Eventually, Bird defeated his old team, the Celtics, signing McDaniel for 4 years at 8 million. There's no other trick, just money.
Charles Dolan provided a 20-million salary budget, and Bird decisively retained Ewing with the second-highest salary in the league. Later, when renewing contracts with role players, he tightened the budget, sold nostalgia, and marketed the dynasty dream, just waiting to use it for free-agent competition.
In an era when stars earned two to three million annually, superstars generally made three to four million, with a maximum of five million, and key players earning just over a million counted as high salaries, every player sought the highest salary or better opportunities, or a balance between the two. However, hitching a ride with major teams was limited to veteran superstars who had already achieved financial freedom.
