Too many teams? Yup. But don't tell the commish that.

LINK

With mounting losses out in the open for several teams -- Sacramento, Charlotte, New Orleans, Memphis and most recently Indiana -- how long will it be before we start hearing serious rumblings about contraction in the NBA?

Don't expect it anytime soon. Even in the worst economy in our lifetime.

Although it's true that contraction would create an extra slice of valuable TV money for all the teams that stick around, it's also true that no major sports league wants to be the first to get smaller and absorb the damaging stigma to go with that unwanted distinction. You remember how hard baseball's union fought against it when the league threatened to eliminate two teams in 2002.

Even the NHL, believed to be facing a far bleaker future than the NBA as it tries to weather the global economic crunch not long after slogging through a lockout that wiped out the entire 2004-05 season, has resisted contraction so far.

Stern?

Didn't even want to hear it when I brought it up.

"Tell them to pick the team and owner and have them come see me," Stern said when informed that there had been a few calls in the wilderness recently for the elimination of an NBA franchise or three. "That's my way of saying that I don't think there are any teams interested in being contracted out of our league.

"Somebody should ask [the teams] if they're interested in being contracted and bought out. I think I know the answer. That's the last thing they want."

Get ready for the Kansas City Pacers, the Baltimore Kings, etc. in the near future. It's a shame since contraction might actually bring the overall quality of the game up since there'll be less scrubs occupying rosters. Oh, well.

contraction would be that absolute best thing for the league. There are so many dead ass franchises, and wack players. The product would benefit in leaps and bounds, but everybody's too greedy to let that happen. From Stern, to the owners, to the players, to the agents.

I'd probably substitute Indiana with Toronto. The Canadian experiment was a failure and Stern needs to stop being a hoe about it and admit he actually made a mistake.

They're doing alright attendance wise, but the players seem to avoid that spot like the plague.

In any business no firm want to go under.
This happened when firm cannot produce anything but loses.
In NBA it’s a bit different.
Clubs are not only the source of income (or loss in most cases ) but more of a toy and marketing tool for owners businesses.
That’s why we see owners like Dolan, Cuban, Maluffs, etc. keeping the teams regardless of losing or getting money.
And there are hundreds of other money bags in line to by these toys if the current owners will lose interest.
So don't worry about contraction. But do not expect NBA to be about bbal... NBA is all to please the masters.

Contraction should be made by the team, not the league.

Stern works for EVERY owner.

The Hornets was a great success story and they led the team in attendance for a few years. The death of Bobby Phils, Owner Shinns lawsuits and the Ray Carruth murder of his pregnant girlfriend soured the city on pro sports and Shinn wanting a new arena whining that the 23k seat one he had was not good enough really set things off.

Charlotte needs to win and they will return.

New Orleans makes little sense for a franchise. Memphis has the size and little competition from other teams. Sacremento is long to move to Vegas. Vegas is a big city now.

Posted by franco12:

funny how the owners will cry they make no money, and in fact lose money.

But when a business loses money, it closes. Yet no franchise would opt for contraction?

This is all about negotiating with the players union and the PR that they will need when the owners next look for concessions and possibly have to lock the union out.

I think its ok for an owner to make lots of money. They paid lots of money for the teams, and with the floating cap provide a revenue sharing that benefits players over all.

Its not about losing money but losing LOTS of money. Risk is a team can bury itself in debt. Remember these owners have other monies and those business' are not doing well either. If you a real estate mogul your hurting, if your quicken loans, your hurting, etc etc. The financial structure of the league might be out of wack and perhaps players have to share in the pain also.

There will always be money for the superstars but the mid level players can get hurt bad.

With the international game taking hold and the D-league to some extent, the talent pool has gotten better.

The NBA is in compeition with a limited dollar amount for entertainment. Times are tough, but it don't stay that way. Adjustments are needed. The league banked on boxes funded by corporatons and some of them can't or won't pay up for them.