evidence: The Adam Silver show came to town just before Thanksgiving holiday and the NBA Commissioner did his best to sell Wisconsin taxpayers on giving the Milwaukee Bucks a Christmas gift of about $200 million or so. This is a challenge akin to the proverbial selling ice to eskimos. [...] Salesman Silver also lauded the proposed state "jock tax," which would take the amount in income taxes paid by NBA players, and devote that to subsidizing the new arena, the argument being that without an NBA franchise, this tax revenue could be lost. Warming to the task, Silver noted that with new TV contracts taking effect in 2016 and 2017 and a higher salary cap for NBA players, the amount of income taxes that could be diverted toward paying off bonds would increase significantly. Mayor Tom Barrett agreed, noting that the potential taxes paid by players, estimated at $10.7 million in the 2012 tax year, could rise to $25 million a year in the future.