Comments on: Choice before players: Take Stern’s offer or decertify

By: diablito0402

diablito0402 — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 05:16:41 +0000

Players putting their bodies on the line for 82 games”?? For a mere couple of million a year, hahhaha. Imagine people doing jobs for $15 dolars an hour doing construction putting their lives in danger, funny aint it…

By: jollyjoker2

jollyjoker2 — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:01:12 +0000

There is no bargaining agreeement so the players can’t give back what they never had. Don’t understand that concept. It almost sounds like congress negotiating.

By: yournuts

yournuts — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 19:48:35 +0000

The players deserve to sit out a year to think about things. One year without salary will soften them up. I can live without the NBA for a year to get things back in order. How many years do players have to each NBA salaries?

By: yournuts

yournuts — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 19:45:11 +0000

since when does an owner open his books for the employees? Your living in a fairy tale world. You actually think that the players have any leverage at all? Players are employees, W-4 employees and when they get this then, and only then, will they accept the owners proposal. If the players were smart they would have jumped at the 50/50 proposal sent to them a couple of weeks ago. Now they are playing with fire and most likely will have to eventually accept a deal that will be worst for themselves. This is what I call bad leadership on the union’s part. The problem will be that the vast majority of the NBA players will suffer at the expense of the so called union unity that is being forced on them. Ego is such a stupid thing especially when the players think they are bigger than the game itself.

By: Kurt Helin

Kurt Helin — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 07:28:56 +0000

But if you overpaid for a house at the top of the market and end up upside down on it — and that’s what is going on here, owners are not covering their losses with franchise values anymore — should the bank bail you out because of your poor decisions?

By: leearmon

leearmon — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:56:08 +0000

I liken the players relationship with the owners to a Master Chef working for an owner of a restaurant. The owner takes most of the risk investing in the actuall place. Supplying the food, staff, tables etc. However the main attraction to said restaurant is the Chef. The Chef is the reason the restaurant is reviewed in the papers. The Chef is the reason people wait in line around the corner. The Chef is the reason the owner can charge top dollar because the demand is high for the Chef’s food.

If the Chef is then unhappy with his salary, it is in the owner’s best interest to keep that Chef happy, because if the Chef leaves so too do the lines around the corner, the great reviews in the paper, and the high quality dishes.

The owners need to understand the risks involved with owning a company, business what have you. If you make bad decisions there is a high chance you do not see a profit. Why do you think the Lakers grossed a net gain of $300 million last season? Because they are successful. L.A. didnt sign any high priced free agents. Their top talents were either drafted or brought in through trades. The whole basis of many of the owners’ argument is flawed. They say small markets can’t succeed, yet the Spurs are the second most winningest team in the last 15 years. They say its because teams going over the cap, yet teams like Memphis, Chicago and OKC were under and had great success while teams over the cap like the Wizards, and Magic struggled. There isnt any consistency. The owners want to dummy proof the league from themselves and insure they see a profit no matter how inept their decisions may be. The contracts that some of these teams hand out are ridiculous at best. Instead of making these grandiose system changes in the CBA. Why not just stop giving out high priced contracts? I mean they do control who gets paid what. If they are losing so much money, why re-sign Rudy Gay to $80 million? Or pay Andray Blatche $7 million a year? Market size, BRI nor hard cap has any say on that.

By: leearmon

leearmon — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:38:20 +0000

You do understand the players were not unhappy with their contracts, the owners were. The players are not being offered “50%” as you say. The owners get $600 million off the top, then want to split the BRI 50/50. Not exactly an even split huh? And how is putting your body on the line for 82 games not risky? Since you say playing basketball is the only thing these men are good at, it seems that would be pretty risky.

I never quite understood the outrage toward the players. I tried to think back if there was this much vitriol toward hockey players when they were locked out. And unfortunately I didn’t see nearly as much dislike and nasty comments towards those players. There is an interesting dynamic going on with this lockout. Bubbling underneath all of this hate, and insults towards the players I think you see some cultural issues between many fans of basketball who reside in rural / suburban areas and the players who mostly reside from urban America. I know even bringing this topic up bothers many people, but its clear there are some real deep rooted issues underneath the surface of this work stoppage. I would be interested in an article on that, rather than the next tweet that comes from a player who now wants to stop wearing Jordans.

