I can relate to Dr. Touer's description of this behaviour pitfall.
I think back to my ex-wife once saying 'Lord have mercy on the house of a carpenter's wife, her house repairs will never get done'...The thinking is that her's would be a showpiece house but often that won't be the case.
So in some my vocational persuits in life recognizably played out that as I get good at a task I am encourgaged to peform it for a lesser reward...
I've often thought that a job promotion would entail a reduction in pay or more hours for the same pay...like going into business for my self.
I would think Latrell's bankruptcy is a wise survival technique... it was for me.

Kids play all kinds of sports for the love of the game. Everything they do is "for the love of it"...for instant gratification and because it makes them happy. Of course they shoot baskets day, night, hot, cold...whatever...it's fun.

Then they get to high school and they generally are still playing for the love of the game for the most part. If you end up being an elite athlete there can become expectations which can be hard to handle for a kid. There can also be college scouts critiquing and watching you and attempting to sway you to attend their college which causes pressure.

College comes...a full ride to a D1 school. Now this sport is essentially a full-time job but you are getting a free education so it's an even exchange. Most would not just drop out because they feel stressed out about playing a sport and it is such a big time commitment that it doesn't feel as fun as it used to. Most parents would absolutely not let them quit!!!

If you're "lucky"...the NBA. At this point you receive a huge contract and here begins intense pressure, stress and scrutiny. I think for many athletes the love of the game is faded and it truly is a full time job and begins to get treated like one. I don't know if they are looking at it as a "reward" for playing this game. It's a salary for a job at the going rate. For many of us...it's a huge amount of $ and unimaginable!! If Sprewell was truly hurting financially he probably was trying to get as much as he could to help with his situation. The feeding the family comment was a bit much!

In your blog you ask "How do we measure the effectiveness of rewards?" I believe that the effectiveness of reward(s) can be measured by the character that it produces.

Extrinsic motivation can extinguish intrinsic motivation. When you're constantly rewarded for doing something you love, sooner or later, you will learn to love the reward, not the activity.

Check this out:

http://www.selfmademiracle.com/motivationmodel/how-do-you-nail-intrinsic...

Whereas the reward-and-punishment system has been popular for eliciting or underlying human behavior,
intrinsic motivation
, that is, that innate drive to do something for its own sake also plays a pivotal role in the workings of the human mind and human behavior.