Today was the last chance for a nearly complete, nearly peaceful savlation. The loss of preseason games can almost be ignored if you just skimp on the bear claws here, a couple of cheese plates there. Regular season games are more valuable in terms of TV dollars and marketing value.
The pile of ducats these guys are fighting over just got smaller.
Each side is going to try to get the total amount they decided they deserved going into today’s meeting. With a smaller pie, that means the share they are asking for is proportionately larger. Thus, by sitting around, the “gulf” widens.
The parties are like two points on a balloon that is being inflated . . . they will just drift apart until something breaks . . .
The only thing that can save the season now: Pain.
The same pain that has been inflating the balloon is the only thing that can end this.
There will be no deflation by the love of the game, commitment to fans and cities, or even old fashioned greed since the NBA as a whole can’t even function as well as a paper bag in terms of keeping money that starts “here” . . . “here.”
Note to NBA: they give away paper bags at the grocery store . . . you can get plastic if you choose . . . isn’t America great?
If that isn’t twisted enough for you . . . the disease being the cure, the New Orleans Hornets are also bursting . . . with positivity. They have just over 800 season tickets left to sell to reach the goal of 10,000 full season tickets distributed, a total that will be over 50% larger than last year’s total. The team even has their own countdown clock on their website.
Also, with each game lost, Hornets season tickets get cheaper . . . meaning more season tickets will be sold more easily, possibly offsetting the drag due to the lockout . . .
New Orleans, the lone star shimmering in the long dark NBA night . . . talk about a reversal of fortunes . . .
One response to ““Pop” Goes the Season”
One would certainly hope that this season in the NBA does not go to waste like the 2004-05 NHL hockey season. I hope for the NBA’s sake that they do not borrow the Gary Bettman (then and current NHL commissioner) page to cancel an entire season for the sole benefit of the owners. Do fans get a say in any of this? We need our voices to be heard.
I would suggest something like:
50/50 BRI split among players and owners, no incentives
The luxury tax would be the hard cap
No 8.5% increases in player salaries
Shorter term contracts to 3 and 4 years instead of having 5 or longer.
A one-time only amnesty clause for the owners
In addition, an accountant, capologist/lawyer (i.e. Rich Cho or Mike Zarren), and an agent (i.e. Lon Babby) should have to be mandated to be hired to work for the team’s side to manage the owner’s budgets. NBA teams ought to hire more budget specialists or people who are conscious of knowing how to spend money, and people who know how to accurately predict revenues and expenses based on the prior three years or off of an aggregate of this sort.
Also, maybe new GM’s or aspiring executives should have to go to a mandated GM school by the NBA so that they learn the perils of overspending on players or doling out long term contracts to suspicious players. Things like player decline, poor performances, or injuries can all lead to things that may hamper a player from living up to the contract that he will earn.
I really find it hard to believe that billionaire owners can mismanage their money so badly. I do hope the owners and players will settle for something. If they don’t get at least 50 games in the regular season this season, it may take awhile for either side to settle.
I do like the current system, we just need a smarter group of owners and GMs to hand out more reasonable contracts. I don’t think the soft cap is as bad as people make it out to be, you just have to know the rules and use it to your advantage, like other system. People over pay players in the NFL, too. The smart teams know how to maximize every dollar they have to build great teams and can also win games as well.