By: leearmon

leearmon — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:29:42 +0000

I dont think fans of the Spurs, Thunder or Blazers really care what the Bulls Knicks Heat etc are doing. Those small market teams are doing quite fine

By: diablito0402

diablito0402 — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 05:49:41 +0000

I own a business, and my employees dont have the right to know how much my business make and they dont expect to take 52% of what i make, i take good care of them and thats that, whats any difference in the nba, players are celebrities, so they need special attention,, come on man!!

By: yournuts

yournuts — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 01:52:22 +0000

It has nothing to do with the 1%. The players are in fact part of the 1%, so I don’t see what you getting at?

By: therealhtj

therealhtj — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 21:12:49 +0000

Stars will come and go, but the teams they play on will remain. Replacement players aren’t ideal, but considering 99% of NCAA Ball players never stick in the NBA but can still put on an exciting show tells you that it’s an entirely viable option if the Union is foolish enough to decertify and turn the lockout into drawn out court battle.

It’s not ideal, and the league will definitely suffer, but if Kobe, Lebron, Wade, and every other “superstar” never suit up again, the league will continue on just fine without them.

By: bmorehomeofthewire

bmorehomeofthewire — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 20:32:40 +0000

@ yournuts you clowns better wake up. you must be part of that 1 %. Equal distribution of wealth and power…

By: rreducla1

rreducla1 — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 19:49:07 +0000

Also, you used “their” and “who’s” incorrectly, big guy.

By: rreducla1

rreducla1 — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 19:45:57 +0000

I will give yournuts one thing: He is, in fact, nuts.

I hope all these trolls bail when the lockout eventually ends and the basketball fans come back.

By: yournuts

yournuts — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 19:38:07 +0000

jimeejohnson. why do you side with the players? it is kind of disgusting that the greedy players want to own the NBA. Don’t you think they are treated fairly? How much money do you make? Where do you work and how much of your employers assets do you know about?

By: yournuts

yournuts — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 19:30:53 +0000

bhomeofthewire. Your only worried about what the owners make? You can’t be trusted because you don’t care about the fans. Your either a player of a posse member! GREED and JEALOUSYon the players part. PLain and simple.

By: yournuts

yournuts — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 19:24:53 +0000

I’m glad that the owners have taken this stance! This new offer is a little different from the last offer and for the players it is not as good. Players such as Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Duane Wade are trying to hijack this game and are delusional about the players role in the game of basketball. They really want to operate the league and become the face of the league. The players are becoming a cancer to the league. They state that the owners are only responsible for not making money for themselves due to bad contracts and bad marketing of their teams. The reality is that the league will only survive and have a sport if radical changes are made where all the owners can make a profit. It is not important for the players that they make tons of money, they want to control this game by calling themselves unique employees and calling the NBA a cartel. It is sad that some players and their posse’s are trying to make up believe that public opinion is in their corner by writing crap about the owners and David Stern, when in reality public opinion is really in the favor of the owners by a wide margin. The system has provided well for the players and they are more worried about how much money the owners make than by making the league better and more competitive.
The players have made their own bed and every sport is different but you don’t see this kind of bickering among the players in any other sport. Some people here believe this sport is different than other sports. I find it sad when a guy who’s only skill in life is playing basketball tries to hijack and bite the hand that feeds them rather than embrace the system that provides for them. In no other corporation do you find employees that make the kind of money that the players do, want to take the organization over. Employees, and NBA players are nothing more than an employee, are W-4 wage employee. The owners take 100% of all the risk and deserve 100% of the reward. Even though the owners have offered 50% to the employees, the employees say it is not enough. Talk about player greed. I don’t even want to hear about the players giving back 5% because they have not given back anything. THe old contract was the old contract and when the owners were losing money the players didn’t give a damn and didn’t give back squat.
This union is nothing more than another reason of what is wrong in America today. Guys making upward of 12 to 30 million and not happy with their paycheck and their pension.
So you guys out there that are defending the players, you are either players, their friends or getting paid by the NBAPA to write this crap defending the players. I would rather see replacement players take over and you guys sit out and brood over your miscalculation about what the owners will do. Perhaps you should not take this deal, and see what the owners will do next! I know your ego’s are in the way of your thinking. You think that just because you can play a sport well, because your athletic that the world owes you. Well the world took care of you but their are limits and you never bite the hand that feeds you.

