If David Stern were an Animal, What Kind of Animal Would He Be?
by andytobo on Nov 8, 2011 3:39 PM CST
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PrintI thought I’d get in on the lockout fun here. And by fun, I mean the agonizing pain of hitting up ESPN.com to see only hockey scores grinning ghoulishly back at me.
By this point, you guys know the stakes. If David Stern really means it that Wednesday is the last possible day he’ll be willing to offer a deal the players could conceivably ratify, there won’t be a season. He probably doesn’t, but there’s only so many non-ultimatum ultimatums he can slap down before he has to do it. Especially with guys like Robert Sarver standing behind him with a flamethrower screaming "BURN THEM. BURN THEIR VILLAGES."
"Robert, this is 2011, most of these guys live in mansions in various well-populated cities."
"I WANT THEIR BLOOD ON MY CHEEKS."
Wait, that was Jim Harbaugh.
Even Michael Jordan is apparently now a hardliner. No truth to the rumor that he's planning to push off Stern to win this thing.
If the union decertifies, there isn't going to be a season. This is a process that takes a long time. What I’m hearing, re: decertification is hard to parse. Some guys are saying that many of the bigger NBA agents are looking at the NBA like Ron Swanson looks at a 22 oz steak, eager to make the point that the market value of a gently-used LeBron James is a lot more than 15 million dollars. Henry Abbott says that he hasn’t met a single lawyer or expert who experts decertification to work. And it didn’t in football.
That being said, Dallas’ favorite sportswriter Marc Stein figures correctly it’s the ONLY option that’ll give the players leverage. If it doesn’t, though, then they definitely don’t have leverage, and also no more threats.
If you’re Deron Williams, you've made millions, and you’re happy enough in Turkey, you’re wondering why the union hasn’t decertified already . If you’re Ty Lawson, you just got here and you’re not much enjoying Lithuania, maybe you’ve figured out the answer to that one.
As the incomparable Rob Mahoney has pointed out, there’s some good stuff in the new deal that, sub rosa, could make it a little up to the players that they’re getting hosed, or as hosed as millionaires who could be set for life with careful money management can get.
That being said, it’s not exactly clear that this thing is about issues. The value of two percentage points of BRI to Rodney Stuckey is not nothing, but probably missing a few paychecks to get the extra two is roughly an equivalent transaction. It’s about pride, and both sides are fiercely proud.
The problem for the players is that the players got to be players by playing basketball. Owners got to be owners by earning lots of money in other ways, enabling them to afford basketball. If there’s no basketball, the players aren’t doing anything, but the owners still have a lot of side game. And they don’t have to pay for basketball.
The other difference is that as 33 year olds turn to 34 year olds, without the opportunity to keep their skills sharp or add to their career totals, it makes a bit more difference than a 72 year old business magnate turning into a 73 year old business magnate, having to loosen up another hole in the diamond belt made of diamonds that he wears to supplement his albino-alligator-skin suspenders.
All the players have to keep them busy during a lockout is getting fat and marrying a Kardashian.
We’ll know soon, I reckon.
Sound off.
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a horses ass is good but how about comparing him to a rat
or a mexican cockroach
suck it stern we’re all sick of you
Not surprisingly, today’s player meeting resulted in a statement roughly along the lines of “We want to play basketball, we want a better deal, let’s talk one more time before the ultimatum,” which is essentially, we don’t want to make this deal or a worse deal.
The union is willing to compromise for the BRI split.
I hope the owners are willing to compromise on the system issues (mid level exception, sign and trade for luxury tax teams, etc) so that we have a deal by Wednesday or at least to have more talks/negotiations.
"The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot."
- Bill Russell
by Marjun Raposon on Nov 8, 2011 10:45 PM CST up reply actions
i hope that both sides just agree...
freaking derek fisher is holding us back from raising our championship banner!!
I love the explanations from these morons...
Take Wade, for example: "People look at it and see 50-50, and say, “Oh, that’s fair. No. No it isn’t.” Well, do you want to explain how that isn’t fair, jackass?
The article, towards the end sheds light on how it's "unfair"
It may be 50-50. But a player now 32 years old getting 4 years older is no longer “the same player” unlike an owner who’s 70 getting 4 years older, he’s still “the same owner” (unless he dies or he sells the team).
Time takes a greater toll on the players than on the owners. And you can’t stop time.
Some ESPN article already discussed this too (Abbott? Stein? not sure). If players agree to a 50-50, that gives the owners the likelihood of making a 47-53 right off the bat after 6-7 years the (future) CBA expires.
