Made $24.1 million through his NBA earnings, but it was not enough for Greg Oden. And it’d seem reasonable considering what the NBA stars make at present. However, the ex-Miami Heat star got jealous of what another NBA star made in 2016. The entire discussion started with Udonis Haslem pointing out how the higher paychecks nowadays make even him want to pick himself up and give another run in the league.

The 3x NBA champ wondered if Oden ever had a similar feeling. Well, the 36-year-old had an even more interesting way of putting his feelings into words. But to set the base first, he went back to the year he retired and Timofey Mozgov signed a contract with impressive figures with LA Lakers. “No disrespect. [Mozgov] got that 50 mil, and I wanted to kill everybody in the world. I hated life. I was depressed,” he said on the podcast.

Now imagine the reaction if Oden is reminded that the actual amount for Mozgov’s contract with the Lakers that year was $64 million. Not that he does not regret retirement already, though he means no disrespect to the 2016 NBA champ. But the most Oden made in a single year was about $6 million with the Portland Trail Blazers while Mozgov’s got him $16 m.

So all Greg Oden believes is that if he could’ve somehow managed to stay on the team, he too could’ve landed around $20 million, if not more. “It hurts my heart right now. I feel a little empty when I talk about it. No disrespect to my faith. But God damn, y’all could have threw me another 20,” Oden said on the podcast.

Well, there will be no end to this regret for any retired NBA star. Even in the future, considering how the NBA salary landscape keeps evolving.

A trip down memory lane to see just how far NBA salaries have come

As per an article by Give me Sport, rookie contracts in the early 1970s ranged from $15,000 to $20,000 a year. And the average salary was $35,000—equivalent to $224,000 today. But things started changing when the Milwaukee Bucks decided to pay Kareem Abdul-Jabbar over $250,000 annually. A new bar for player compensation.

But this was just a start, as by the 1980-81 season, the salary landscape took even a bold turn. The Lakers’ then owner, Jerry Buss, signed Magic Johnson to a ground-breaking 25-year, $25 million contract. Surprised at the major growth and duration? Wait till you hear that Buck still felt “underpaid” after winning the 1987 Finals MVP. Fast forward to the 1990s, and the stakes were even higher.

Michael Jordan secured a record-breaking deal with the Bulls, earning over $30 million per season by the 1996-97 season—a 5253.97% increase from his earnings a decade earlier! And in no time, the average NBA salary had soared to $3.1 million by 2000. Stars like Shaquille O’Neal and Kevin Garnett were earning $20-28 million annually.

And it didn’t stop there. Today, the league’s recent media rights deal with Amazon, NBC, and Disney promises even more astronomical contracts in the future. No wonder that retired players like Greg Oden regret not playing in this era.

Stay tuned for more such updates. And join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.