Every year, some NBA star swears history will happen with him because, after all, it's about winning, it's about that ring and the money just isn't so important now. The Los Angeles Lakers' mid-level exception is forever dangling in the cool SoCal breeze, one bluffing basketball star after another threatening to snatch that easy ride to a championship. All that bravado, all that bluster, all those promises to break the mold.

And nobody ever does it. Ever. Everyone talks about it, but no one does it. And it looked like it was happening again with Gary Payton, a Hall of Fame talent, insisting that $4.9 million a year with the Lakers tempted him. He wouldn't do it, would he? Of course, Milwaukee is eager to lose payroll, but still, he could've stayed a Buck and been far, far richer.

Only, it didn't matter. Only, Payton didn't just want to win a championship. He was willing to sacrifice cold, hard cash to do it. What's more remarkable is that Karl Malone is closing fast on the outside, threatening to follow through on his word to take a $17 million pay cut for the $1.5 million veteran's minimum with the Lakers. Now, it's on Malone. Now, it's his chance too.

	It's not all about the 'Benjamins' with Gary Payton, left.

If it happens, it's history. This has always been one of the great phony fronts in sports: Winning is most important to me. I don't care about the money. Ballplayers are always talking it, but never living it. This never happens. Yes, Rick Fox signed with the Lakers for far less money than the Cavaliers offered him several years ago, but Fox was unique. It wasn't just a chance to win with L.A., but an angle to get into acting. And he isn't a big NBA star.

Hey, I have no problem with guys grabbing the money. None at all. I've never taken a job for less money, and willingly, I never will. Why should I ask them to do it? The difference is, I never say I'm going to do it. Of course, it isn't just the players. The coaches can be just as disingenuous, even worse. The best ever is Larry Brown. Of course, he leads the league in disingenuousness, but don't you always love his line that he's going to walk away from it all someday and coach high school basketball?

You know the drill: I'm going to coach somewhere without the egos, where basketball is pure and simple. Please. Larry Brown is never going to coach high school basketball. He's going to make $5 million a year in the NBA until he's too old to make $5 million a year in the NBA. And he should. Yet, this idea remains that he's going to throw it all way for the simplicity of coaching the kids. Please. What a joke.

He isn't alone. A lot of coaches talk this way. Rick Majerus insists he'll end his coaching career at a small Catholic school, such as St. Mary's of California. Really, huh? Just do it. Jeff Van Gundy steered his SUV through the leafy suburbs of Westchester County, N.Y., on his way to Madison Square Garden for Patrick Ewing Night a few months ago. The conversation turned to his next coaching job, and he said, "You know, I would love to coach in the MAAC." The MAAC is the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, with Iona and St. Peter's, $100,000-a-year jobs and February bus rides to Buffalo in driving snowstorms.

I just looked at Van Gundy and said, "There is no way you will ever coach in the MAAC."

He thought for a second, and smiled. "Yeah, you're right," he said.

The new $5 million a year coach of the Houston Rockets is entitled to his momentary flights of fantasy, but he certainly never tried to insult people's intelligence about who he is, what he does and where he wants to do it.

So finally, here comes Gary Payton to the Lakers -- the "first guy to put his money where his mouth is and take less to play for a championship," his agent, Aaron Goodwin told ESPN.com's Marc Stein. Here comes Gary Payton making a lot less money, and a little bit of basketball history. Gary Payton doesn't just want to win a championship. The man's willing.

Adrian Wojnarowski, who's a columnist for The Record of Bergen County, N.J., is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at ESPNWoj@aol.com.