Only a few hours later, as I sat in the Salt Lake Community College bleachers watching players in the Rocky Mountain Revue battle for leftover scraps in pro basketball, did it all hit me.

Seventy . . . million . . . dollars.

When did this happen? How did we arrive at this point in professional sports?

That's like asking how John Daly made a nine on a par-4 hole in the British Open; he missed his putt for

an eight.

How did the Jazz find themselves promising D-Will as much as $70 million? The salary cap prevented them from offering any more money.

Williams' contract is evidence that NBA owners have not gone completely insane, believe it or not. Some sort of spending limit serves to save them from themselves. Otherwise, who knows how some teams would be loading up on players and how much they would be spending to do it?

The money is so far out of whack that it almost is becoming easier to digest for the average person. In a weird way, John Stockton's holding out for $125,000 - that's right, his full season's salary - as a first-round draft choice in 1984 seemed more greedy to me than Williams' asking for an average of about $17 million in the contract that will take effect in the 2009-10 season. We could almost relate to Stockton's income range; Williams' bracket is in a whole other galaxy.

This train steamed past our reality a long time ago, and there's no going back. The Jazz fans I surveyed Saturday generally understand that.

"Once in a while, a big contract to a marginal player will surprise me, but for the most part, it is just something I'm numb to now," said Daren Woolstenhulme of Eagle Mountain.

"For the level of play that he gives and the quality of entertainment the Jazz provide, I'm simply happy" Williams is staying, said Becke Probert of Taylorsville. "He deserves the money."

Besides, Williams is hardly approaching Oprah Winfrey territory. Most fans can deal with the money athletes are making, when they consider what some actors and musicians are banking.

"I don't hear too many people complain about Will Smith making 'X' million per movie," Woolstenhulme said.

The NBA salaries are still stunning, though. Consider that less than 25 years ago, when Karl Malone was a Jazz rookie, the salary cap for each NBA team was $4.2 million - spread among 12 players. That's now roughly the average player's salary on a 15-man roster.

That's also only a little more than swingman C.J. Miles will make in each of the next four seasons, whether the Jazz match Oklahoma City's offer or not. His $15 million offer translates to about $30,000 for every point Miles has scored in three NBA seasons.

Bill Storinger of Cottonwood Heights wonders when it will all end, suggesting, "I do think we are reaching a limit."

Maybe, maybe not. The league's collective bargaining agreement guarantees the players a percentage of the revenue. So the salaries will keep rising, as long as fans keep paying the ticket prices that help fund the player payroll. It's a continuing spiral, but it's actually sensible, compared with baseball's free-enterprise system. If the Jazz, in this market, can afford to commit $70 million to keep Williams, the NBA's method must be working.

The numbers have moved beyond comprehension to where you have to ask, how much money does someone need? How could they possibly spend it all? Obviously, some pro athletes have taken that question as a challenge, and succeeded.

The funniest moment Friday during the media's questioning of Williams was when he fielded suggestions about what to do with it all: Houses? Cars? Golf clubs? Golf courses?

"I've got enough stuff," he said.

Just the same, he willingly took the most money the Jazz could offer, which reminded me of a long-ago conversation with Stockton, who hired the NBA's most powerful agent to get him the best deal at a critical earning stage of his career.

Stockton seemed so down to earth, loving the game so much that he would play for almost anything. Turns out, he was normal. "You don't want to be the only sucker in the league," he told me.

Who does? Not Stockton, not Williams, not anybody else.

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* KURT KRAGTHORPE can be reached at kkragthorpe@sltrib.com. To write a letter about this or any sports topic, send an e-mail to sportseditor@sltrib.com.