Because of Lebron, Cleveland has lost millions of dollars and are in the red, and that’s just ONE team, but there are many others in the NBA in the same situation. The owners are stuck paying out multi-million-dollar contracts to players who haven’t earned ANYTHING yet and are not drawing people or TV stations to the arenas either. To try and make this about Jordan is utterly ridiculous. All this is really about is these selfish, overpaid group of kids who haven’t accomplished anything as players, feeling that they’re entitled to keep getting paid while everybody else is losing money.

I feel that this is one of the biggest mistakes these players could ever make, because in this economy, people don’t need basketball to exist from day to day. Most people’s heart doesn’t bleed for a bunch millionaires being more greedy. I know I sure don’t.

Well if you think about it…the owners agree that the players should get anywhere from 43-50% of the BRI. So if the owners think the players should get a lot of that BRI, are they stupid or being realistic? I think that puts to rest the argument that the players shouldn’t get around half of the cut. And actually the owners are arguing for a split, trying to get back at least 7%.

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You are making two basic mistakes:

1. You are assuming the league is “not sustainable.” Given that revenues have been steadily rising and rose again last year, that seems highly unlikely. Buying the owners’ premises unquestioningly and then lecturing people about them as if it’s obvious they are right is a typical ownerhawk error.
2. The owners determine ticket prices, as well as the prices of other things that bring in revenue, and they negotiate the TV, radio and internet deals. They also, of course, decide what to pay their players. So, if the business is indeed struggling, they need to look in one place: the mirror.

As I have said about 15 times today, the owners’ choice to focus on getting more money out of the players as opposed to choosing to focus on revenue sharing as the #1 issue tells reasonable observers a lot of what they need to know about this situation.

If MJ thought he could make more money today as a player instead of an owner, then he would still be playing (if he could physically).

The whole article smells of jealousy. Anybody complaining about actors turned producers or union employees turned executives? Those with the egos will prevail.

Who’s John Galt?

While you certainly aren’t wrong about how owners should be held accountable for their screwups, I find it ironic that you don’t say the same thing about the players themselves, especially since they are arguing for a split (BRI concept) of the NBA’s income.

I have no problem with the players taking a cut of the business. Just they should also partake in the risk of running the business.

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You’re not making an argument–you’re just venting your emotions about how much money pro jocks make, and the state of the US economy, like millions of other people on the internet do every day. NBA players get paid a lot, like other performers, such as actors, singers, etc. because they, and the infrastructures that support them, can sell their product/talent simultaneously to millions of people through multiple outlets: spectating in person, watching on TV, watching streaming video or listening to streaming audio on-line, and, of course, talking about them on commercial websites like this one. If your job were like that–if it were a talent and part of a large media structure and many cared about it and liked to watch it /talk about it, you would make millions of dollars as well.

It’s fine if athletes’ salaries bother you, but coming on to an NBA site to complain about it, if in fact you feel that way, would seem to be a waste of your time.

These guys on PBT are just trying to drive up their page view numbers by posting the most controversial non-sense they can. I can’t say I blame them, but they are making fools of themselves in the process. Because they are just as PFT was, on the wrong side of this issue, and the fans can see right through their BS.

I’m a fan, so I’m on the fans side. We foot the bill on everything that is the NBA. Without the fans there is no NBA. The players should think about this, instead of taking the fans for granted.

I think you meant to say “Cachet” A cache is where MJ hides his money.

“It’s not so much that anyone’s surprised by Jordan’s stance, everyone understood there is no one more ruthless than Jordan.”

Only it’s not… a sentence. Wow, that’s pathetic.

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These kinds of comps never work, since playing in the NBA is like very, very, very few other jobs, and the NBA economic set-up is also unusual.

This kind of post just says, “Players making a lot of money pisses me off.”

That’s OK, but trust me on this one: we know that already. You can keep that to yourself.