Once NBA players digest all the details of the owners’ new contract proposal — including a clause that opens a way for more player demotions to the D-League — it’s hard to imagine even those desperate to play would be willing to ratify it, sources told ESPN The Magazine’s Ric Bucher.
I haven’t chosen a side in this dispute, but the way in which the owners have proposed a terrible deal, then sat back and said, “Well, it’s in the players’ hands now” is the most disingenuous, awful thing. That these negotiations are still a PR war makes me angry enough to watch hockey (hockey!).
Well, I guess this means more hockey.
I might be missing something here. What is so bad about the owner’s proposal? I just read through it. Other than going from 57% to 50% (57 was too high anyway), the proposal seems actually reasonable and would help the league as a whole.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. The sportswriters who are blasting the NBAPA for filing a “disclaimer of interest” are completely ignorant of anti-trust law, and contract law. Michael Hunt (seriously, Mike Hunt?), Joe Cowly, Kerry Eggers, Mike Bianchi, and Israel Gutierrez do not realize that the owners have overplayed their hand, and that David Stern is acting like a petulant child who is throwing a tantrum when he can’t get his way. I wonder how they would feel if they were the absolute best sportswriters in the world, the had a guaranteed contracts, and all the newspapers got together after their best year ever and told them, “Hey, we’re not paying you until you agree to limit all your future salaries, and you can’t go work where you want to work if we don’t want you to.” I doubt they’d agree to it. As for the writers blasting the players for waiting so long to dissolve the union (and I was one of them), I’ve decided to give the players credit for being so sober, measured, and negotiating in good faith with the owners for over two years. At no point have you seen the player representation throw tantrums like Stern has. It will help them in the courts.
There’s no guarantee the players are losing this season’s paychecks. The owners are locking them out. They aren’t on strike, the owners are locking them out and not paying contracts that they signed. The contracts are valid, and must be litigated in every state and federal circuit under the terms of anti-trust law, and in light of American Needle vs. the NFL, which declares that sports leagues aren’t companies, they’re associations of separate companies. Furthermore, the NBAPA (trade organization) is not seeking an injunction to end the lockout (which is the case the NFL lost). They’re suing for treble damages if the lockout continues, at triple the contract rate. As for the NHL owners who think they can get the same thing they got in Hockey, I wonder why the Dolans and Busses of the world would go for that. The Rangers and Kings don’t make the money they made before the lockout. Also, it is a different landscape in the NBA now in light of American Needle, and it is much easier to go form a new league in basketball than it is in hockey. Go down and try to form a league at your local rec center if you don’t believe me. You need about 40 players and a ball.
Cooler heads need to prevail here, and the owners need to realize that they have 90% of what they want, and be happy with that. It’s about ego now. They got the players to roll back 6+% of BRI, and make changes to the system. They need to sit down and find a solution they can all live with before they all lose massive amounts of money. It’s really dumb at this point. Stern overplayed his hand. He needs to convince the owners that they’ve already won 90% of the battle. They can win the war and leave the players with a little dignity and a system they can all live with.