NBA player pocketed $714,000 by not shooting ball

Maurice Harkless of the Portland Trail Blazers. Photo / Getty

Face it, we're all Moe Harkless.

The Portland Trail Blazers forward was in an interesting spot Wednesday night in the team's final regular-season game. All he had to do to make a sweet US$500,000 (NZ$714,000) bonus was finish the season making 35 percent of his three-point attempts, a delicious prospect complicated by the face that he went into the game at 35.1 percent.

What to do, what to do?

Even though he's in the first year of a four-year, US$42-million contract, Harkless did the only sensible thing, really. He didn't take a three-point shot in the 103-100 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.

Who among us would not take the money and run?

SB Nation figured the possibilities, in case you need to consider this further:

Number of threes attempted:

0-of-0: 35.1
1-of-1: 35.3
0-of-1: 34.8
2-of-2: 35.7
1-of-2: 35.2
0-of-2: 34.7
1-of-3: 35.02
0-of-3: 34.5
2-of-4: 35.3
1-of-4: 34.8
0-of-4: 34.3

It wasn't like he cost his team-mates anything - the Blazers are in the playoffs as the Western Conference's eighth seed and, besides, who can't use an extra US$500,000?

Harkless played 22 minutes and was 5-of-6, finishing with a three-point percentage of 35.1 and letting his team-mates throw up 30 three-point attempts.