I'm reading this because it's interesting.
here's something interesting
http://www.hoopsworld.com/nba-am-unified-players-focus-on-system/
looks like the crappy owners who are dragging this thing to hell are going to pay one way or another
But fans aren’t the only ones upset with these owners. Players and agents are just as frustrated, and one agent tells HOOPSWORLD that they’ll remember their actions long after the lockout comes to an end.
"I don’t want any of my clients playing for Michael Jordan, Paul Allen, Robert Sarver, Dan Gilbert or Peter Holt," said one agent. "We won’t sign with them, unless they’re willing to really overpay. That’s going to be the only way these hardline owners are going to land any free agents after the way they’ve handled these negotiations."
These small-market teams have a hard enough time trying to attract free agents. It won’t be any easier now thanks to the way the hardline owners have been depicted throughout this process.
That's tough talk by that agent.
My guess is they’ll still consider those teams the same way they do other teams once the lockout is lifted; it’s bad business to deny your client a chance to play with the Spurs, Blazers, and Suns.
spurts are almost done, can't happen soon enough and sarver
is about to be in the dogpile of the league like he deserves
blazers meh they spend money so they’ll always be competitve
for how much longer who knows they got rid of their gm
and nobody was lining up to play for the wizards and bobcraps milwaukee
and the rest of the shitty teams i can see bad blood for years to come from agents, their players so on…..
I doubt it, especially with the three teams you mentioned
Unless the free agent is a “current” All-Star caliber player (and not a “past” All-Star), bringing their client to an also-ran (Spurs), a perennial almost-but-not-quite (Blazers) or a great-before-but-not-so-great-now (Suns) IS bad business.
I'm reading this because it's interesting.
The Spurs are also-rans?
It sounds funny to say they suck, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true; they won 61 games last year for a reason, and Popovich is still amongst the best coaches in the league. The Blazers? Yeah, they are on the cusp of being perennial contenders; they’re maybe 1 or 2 good free agents away from being one. The Suns are probably not a favorable situation, but I doubt that players would pass up the opportunity to play with Steve Nash.
Since when did
“Also-ran” mean “sucks”? “Also-ran” meant they were great, emphasis on the WERE.
There’s a lot of talk about Dirk and J. Kidd being “too old” to really be able to defend their title, but weirdly Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili aren’t “too old” to lead Spurs to another great regular season and perhaps avoid an upset, and thus get another shot at a title…
I'm reading this because it's interesting.
My bad, but yeah, I agree that the talk about Dirk and Kidd being too old to defend is just nonsense.
Those are probably the same people that want to see Lakers-Celtics (yuck) and/or the Heat in the Finals every year.
that's all we want to happen but then,
HOPE is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of men.
by simpleton cxi on Nov 19, 2011 7:45 AM CST up reply actions
There’s been a lot of talk so far about how the players are actually perfectly willing to give on the 50-50 BRI split for system issues, but not too many people have brought up the point that system issues are probably just as important to the owners who are also NOT willing to give on more than the 50-50 BRI split. If the owners go up 8 points in BRI or whatever it is, but still have to spend too much money to compete for players and still get killed by long contracts that are duds, there’s no chance they’re going to vote for that. The fact that they’re still talking means there’s a lot to talk about,and it’s probably not TOO far apart, but getting it over the goal-line is still an uphill battle.
this what $tern was pushing for last spring
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/04/27/international-goaltending-among-rule-changes-stern-wants/
i’m pretty sure $tern has no clue how basketball should be played i understand he knows about money but if this shit gets added to the season i’m going to be extremely pissed
Dirk shoots a 3 to send the game into overtime the ball bounces around the rim haywood
has no patience and slams the ball through there goes a possible 3 points or whatever else happens because of that retarded rule, hey stern there’s a reason nba is the best league in the world dumbass i hope i one day i see that jackass retire
Let us raise our championship banner!!!
but, employees are super deep keen to be the employers too.
wake me up when lockout ends.
HOPE is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of men.
looks like players going to vote down the latest proposal, going to decertify my bet
http://ken-berger.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/11838893/33243068
the bloody owners got all the financial concessions they need, who’s running the nba show
the wizards and cleveland? why don’t the successful owners like mark cuban step in
and end these ridiculous demands, players want to play where they want to play, who’s freaking idea to stifle the good teams is it? look nba no one wants to play in minnesota and the other clubs that are run by monkeys, a quote from article
“We’ll try in court, because it can’t get worse than this,” one of the formerly moderate agents said. “… The owners are selling players short on their intelligence, and they’re definitely selling their representatives short.”
b-issues stern's demands get even dumber and greedier
The introduction of a series of B-list issues — drug testing in the offseason, an age-limit of 20, and a provision that would allow teams to send players to the D-League during the first five years of their careers and make substantially less than the NBA minimum
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