#NBAFanVoice - Continuing Last Week's Lockout Discussion
by Rohan on Oct 17, 2011 4:37 AM CDT
in Comments
Email
Print
Last Thursday, we started talking a little bit about our desired outcomes for the lockout - essentially what the fans, a widely ignored group throughout the summer, would want to see in a new CBA.
I got lost in some real life stuff so I couldn't jump into the comments Thursday, but let's pick it up where we left off. Addressing some of the comments from the original story:
BenDerDonDat:
[T]he cap, and not the revenue split, [is] dividing players and owners. The NBA owners are beginning to learn that one of the reasons the NFL is so popular is that fans in every city believe that their teams, if managed the right way, will have the resources to construct a championship team. The NBA owners realize that the Miami Dream Team was a novelty that will quickly wear off, and that if the league develops into a league of 24 farm teams for 6 superpowers, the national fan base will erode."
The reference is to a Yahoo! article from last week (which I strangely can't find right now; link it up in the comments if you can get your hands on it) that indicated that owners are genuinely concerned about ensuring parity throughout the league.
The stringency of revenue sharing is pretty interesting, and I think it's a great point from BenDerDonDat that every NFL fanbase thinks it can win a Superbowl with good management. That's simply not true in the current NBA.
RedHopeful:
[T]he owners side will claim that reducing player salaries, a hard cap or whatever is good for the competitive balance of the league, but that’s bogus... [T]he teams losing money should be looking at a different pie – revenue sharing.
[F]or all those cries who claim revenue sharing won’t help alleviate the 300 million the NBA claims it lost last year? Bah. If one was to look at the numbers more closely, a good deal of the chunk was interest payments. Why should players care how much owners owe on their investments? They aren’t getting any chunks of it when they sell their teams, right?
Very interesting stuff. I personally did not know the tidbit about interest payments at all... but it makes sense. The fact that owners would hide behind interest payments to claim significant losses seems also plays into the general (and idiotic) secrecy of the owners about league earnings and losses.
MrWayneKeller:
"I hate the one and done rule as I feel it offers absolutely nothing to the college game at all and is a cop out; nothing more than the NBA’s attempt to market these players early before they enter the league. If they were legitimately serious about the players’ well being and if they wanted it to be taken serious, I think they should have pay grades based on a players’ level of education… you know the way they do it at every other billion dollar business. If there’s an incentive for these guys to enter college, that’s it. But that’s only if the NBA continues to pretend it "cares" about the players’ careers after basketball like they do now."
Can't agree with this more personally. For me, the one-and-done rule not only fails to help the college game, it actually hurts it. A lot of programs have a real stop-start feel to them because, since everyone knows their elite talent is out the door immediately, there's no chance of long(er) term team building. There's a very definite disruption of continuity all in the name of the facade that is "education."
This one isn't really a lockout issue, per se, but I think it's worth mentioning.
jtballard:
I think contracts should be no longer than 3-4 years.
I'm pretty divided on this. On the one hand, I can see how lowering overall contract length would help. But on the other hand, the simple fact that a player's original team can offer him more years (a number which is obviously significantly higher than 3 years) has allowed relatively poor teams (Cleveland, New Orleans, etc) to hang on to elite talent where they perhaps could not have otherwise.
Thoughts?
10 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
owners and myself see it already...
big time players have worked within and amongst themselves to control teams and destinies.
It was just the biggest shot when the King and all did it.
But trust me…many others are thinking and talking.
Now there are rumblings the big baby from Orlando is talking bigger market.
The owners know this asylum being run by the inmates has to stop now.
To hear players talk about the spirit of these negotiations is so funny, it hurts! Where do they get off talking about responsibilities or business management? They do not understand any of the two concepts.
For instance, I heard Derek Fisher offering that IF the owners were so worried about the people involved with the closing of games, they should make sure any increases in profit go towards the stadium workers…whom he considers under paid.
Really?
I mean, should we now all begin to worry about how Mr. Fisher pays HIS employees and posse? Should we worry about every contract he signs to make sure whatever increase in money he gets also is transferred to his employees?
This is so stupid, it hurts.
Why do these players feel so free to advance business ethics upon owners when they themselves have no give a damn about anybody but themselves?
NOE we get to hear Rose speak to the issue and bad mouth owners.
Rose!?
This is the same bad boy idiot that had somebody take his college exam.
The BIG question to me is should HE repay the tax payers of the state where he stole the tuition from.
Come on, kids…own up to the fact that the college years were your own sins and cheating of the system.
Don't understand why all the player hate
I’m not particularly all over one side or the other, but you seem really agitated by only the players’ side. For instance, while I’m not a fan of “super teams” like Miami, I can’t be upset at the fact players have preferred destinations/teammates. It’s just a fact of life which we’d all do in the same position.
As far as Fisher, I actually agree with him on his ethical stance. Owners easily hold the biggest lionshare of NBA profits so it’s not wrong to give a subjective opinion about their spending. Remember, we live in a time where the majority of America are questioning the pathetic choices made by the top tier of the 1%.