By: bmorehomeofthewire

bmorehomeofthewire — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 19:08:04 +0000

@ diablito0402. U don’t have a clue.. All you player haters who couldn’t carry a jock strap, stop being jealous of players for what they make.. I am smart enough to know if a owner is paying a player 80 million, how much is he making to have to pay that contract. Duh if it don’t make dollars, it don’t make sense…

By: stoutfiles

stoutfiles — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 18:24:18 +0000

Fans just want a cap to prevent the Knicks, Bulls, Heat, Celtics, Mavs, and Lakers from being the only powerhouse teams. Everyone wants a chance to have their team win, but letting players go where they want is ruining the NBA.

Sign it now or sign it later, but put in a cap that prevents the marquee players from getting paid big bucks to play together.

By: rreducla1

rreducla1 — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 17:42:18 +0000

Sure. I will work on that after you understand the concept of “making a joke.”

By: rreducla1

rreducla1 — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 17:40:55 +0000

if the players have built such a great product how come the people with an interest in basketball who read this site (dare i say “fans”?) are so overwhelmingly against the players?

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Anger and ignorance. Also, I don’t think this site has as many hard-core NBA fans as it does lockout trolls at the moment.

By: rreducla1

rreducla1 — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 17:39:15 +0000

I know I would

________________________________________

Then you don’t understand the game. If the owners thought using replacement players were a viable strategy, they would either be threatening to do it, or would already be doing it.

They will try it only in the event of disaster and maybe not even then. That should tell you all you need to know.

The NBA, economically, is driven by two things: stars, good players and geographic/historical context. The reason the players get millions of dollars and the reason the owners give them more or less half the money is that the players include the stars and good players.

By: jimeejohnson

jimeejohnson — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 17:32:40 +0000

Spoken like a very useful idiot for the rich and powerful.

By: jimeejohnson

jimeejohnson — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 17:31:28 +0000

Agree with that, too!

By: jimeejohnson

jimeejohnson — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 17:30:30 +0000

Agreed!

By: jimeejohnson

jimeejohnson — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 17:29:41 +0000

You’re the expert at suck on it.

By: therealhtj

therealhtj — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 15:36:16 +0000

Except for the fact that the NBA owners presented their audited financial records to the union long ago. If you’d like to get a forensic accounting team on the case, they should be done with their audit sometime before the 2013-14 season. I’m sure the NCAA, NHL, MLS, and women’s lacrosse fans that frequent this blog will be elated.

But actually you’re right. The players should stand firm with their principles. Why should they settle for a penny less in the worst economic climate since the Great Depression? Especially the vets like KG, Pierce, Kobe, and other guys who’ve earned 100+ million over their careers – they don’t have to listen to what “the man” is telling them. They don’t listen to nobody! They’d rather “blow this $&*%^$ to the moon” than cave in to Mr. Charlie’s demands.

I know these guys aren’t the brightest bulbs in the batch, but sooner or later they’ll figure out 50% of 2+ Billion is a whole lot more than 52% of 0.

By: therealhtj

therealhtj — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 15:28:35 +0000

You want to know why? Because true NBA fans, the ones who’ll be watching the minute this idiot lockout is over, care about the teams, not the individual players. They’ve been rooting for likely their hometown team since they’ve been kids regardless of who’s in the uniform. I know I would. I know there’s some athletic, freakishly tall kid out there that’d take the place of any of these guys TODAY and nail some jumpers, drive to the hoop, throw down some amazing dunks, and have us forget the names of the current crop of the preordained superstars.

And hard-players looking to blow up the union? Great idea. Go for it. Forget about this season, kiss your precious guaranteed money goodbye, and watch next season as scrubs take your roster spots.

And this *$%(&($%*& Kessler absolutely disgusts me. Just a blatant push for more billable hours. Really hope the players ignore this idiot.

By: tastybasslines

tastybasslines — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 15:16:03 +0000

If they want to be full partners, then let them take on the risk of losing money too like the teams do as well and I bet they will work a deal right out.

By: eaglessuperfan

eaglessuperfan — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 15:08:43 +0000

At least you got in laf