NBA contract incentives are far more complicated and secretive than we mere mortals could ever hope to comprehend. For instance, did you know that if Sam Perkins had scored 50 points in a single game, the Seattle SuperSonics had agreed to pay for his hair to be braided for a 10-year period? That's probably not true, but that's the thing about NBA incentives — they're kept under wraps and often times arcane in their nature.
Boston Celtics guard Nate Robinson was benched for two games near the end of the regular season, and it cost him $1 million, while saving the team twice that amount.
A clause in Robinson's contract calls for him to make a $1 million bonus if he both played in at least 58 games and made the playoffs this season. Robinson's Celtics are in the postseason, but he played in 56 games. As a result, the Celtics saved the $1 million they would have paid Robinson -- equivalent to a quarter of his reported annual salary -- and an additional $1 million they would have owed in luxury tax to the NBA (most of which would have been distributed to teams with payrolls below the luxury tax threshold).
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