The Front Row: Long-term security

OPTING OUT: Elton Brand and Baron Davis walked away from a combined $34.2 million.

That is a mind-boggling amount of money.

Brand and Davis are among the league’s finest players at their respective positions, but injuries have taken a toll on both 29-year-olds.

The NBA’s free agency period officially opened yesterday, and both former All-Stars see this summer as their last chance to lock up a lucrative, secure long-term deal.

Most think that money is the driving force for every contract negotiation, and most are absolutely right. But insecurity plays an underappreciated, yet vital role in these business decisions.

If Brand or Davis believed they were immune to another injury, they would’ve picked up that player option ($17.8 million for Davis, $16.4 million for Brand) and entered 2009 as unrestricted free agents.

However, both men elected to force their team’s hand and secure that long-term deal that’ll run through their mid-30s.

Meanwhile, former Wildcat Gilbert Arenas is in the position to take home the most coin. Some reports speculate that Arenas and the Washington Wizards are hammering out a deal in the 6-year, $100-million range.

These contract talks make me wonder what would’ve happened to me if I were eight inches taller, athletic, coordinated and motivated.

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A-ROD AND MADONNA: It’s just too ridiculous.

Sometimes, I feel as if those who specialize in gossip simply make stuff up in order to get people talking.

I just can’t envision a circumstance where Alex Rodriguez, the 32-year-old perennial MVP candidate for the New York Yankees, would start dating Madonna, the 49-year-old faded pop star who slips in and out of a British accent, depending on her surroundings.

What could this pair possibly have in common? What would they talk about?

Does A-Rod really want his name mentioned alongside Dennis Rodman, Jose Canseco and the dozens (and dozens) of other men Madonna has been romantically linked to?

Is this where our culture is heading? Will absurd tabloid figures start pairing off at random, simply to keep the gossip mill running?

It’s just too bizarre. I refuse to accept this as our reality.

nprevenas@gvnews.com | 547-9747