Great. As if the 1999 season wasn't a complete disaster.
"But you can't make an omelette without ruthlessly crushing dozens of eggs beneath your steel boot and then publicly disemboweling the chickens that laid them as a warning to others." --General Tarquin, The Order of the Stick
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So why isn't the NBA Player's union decertifying itself as the NFLPA is currently doing? Too hard to get the superstars on board for a hardline tactic that might threaten their contracts??
I believe the NFLPA's strategy is to sue the owners under anti-trust laws once there is no union to have a collective bargaining agreement with.
Though I'm not sure how that works if the owners just keep playing without a labor deal - the stars make even more, while the scrubs work for Arena football money?
The key difference between the NBA and NFL lockout situations. Everything the NFL touches turns to gold right now and they're getting higher ratings than they've ever had in the past. Locking out the players reeks of greed, because it's not like any of the owners are losing copious amounts of money.
With the NBA, the league is LOSING MONEY and LOTS OF IT! Asking the players to take a massive paycut is not unreasonable, especially given the way the times are. If a bunch of spoiled, overpaid millionaires refuse to take a paycut, NO ONE will have any sympathy for them.
Originally posted by It's False With the NBA, the league is LOSING MONEY and LOTS OF IT! Asking the players to take a massive paycut is not unreasonable, especially given the way the times are. If a bunch of spoiled, overpaid millionaires refuse to take a paycut, NO ONE will have any sympathy for them.
Is there any proof of massive losses beyond the word of David Stern?
The author links to Forbes 2009 numbers, which show 6 NBA teams who made $20 million or more in operating profit, and 5 teams with $10 million or more in operating losses.
Why should the players take less money so that bad owners in bad markets (Indiana, Charlotte, New Jersey, Milwaukee, Memphis) can break even? That's just going to mean that the Lakers, Bulls, Pistons, Rockets, Knicks, and Suns are just going to make even more money.
In truth, I don't know what the NBA owners are trying to get done. I just don't think massive salary cuts are the answer. The answer should be greater revenue sharing, hopefully structured in a way that doesn't reward stupid owners (like MLB's revenue sharing does).
A lockout will only feed the image especially in this economy that players and owners are out of touch thus not worth going to see. If anything you will see Hockey and the NCAA benefit from this since they will be playing during the time of the lock out. If the NBA is losing that much money due to poor ownership, contract the teams or get the owners out. NBA is not where it was then last time they pulled this stunt and Stern has got to realize that as well. The NFL will be locked out for the spring and summer then back to work at the end of July. Any owner thinking the NFL can survive a lock out is out of their damn mind when the college game is catching up to them as well as Baseball being played and the start of the NHL. Fans love football, so they will just enjoy the college game that is on 4 out of the 7 nights a week.
Bill Simmons has said for a few years now that a large number of players live paycheck to paycheck and can't survive a lockout. He assumed they'll fold, and Stern won't allow another extended lockout to blemish his portfolio.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
If the owners are really losing alot of money, they have no one to blame but themselves. No one put a gun to their heads to give multi-million dollar superstar contracts to average players.
I'm just amazed that one professional athlete can live paycheck to paycheck, let alone "a large number". They must be sweating bullets every two weeks before that $50,000 check clears the direct deposit. "Damn, almost shut off my electricity. Good thing I squeaked by this time."
"What you don't understand, you can make mean anything." -Palahniuk
Selfish reaction - I really, really hope for a lockout. Especially if it's a foregone conclusion and no underclassmen declare for this year's draft.
Not only will it help "my" team, but it will make next year's NCAA quality that much higher. NBA fans are sweating the lockout, but NCAA fans are licking their lips.
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