Keith Van Horn is Living the Life

Keith Van Horn has to be the luckiest guy in the world. He is going to be paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $4.3 million for agreeing to be apart of the trade that sent Jason Kidd from the New Jersey Nets to the Dallas Mavericks.

I know when Van Horn first realized this opportunity, one of the first things to come to enter his mind had to be: "I love this game!"

And who couldn't? When you can come out of retirement (and let's face it, no matter how Dallas tries to spin it, Van Horn was out of the league) just because some billionaire owner needs you to be a key part in a blockbuster trade, and then you can collect that kind of money for what will amount to about 2 months worth of work, then you officially have one of the best jobs ever.

Then again, Van Horn could be in line for "the best job ever!" Think about it. First, he gets to be around the NBA and basketball, the sport that he loves and has pretty much dedicated his career to. If he wants to, he can play himself into shape, shoot hoops, josh around with the players, travel the country, appreciate the fans, and stay lavish hotels. And the Nets are a borderline playoff team, so Van Horn actually could become a valuable member of a team that some meaningful games come April.

The other big perk is that he doesn't have to do any of that if he doesn't want to. Now, I'm not enlightened to the exact details of his contract and this trade, but there's no doubt in my mind that Van Horn does not have to play basketball as a part of this deal. That's not something they could make somebody do, especially when he's been out of the league for almost two seasons and can't be expect to just go out and perform with some of the world's best athletes in a week's notice. So at the end of the day, Van Horn could just come out in a suit and tie, sit on the bench, and have great sits to New Jersey Nets games- well, maybe that's not exactly perk but you get my drift.

And it appears that Keith Van Horn will take the route of not playing. When the Nets were asked about Keith Van Horn's availability to both the team and the media, team president Rod Thorne responded by saying, "He's going to come in, we'll work him out and see if he can get in shape... He's here. But we are not going to make him available for interviews."

So as I said, Van Horn is the luckiest man on Earth. He is going to collect approximately $75,439 per day over the next 2 months or so of the NBA's regular season. He essentially won the lottery. And considering his luck and his proximity to Manhattan, I would caution New Yorkers about wasting their money on the New York State lottery.