NBA

Hey, At Least Jeremy Lin Will Save Over $3 Million By Moving To Texas

Sure, Jeremy Lin really wanted to play for the New York Knicks, because of the fans and stuff. But did he sign that big ol’ contract with the Houston Rockets because he knew he’d save an extra $3 million on top of it? Probably not, but it’s something to add in the “Pros” column, at least.

Though perhaps Lin, what with his economics degree from Harvard, was aware of the fact that there are no individual income taxes in Texas — as opposed to New York, where you get taxed out the ass for every little thing.

From Business Insider:

According to Americans for Tax Relief, Lin’s state income tax rate in New York was 8.8 percent, and living in New York City meant he was docked an additional city rate of 3.8 percent.

Lin’s contract with the Rockets — which the Knicks chose not to match — is a backloaded deal worth $25.1 million over three years. If Lin would have stayed in New York, he would have owed $3.12 million over the life of his contract in income taxes.

So, although he won’t be able to play the rest of his career in front of the fan base he loves, and despite the fact that he may be mired in mediocrity for the next three years, at least he’ll have a ton of extra cash to throw around. Because if there’s anything we learned about this whole situation, it’s that money is the most important thing and makes everything better.

(It should be noted that Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Relief, went on to spout a bunch of nonsense about American athletes leaving the country if Barack Obama is reelected. So head over to the Washington Examiner, if you’re into that sort of thing.)

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