Eighty millions reasons why it's good to be the other Reggie Jackson

ByABC News
July 15, 2015, 6:11 PM

— -- The summer windfall continues for NBA free agents, as teams continue to offer historically lavish contracts to the best available players.

Sources tell ESPN the Detroit Pistons have re-signed Reggie Jackson, a restricted free agent, for five years and $80 million.

Not the Reggie Jackson. The other Reggie Jackson.

The Reggie Jackson -- Reginald Martinez Jackson -- was a 14-time Major League Baseball All-Star and member of five World Series champions. He was a legitimate rock star in his prime and was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 1993.

He had a candy bar named after him, for goodness sake.

The other Reggie Jackson -- Reginald Shon Jackson -- is a solid NBA player who backed up Russell Westbrook with the Oklahoma City Thunder for most of his first four pro seasons. He's a zero-time All-Star who has yet to start more than 40 games in a season. ESPN.com's  Tom Haberstroh describes him as "a point guard outside the top 15 at his position who has shown no ability to hit the 3 with any kind of consistency."

The Reggie Jackson received less than $10 million in salary -- adjusted for inflation to approximately $25.4 million -- over the course of his 21-year playing career.

The other Reggie Jackson, as we mentioned earlier, will earn $80 million guaranteed over the next five seasons.

This information leads us to two conclusions:

1.) Reginald Martinez Jackson was severely underpaid, even after baseball's era of free agency began in the mid-1970s.

2.) Reginald Shon Jackson was wise to sign that contract as quickly as his fingers would let him.