I certainly don't disagree with your point about Mookie. You're just talking about making a sound economic decision. There's a vast difference between that and what James actually said, which was that 'there are no players who are underpaid' and 'they're all replaceable'.
Apparently some of this stemmed from him getting tired of hearing about players making several million a year being referred to as underpaid.
I know that when I say some player is underpaid, I mean in relation to other players, not to the general public. I think that's what most people mean when they say that.
Suggesting that all the players could retire and be replaced and it wouldn't make any difference, that's just stupid. I don't understand why he would even go there.