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When the All-NBA teams were announced for the 2024-25 season, nobody was more eager to see the results than Memphis Grizzlies center Jaren Jackson Jr.
Unfortunately, he came 13 total points short and finished 17th in voting, causing him to miss out on potentially signing the biggest contract in NBA history.
All-NBA snub cost Jaren Jackson Jr. at least $200 million
NBA rules state that only players entering their 7th or 8th season in the league with the team they started with (or acquired their rookie deal rights via trade) can sign players to a supermax i.e. a contract that commands 30 to 35% of the team's salary cap. It was done to limit stars from taking their talents elsewhere in exchange for a huge bag.
Entering the 2024-25 season, Jackson Jr. was one of the few players eligible for a supermax contract. He was entering the last two years of his current contract and passed the eligibility for tenure on one team. With the NBA's salary cap only getting bigger each season, Jackson Jr. was in a prime position to take the title as the player who'd sign the largest contract in NBA history, a title currently owned by Jayson Tatum.
He had three ways to do this. Win league MVP, Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY), or be named to an All-NBA team. Realistically, Jackson Jr. had a two out of three chance to earn a supermax before the start of the season. He's won DPOY in the past and was already named an All-Star once. By February of the season, it seemed more than likely that Jackson Jr would sign a supermax by the offseason. However, one game changed everything.
Did Jaren Jackson Jr. lose millions because of 1 bad game?
Heading to the All-Star break, Jackson Jr. had been named an All-Star. He was also the odds-on favorite to bag DPOY once news broke that Victor Wembanyama went down with a season-ending injury.
His case to win the award was strong. Only Evan Mobley had a real shot at beating him. With both players yet to face each other in the season, their two matchups were the perfect stage to determine who would win DPOY.
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Then came the game.
Mobley didn’t just win the matchup, he dominated it. Statistically, Mobley outperformed Jackson Jr. He had more points, more rebounds, more blocks, and his team won the game.
The real damage came in the head-to-head numbers. Mobley held Jackson Jr. to just 16% shooting when guarding him. On the flip side, Mobley hit 50% of his shots when Jackson Jr. was his primary defender.
The impact was immediate. The next day, Jackson Jr’s DPOY odds plummeted from frontrunner to third. By season’s end, Jackson Jr. fell to seventh in DPOY voting, a massive slide for someone once seen as the favorite a few months ago.
Without the honor of DPOY or an All-NBA selection, Jackson Jr. became ineligible for the supermax. His next max extension will now only be worth a maximum of $147 million. While the figure is still lucrative, it won’t even come close to the amount he just missed out on.
Jackson Jr. missing out on $200 million is most likely not just a case of being outplayed by Mobley. The Grizzlies stumbled towards the end of the season while other teams found their stride.
The numbers were there for Jackson Jr. But the spot for one of the top 15 players of this season was just too tight of a window for him to squeeze through.
