NBA legend Kevin Garnett criticizes Shohei Ohtani's $700m deal: "How come all foreigners come here and get a crazy bag"
Unless you have been away, Shohei Ohtani's massive free-agent contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers has been the talk of social media. The two-time American League MVP shook the sports world by signing a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers, the richest in North American sports history.
Although Shohei Ohtani's free agency may have delayed the pending contracts of several high-profile players, it's clear that taking his time to make a decision was worth it.
That being said, there are a number of fans and media members who were shocked by the amount of money that Ohtani was able to secure. One of those is former NBA champion Kevin Garnett, who questioned why American athletes struggle to secure contracts on the scale of many foreign superstars.
“How come all foreigners come over here n get a Crazy Bag.. but Americans can't even come close tooo some of these numbers… n pls don’t say ishhh about 330.. it’s not 700 .. or 1.5 billi.. just saying,” Kevin Garnett posted on an Instagram Story.
The Hall of Famer then posed the question to his followers about whether American players can move to foreign countries and demand that sort of contract. He made sure to clarify that he was not shooting down or hating on any of the foreign players' massive contracts in North America.
Shohei Ohtani's free-agent contract destroyed the previous record
Although the Boston Celtics legend is correct in saying that Ohtani's contract is something that no American athlete has touched, when it comes to the MLB, no other foreign athlete has come close either.
"Largest contracts signed by MLB free agents: #1 - Shohei Ohtani ----> $700,000,000 #2 -Aaron Judge ----> $360,000,000 #3 - Bryce Harper ----> $330,000,000 Shohei's is larger than Judge's and Harper's combined. That's totally insane." - @CodifyBaseball
Prior to Ohtani's contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge set the record for the richest free agent contract in MLB history. Before him was Bryce Harper when he moved from the Washington Nationals to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Ohtani's astronomical contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers is valued higher than both Harper's and Judge's combined. Will this contract be a new trend around sports and will Garnett get his hope that it is dished out to an American athlete?