crzymdups wrote:
i'm telling you guys, stern was forced out yesterday.
ken berger with a note about stern being absent:

You're absolutely right, and it's a very worrying development, and pretty much the nail in the coffin for this season and the future of the nba as we know it. I think there are some owners who are wanting a greater advantage/ more parity, which is misguided as the nba thrives on dynasties- would we really like the nba as much if the bulls only had Jordan and couldn't afford to keep Pippen and Rodman? or the lakers with just Magic Johnson? Boston with only Larry Bird? Having stacked teams is great as it creates underdogs, and when your team is an underdog it feels great when they beat the best. It's also short sighted as those poorly performing teams, if they draft right and start doing well will lose their key players if they end up developing more than one star player, because the bird rights will be restricted to one player per season.

However, I think some of the real hardliners end goal isn't so much about making a profit, but rather it's all about changing their teams into an investment opportunity- if they can change them into a business that makes tens of millions of guaranteed profit each year, their re-sale value will sky rocket by hundreds of millions. this explains why so many poorly performing teams sold for such ridiculous sums these past few years- these new owners knew if they could change the CBA, they'll make more than their money back. They don't give a crap about basketball, and enough gullible small market teams are going along with them under the delusion of increased parity.

A really really sad day for the NBA.

smackeddog wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:The owners are being dicks but the players are going to end up taking the same deal if the season is cancelled. So really Billy Hunter needs to bring these guys back to reality because the owners are going to get their concessions regardless.

yeah, that's logical and thats the reality of the situation, but part of human nature is to (at least I hope) rebel against being screwed over, even if it means you get more screwed over in the end- I still support the players, and even though it's not going to end well for them, i'd do the same thing they're doing if I was in their situation.

They need to focus on keeping the flexibility in player movement. This would allow guys to leave to more appealing cities.

Players should pick their battles wisely. They can't make millions playing basketball anywhere else.

Andrew wrote:

nixluva wrote:This came thru from Alex Kennedy:

AlexKennedyNBA: The NBPA isn't happy with Spurs' owner Peter Holt. Source says he's slowing talks and told the players, "You haven't felt enough pain yet."

Alex Kennedy likes twitter hits.

Did he just make this up? I don't really follow this guy. I saw it on TKB and thought it sounded legit based on other owner comments.

maybe i'm just biased because i've been a knicks fan for so long now, but i just feel like for all the "big market advantage" you keep hearing, i don't seem to notice any benefits over here. in fact, i think the owners stance is basically, "let's do anything to make sure that Miami and New York don't win." even though both teams worked within the rules to poise themselves to execute their plans.

i understand why Dan Gilbert is pissed. he f$%king paid $40M+ for Shaq and then another $40M+ for Antawn Jamison thinking that would appease his sissy superstar Lebron only to watch him bolt to play with his girlfriends in Miami. but to that i say "tough sh!t. you did nothing to earn Lebron other than fielding a sh!t team in the season before his draft." what f#$kin makes this motherf#$er think he's entitled to just keep the lucky f#$king gift that just fell into his lap?

but at least Gilbert tried to compete -- the f#$king Suns' owner can go eat a f#$king dick. cry about Amare when you could have signed him if you wanted to, jackass. this is the same d!ck that traded Joe Johnson and Luol Deng like a f*&king miser and now he's bitching because the Knicks and some other teams actually pony-up the dough and try to compete. these owners are the f@#king worst.

don't even get me started about the Spurs and Blazers owners. are they f#$king joking???

tkf wrote:You guys can whine all you want about these owners.. This is not healthcare, this is not some greedy utility company trying to take advantage of the public with ridiculous rates.. this is a sport.. these rich owners have the right to try to make some money, a lot of money or as much as they can.... why do you guys feel they owe it to the players, even if it cost them to the point of bankrupting their huge investments... for me, I won't be buying hawks season tickets this year until the owners clean up the league.. this is how I deal with those guys... I directly hit their pockets.. I don't wish for them to overpay, already overpaid athletes to get back at them.. this is the owners league.. the players and the league are the owners product... End of story.. if the players feel they are getting jerked around, tell them to go work for wal mart then... I heard they just cut part time workers health insurance and went up on full time workers insurance rates... see how fair they think that is...

these players are already the highest paid guys in the sports world on average... I don't care how many damn yacths paul allen has, it has nothing to do with basketball.. if the players really feel they are getting screwed.. go form your own damn league!!! Music artist who feel the record label is ripping them off, go independent, hell sell your CD's out the back of your friggin trunk!! these players and their entitlements are hilarious and the fans who support them simply because they want to bring down the rich.. "occupy the NBA" are being just as ridiculous....

