I feel salaries should be viewed in relative, not absolute terms. I think this is were we differ. With yrs of service being equal, Lebron and Joe just shouldn't be paid the same. It shouldn't matter what a player is worth in free, open market. Lebron is a better player than joe, so therefore, he should be compensted more no matter what the salary cap is. Lebron may be worth 35 mil, but he is not going to get it, he can only get 23mil. If Joe was worth 23 mil in a open market, it wouldn't be the max a team was willing to pay for a player. Since Bron's salary is held artificial low, it should apply to Joe as well. (BTW, I love healthy debate)