didn't need to give him that much, but that is the market. You can't pass on players like that, without Al I don't think you get Kyrie and Gordon.