At age 32, Keith Van Horn is set for life.

He was drafted by the Nets in 1997 in the same class as Tim Duncan. Now, 11 years later, as Duncan continues to go strong with no foreseeable end in sight, Van Horn is content being away from the game, oddly enough going out with the same team that drafted him.

Many scoffed at Van Horn for walking away from his team and his contract to spend more time with his family. Many were confused as to who would be crazy enough to walk away from a notable NBA career that could have still earned him and his family tens of millions of dollars.

Well, it was exactly the kind of person who has his values in check and knows how to manage and use the money he has already made. While other NBA idiots like Latrell Sprewell turn their noses up at offers of $8 million per year because it isn’t enough to feed their kids, Van Horn walks away from potentially even more money because he actually does value his children.

He has made well over $100 million during his 11 year career, and according to reports has managed his money very effectively. (Go figure, he didn’t waste it all on Escalades/spinners/blow). I’m glad there are still some level-headed athletes out there that realize this is an insane amount of money. I hope Keith is already pushing his kids to procreate so he can show the rest of the ignoramuses how his well-managed money can support even his grandchildren, let alone merely feed his own spawn.

And for good measure, he is more or less rewarded for walking away. When Dallas included his rights in the Jason Kidd trade to make the salaries match, all he had to do was report to Jersey, where his career initially began, and pretend to give a shit about basketball to pocket a cool $4.3 million.

Like I said, Keith Van Horn is my hero. Smart, level-headed, retired to luxury at the age of 32.

The Western Conference trade circus perpetuates some more, as it was now the Dallas Mavericks frantically vying for aging superstar “help” in the aftermath of the still vastly superior Pau Gasol Laker trade.

First it was Phoenix who threw their future away by dealing defensive stalwart and certified Windex man (dude knows how to clean glass) Shawn Marion to the Miami Heat for Shaquille O’Neal. And now, the Mavs are trying to follow suit to make themselves look relevant and important with the Jason Kidd trade.

As big as the deal was (it involved Kidd and Malik Allen going from New Jersey to Dallas for two 1st round picks, Devin Harris, Jerry Stackhouse, DeSagana Diop, Maurice Ager, and the now-infamous Devean George), it was unlikely to help Dallas. They were to trade away key members of their depth for one superstar point guard who it can be argued isn’t even better than Harris.

And then it would seem like they would be rescued. Devean George, playing for the same team he played for last year on a one-year contract, enacted his Bird rights to block this deal. Brilliant.

Even though the trade had countless critics from its inception, all was thrown out the window when this happened. It’s as if coming so far only to start back at square one leaves a bitter taste in everyone’s mouth. Despite the fact that Dallas was likely worse off with Kidd, they are now potentially even worse off with the botched trade. Hell if you were one of the Mavs involved in this deal, wouldn’t you be bitter that they were shipping you off to fend for yourself in freaking Jersey?

Of course, leave it to the Laker connection to make it all possible.

Ex-Laker George is the one who stifled this trade, further putting Los Angeles in the driver’s seat in the West. And although he is not actively involved in the Gasol deal, you have to believe that ex-Grizzlies general manager slash NBA logo slash Laker legend Jerry West had a hand in that deal.

The Laker connection was not to be one-upped by the off-season wheelings and dealings between ex-Celtic figures involved in bringing Kevin Garnett to Beantown. If anything, perhaps these dealings all served to set up a nostalgic Laker-Celtic finals, where the victor will prove whose organizational pull meant the most.