+1

Just heard Fisher's statement telling the owners to find other means to make up the difference. You know what that mean is right the fan. Owners are dealing with players who are very greedy. What does Fisher care about the next generation of players he is on the tail end of his career he made his shyt load of money.

martin wrote:

Vmart wrote:

tkf wrote:You guys can whine all you want about these owners.. This is not healthcare, this is not some greedy utility company trying to take advantage of the public with ridiculous rates.. this is a sport.. these rich owners have the right to try to make some money, a lot of money or as much as they can.... why do you guys feel they owe it to the players, even if it cost them to the point of bankrupting their huge investments... for me, I won't be buying hawks season tickets this year until the owners clean up the league.. this is how I deal with those guys... I directly hit their pockets.. I don't wish for them to overpay, already overpaid athletes to get back at them.. this is the owners league.. the players and the league are the owners product... End of story.. if the players feel they are getting jerked around, tell them to go work for wal mart then... I heard they just cut part time workers health insurance and went up on full time workers insurance rates... see how fair they think that is...

these players are already the highest paid guys in the sports world on average... I don't care how many damn yacths paul allen has, it has nothing to do with basketball.. if the players really feel they are getting screwed.. go form your own damn league!!! Music artist who feel the record label is ripping them off, go independent, hell sell your CD's out the back of your friggin trunk!! these players and their entitlements are hilarious and the fans who support them simply because they want to bring down the rich.. "occupy the NBA" are being just as ridiculous....

+1

Just heard Fisher's statement telling the owners to find other means to make up the difference. You know what that mean is right the fan. Owners are dealing with players who are very greedy. What does Fisher care about the next generation of players he is on the tail end of his career he made his shyt load of money.

perhaps it is because of just that... he understands what the players and their union did for him in the same instance when the previous labor negotiation was going down and is paying it forward.

Very true Martin +1 for you. But the last negotiation was done before the down turn in economy. It is very nice of Fisher to try his best to get the same deal but circumstances have changed since the last negotiations. Reality of the world has to come into play at some point.

Vmart wrote:+1

Just heard Fisher's statement telling the owners to find other means to make up the difference. You know what that mean is right the fan. Owners are dealing with players who are very greedy. What does Fisher care about the next generation of players he is on the tail end of his career he made his shyt load of money.

no way. a few years ago, Knicks salaries were at an all time high and tickets were being sold at a deep discount. you know why? because the team sucked and no one wanted to buy tickets at regular prices. the idea that player salaries going up will immediately affect the cost to fans is false. ticket prices are dictated by supply and demand. supply is fixed at 82 games per season. so basically it comes down to good teams have a high demand and consequently they have high ticket prices.

smackeddog wrote:Ha, I like nazr mohammed's tweets on the situation:

"What would u do if ur boss called u into the office and told u that business is the best it's ever been but that he's made some bad..."
"...business decisions and he needs u to take a pay-cut?!?!...We said ok! How much do u need?!?! They said $300m...We said Cool!...Then..."
"...They said No, lets make that $500m lol "

And elsewhere someone pointed out that if the nba wants the NHL's system, then they do realise the players their get 53 to 57% of the BRI right? Absolute jokers!

TKF, I've always appreciated your "keys to the game threads", but I think your way off on this lockout debate- I think it's because I don't actually believe the owners are actually interested in fixing the system- only about pumping up their teams values for when they sell them and are happy to destroy the NBA to plumpen their already fat pockets. They don't care about fixing the nba at all.

thanks smack.. but if my boss came in and said part of his bad business decision making was paying us workers at a rate that was not sustainable, then I would understand, especially if it mean the longterm health of the business that was paying me damn good!!!

what has hurt the owners more than anything else? I mean they are not using the money to invest in whacky business ventures, hookers and strip clubs.. the biggest expense are the players.. so if they are making bad decisions it is overpaying players they have to pay in order to meet that ridiculous 57% bri....