A Grip on Sports: Inflation has hit everywhere but it is more evident in NBA salaries than just about anywhere

A GRIP ON SPORTS • For someone who paid 29 cents a gallon the first time he ever filled up dad’s car, we’re not immune to what inflation does to a pocketbook. But even with that perspective, and armed with the knowledge a hamburger at McDonald’s costs $2 these days, the salaries being handed out by the NBA still boggle the mind.

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• Heck, we’re just talking about former Gonzaga players. There are others who are even more mind-blowing. But Rui Hachimura picking up $51 million from the Lakers for three years seems really impressive. Until you find out the next day Domantas Sabonis signed an extension with Sacramento that will earn him $217 million over the next five years.

We know a guy has to eat but that’s a lot of potato pancakes.

It wasn’t that long ago – OK it was 1985, which was a lifetime ago even for middle-aged folks – Sports Illustrated published a cover that listed every major league player making at least a million dollars a year. (It probably doesn’t surprise you there were no Mariners on the list, though the dad of one future Hall of Famer, Ken Griffey, was making a million with the Yankees.)

The point here, though, is it hasn’t taken all that long for people to morph from being scandalized by million-dollar-a-year salaries in pro sports to not batting an eye when a supporting cast member of a decent NBA team – we’re referring to Hachimura here – is making $17 million a season.

Welcome to pro sports circa 2023.

Sabonis is really good but is he worth more than $40 million a year?

The simple answer is yes. Because that is what he got from the Kings. We live in, for better and worse, a market-based economy. CEOs make NBA-star-like money. So do singers and actors and idiots who own social media companies. More even.

Sports has replaced religion in the old Karl Marx saying about opium. It keeps us all entertained and happy. (Or frustrated and sad, if you happen to watch the current M’s or Sounders on a regular basis.) Which means, like any drug, those who play a key role in producing it earn huge salaries. Heck, Pfizer’s CEO made $33 million in 2022, which seems a bit out of whack as well.

Athletes earn what they earn. They’ve worked hard to get where they are. Sacrificed a lot. Sweated. Strained. Suffered. For every player who makes multimillions, there are hundreds who don’t. The pyramid has a tip, after all, and needs multitudes to supply the foundation.

It just seems odd, with so many millions of people struggling to get by, working jobs that demand just as much effort, just as much skill, just as much sweat, strain and suffering, so much money is earmarked for the athletic sector.

Priorities vary from person to person and what we see as misplaced ones are often hailed as the perfect path by many. So be it. And we realized long ago railing about how things are rarely changes them. That won’t stop us from questioning them, however.

Or questioning why a hamburger has to cost $2.

• We walked around Manito Park yesterday morning. Checked out the rose garden. Duncan Gardens. The playground. Just an ordinary day in an out-of-the-ordinary spot.

And it hit us once again. Summers in Spokane are special. Spectacular in their own, understated, way. The sun peaks over the mountains early, rarely hides behind clouds for too long, and heads to bed just late enough for us to thank our blessings about a thousand times.

After 40 years, we still marvel at how lucky we are to live here.

OK, check in with us in six months. We might not have the same attitude.

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WSU: Around the Pac-12 and the nation, Washington continues to reel in football recruits, this time a defensive lineman from Ohio. By the way, Christian Caple has an interview with athletic director Jen Cohen on his website. … John Canzano has some thoughts on San Diego State and the conference in a recent mailbag.

Gonzaga: The Sabonis contract news isn’t the only story with a GU focus we want to pass along. We also found this one from Philadelphia about Filip Petrusev’s quest to make the Sixers’ roster this summer.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, former Weber State star Damian Lillard has asked the Blazers to trade him, preferably to Miami.

Preps: Michael Stockton has been playing overseas since 2011. And doing well. But when the former Gonzaga Prep standout began, he never thought it would last his long. Theo Lawson talked with him recently and has this story. … When Lexie Hull was playing at Central Valley High, her defensive prowess was overshadowed by the 25 points or so a game she scored. But she could always guard. And that skill is helping her stand out with the WNBA’s Indiana Fever.

Indians: The most-recent visit to Vancouver hasn’t gone well for Spokane, as the Indians lost their fifth consecutive game. Dave Nichols has this coverage of Saturday’s 11-2 defeat.

Mariners: Is George Kirby the M’s ace? Will he be soon? Even if you answer with a “no” to the first question, you have to admit the second seems to deserve a resounding “yes.” He threw another game worthy of ace-status Saturday, rolling over the league-leading Rays for seven innings in an 8-3 win. … Bryce Miller’s blister might mean a few days off. … Bob Condotta attended the 1979 All-Star Game in Seattle with his dad. His reminiscences remind me of the ones we have from the 1967 one in Anaheim Stadium. … The home run derby and the Mariners have a history. …Baseball’s draft is July 9. The Rockies, Spokane’s parent club, pick ninth, the Mariners 22nd.

Kraken: With the loss of a defenseman to free agency, Seattle had to shore up that aspect of its roster. The Kraken did, signing Brian Dumoulin to a two-year deal.

Storm: Seattle will have two WNBA all-stars. Ezi Magbegor will join Jewell Loyd on the roster.

Sounders: No nil-nil draw Saturday at T-Mobile. Albert Ruznak assured that with a second-half goal as Seattle topped visiting Houston 1-0. The Dynamo have never won in Seattle.

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• What are you favorite flowers? We’ve always wanted to grow roses but never felt our thumbs were green enough to be successful. Lilac bushes are easy, so we do have one of those in the backyard. But for sure joy, we love daisies the most. It’s too bad we’ve never been able to get them to do well in our yard. You know what flowers really do stand out at the Grippi abode? Dandelions. Without even trying we seem to be able to cultivate them. Years ago, we gave one of our sons a bucket, an old screwdriver and a contract. For every dandelion he excised from the lawn, we offered him a nickel. We went broke. Turns out he not only cleared our lawn, but unbeknown to us, did a couple of the neighbors’ as well. They weren’t happy with the holes he left behind. Until later …