Lastly, can’t consider Dwight Howard as a big baby. He has worked his butt off since entering the NBA and the Magic don’t appear to be knocking on the championship door. If I was him, I’d be looking to go elsewhere too.
not hate...
that is a very strong word.
But I think the players have used a whole lot more hateful language that I ever did.
And as far as ethics go, Fisher has no right to go there.
Look, it is always irritating for me, a business owner, to hear those who never have put their financial lives at stake in business. It is so easy to pitch a bitch against those that actually have. For any player to opinion about an owner’s responsibilities is ridiculous.
Perhaps out of a bargaining room, everybody has a right to free speech. However, this is a real world situation, and as such, keep real.
Fisher has an opportunity to put his money where his mouth is every day. He can donate all his wishes to those in real need around the world. He does not. He keeps his wealth. He takes care of the Fisher responsibilities…the Fisher family.
Players…man up…get together, pool the money and start a damned league.
Dissolve the union, call the bluffs.
The things learned will be:
1…they are afraid. They really do want to live in the here and now, not the future and the undertaking of such a business gamble.
But people have and that is why we have businesses today, including those in sports.
2…If we imagine they did start a league, the one thing we would all soon see is they would turn into the very same greedy capitalist they are griping at today.
You think these players would be less greedy or more humanistic than these current owners?
Really…the pontificating of these blowhards makes me grin
as far as Howard...
I have seen him over and over again fall apart emotionally in games when things were not going his way.
He is a pouter.
And I for one have a dislike for pouters and those that cut and run.
He again is another modern player ready and willing to run away from fans and teammates when the personal gain is there.
You wanna make your team win…then get big and play. Make big time players want to play with you.
No..Howard can’t do that. He just like Phil Jackson, and many coaches…surround yourself with the best and win.
Really…who couldn’t win with that!?
Jackson had lots of chances to take on real coaching and make a poor team better. Instead, he only took a sure thing.
Ditto big baby Howard.
The owners are responsible.....plain and simple
The BUSINESS/TEAM’s revenue is divided from owners & players to parking lot attendent. The owners created this “MONSTER” by paying SOOO much for a player to begin with. At the time it was a good idea toward a championship but and time/years went on, they didn’t calculate how with cost of living & inflation combined, a decade later, they’re/owners are bleeding money paying so-so players to put people in the seats. The owners want MONEY by any means neccesary & the players want the same + a championship ring(for accomplishment reasons). That’s why they leave a team after a certain amount of years. Once you made enough $ and set for generations to come, the great players want a ring and want to be paid more for it. Is it their fault that is paid 4 million a yr on a losing team all of a sudden wanting 6 or 7mil to be on a winning team? There are alot of ways for owners to make more to compensate for the new bargaining agreement. that’s why theres contracts on ALL levels. Certain owners have advantages because the TOP TIER talent WANT to be there. Other owners have other ways starting with vendors. 25 cent hotdog selling for $6? 10cent bag of popcorn selling for $5? Who’s really being robbed?
What any player does with their money is their business just like everyone else in the world. Who knows what these billionaire owners are doing with theirs? I don’t care as long as its not hurting anyone/me. You want the player to play with fractures, muscle strains, concussions, etc so they can fill the seats but whine when they want to be compensated for it. YOU created that monster! Like everything else…… live with it and move on!
you ae missing the point...
The owners already know much of the blame is on them.
THAT is the reason they are forcing changes. The changes they are asking for…rules they want their owners to abide by…the players are fighting against.
Owners want larger, richer markets to not drive the train.
You talk about it being the owners giving the contracts, but it is SOME owners, thus forcing the going rates for players to continually rise.
The result is the mad contract numbers you are scolding ALL owners for.
In fact, it is some owners and the other owners now are demanding the rules be fixed to prevent this. It is their game board, so they should be able to change the rules.
Players can always begin another league…IF they really wanted to be owners and all the responsibility it all holds. They say they are business men. They say they have the money to hold out.
So, OK…hold out just enough time to invest your monies into buildings and a new league. But just watch their own rules change to become just like the owners today.
The players do not wish this as they want the drunken spending of a few to continue to drive the salary numbers up for all.
BenDerDonDat's Excerpt
While all the owners most likely want an equal chance to win, it’s interesting that fans don’t demand this. As I was researching the lockout last week, I remember coming across a study (I’ll try and find the link again later) that claimed it is as essential for basketball to create parity like the NFL. Supposedly NBA fans have and will still come support a team that doesn’t have immediate championship aspirations.
Things went really south yesterday
And the lockout looks likely to continue for awhile. The smaller market owners (who are the majority) won’t budge from a 50/50 bri split at a min. Seems they’ve made up their minds to forgo the year and want to make the players cave to their ever growing demands.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
SBNation.com Recent Stories
In Association With
Ball Don't Lie - NBA - Yahoo! Sport
- Shaving a picture of Matt Bonner in his head could net a young Spurs fan an in-school suspension
- Greg Oden wants to play for the Miami Heat
- LeBron James and Kobe Bryant on Forbes World’s Most Powerful Celebrities list
- Evan Turner loves getting his butt kicked
- Create-a-Caption: ‘OK, sooooooooo, what’s all this?’
