All reports coming out say that Stern came out of the meeting in a bad mood and didn't say much besides that he hopes to meet again next week.

Woj says expect to hear an announcement about the first 2 weeks of training camp canceled in the next few days.

So yeah, it really is "looking like a season". How u?

What I see though is the possibility of a lot of resentment developing from the players towards the owners and that could create a lot of hate and middle fingers being raised. The owners don't need to destroy the players. They can but in the interest of some harmony going forward, they shouldn't.

TheGame wrote:The sad part is the NBA just finished one of the best playoffs in the past 10 years. The league has a lot of momentum that could be destroyed with an extended lockout. I do believe the players are not budging on a hardcap and are willing to sit out the entire season to make that point. If the owners do not back off that demand, there will be no NBA games this season.

That said, the owners are businessmen and love to make money and be successful. I believe they want the season to start and are relying on the players' union to give in to most of their demands.

This creates a better product, more fan interest and in the long run increased revenue, which is then shared.

Players need to look at it longer term.

I doubt players really are that interested in losing a season.

The big money guys got theirs. BIllups wants his 14mil pay day. He will never sniff that kind of money again.

The players will crack because thats how it is. Some need the money, some are at the back end of contracts that took them years to get established. They want to be paid.

I know most of you are in favor of the players and I really am more neutral on all of this but there is more than just a perspective of "the owners are rich anyway, its a hobby and they really don't care"........Thats not how it works. These guys have partners and they expect a return on investment for the money they put up, or the money they borrowed (its how it works fellas!) they need to service that debt.

THis is about GROWTH OF REVENUE. I suspect they will go a declining % so the guys now get theirs and future years they get a smaller % of what is hopefully a bigger piece.

Both sides get the best deal they can.

Lets put it this way, if Salary is like 57% of outflow then the owners are only OUT at LEAST 43%. Many have sweet lease deals on the buildings so paying rent is no big deal. MSG owns their own arena! Owners lose TV revenue, ticket sales and vending sales but are not laying out many other operating expenses. PLAYERS LOSE 100% and it ain't coming back!

Nets could im sure care less if they play this season. They are going to lose money. Might even do better not playing.

Relax, its gonna take a while. I hope Im wrong.

Nalod wrote:What if the owners invest back into the buisness in the form expanding the infrastructure by which revenue is increased.

This creates a better product, more fan interest and in the long run increased revenue, which is then shared.

Players need to look at it longer term.

I doubt players really are that interested in losing a season.

The big money guys got theirs. BIllups wants his 14mil pay day. He will never sniff that kind of money again.

The players will crack because thats how it is. Some need the money, some are at the back end of contracts that took them years to get established. They want to be paid.

I know most of you are in favor of the players and I really am more neutral on all of this but there is more than just a perspective of "the owners are rich anyway, its a hobby and they really don't care"........Thats not how it works. These guys have partners and they expect a return on investment for the money they put up, or the money they borrowed (its how it works fellas!) they need to service that debt.

THis is about GROWTH OF REVENUE. I suspect they will go a declining % so the guys now get theirs and future years they get a smaller % of what is hopefully a bigger piece.

Both sides get the best deal they can.

Lets put it this way, if Salary is like 57% of outflow then the owners are only OUT at LEAST 43%. Many have sweet lease deals on the buildings so paying rent is no big deal. MSG owns their own arena! Owners lose TV revenue, ticket sales and vending sales but are not laying out many other operating expenses. PLAYERS LOSE 100% and it ain't coming back!

Nets could im sure care less if they play this season. They are going to lose money. Might even do better not playing.

Relax, its gonna take a while. I hope Im wrong.

CrushAlot wrote:
If the Nets don't play this season they lose Deron Williams and they gave up a lot to get him. They have a lot to lose in my opinion. I think what is making these negotiations so tough is Stern has always been able to exert his will on players and coaches. When he has drawn a line in the sand it hasn't been crossed. He is a pretty shrewd guy and my guess is Silver is as well. However, he may have underestimated the players resolve and even the iq of the guys involved in the negotiations. The owners will eventually win this dispute but there maybe a season lost. Abbreviated seasons like 98 are not good even though the Knicks made it to the finals. Funky things happen. Injuries, chemistry, etc. All of those things take a hit when you try to make as many games as possible in a short period of time. I am not quite sure where I stand personally in regards to players/owners. There are some awful contracts in the nba that teams are locked into. However, Stern has frustrated me a lot in the past with his all consuming power (i.e. his fining and threatening of JVG whose character I would never question). Larry Coon nailed it again with this article. He calls for the owners to ultimately win but as always his analysis is extremely thorough and worth reading.http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/lockout-110916/why-owners-win-lockout

Through it all, NBA fans will continue to be the ones caught in the middle. And like a child caught in a divorce, they could care less about who's right or who wins.

They just want mommy and daddy to stop fighting.

The player will accept a lesser percentage to keep guaranteed contracts.

AnubisADL wrote:I'm confident a deal will get hammered out.

The player will accept a lesser percentage to keep guaranteed contracts.

I'm on the owners side on this. I like the idea of guaranteed contracts but jerome James, Eddie Curry and some others like Alan Houston should come to mind when discussing Guaranteed contracts.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7021031/the-nets-nba-economics