My favorite comic strip growing up as a kid was Spy vs Spy. I would skip all the movie and music parodies and get straight to the real reason I picked up the newest MAD magazine issue. I found it fascinating and hilarious how creative the 2 spies could be when leading the other into a trap. In some cases they would start out as partners, only to have one betray the other by the end. My obsession continued later in life when a Nintendo game was released leaving my brother and I no choice but to stay up all night figuring out which way to best trick the other into falling into our seemingly unlimited number of traps. One always thought he was smarter than the other, and all though each won battles, neither ever won the war. And in the case of the NBA, the possibility of losing a full season while coming of its best ratings in years, leaves both the owners and players as losers when the bomb finally goes off.
I've made it clear I support the owners during the 2011 NBA lockout and even encourage a season long work stoppage if it means a better NBA as a result. Now I am aware of the thousands of pro basketball related jobs and small town business in certain cities that rely heavily on the NBA to stay afloat, and my heart does go out to them. However like any pyramid of power, it's the people at the bottom that suffer the most.
For years both the players and owners have made deals with each other with their own interests at hand, unfortunately the last few seasons have left the players as the sole beneficiary of those deals, and that needs to stop. Skip all the "people pay to see the players" talk, we are way beyond that. The truth is that 2 items on the negotiation list need to be adjusted for the games to continue and competition to be put back in the NBA.
The BRI split, which is all monies made from the NBA, is being offered as a 50/50 split by the owners. Simply put, stars like Kobe and Lebron are not affected by this, as their income comes from many sources beyond the league. Shoe deals, commercials, overseas appearances, promotional tours and the list goes on. Lesser known players don't have that advantage, so a larger player split for the players is understandable when looking at it from a bench player's point of view. It is important to mention that the 50/50 split still guarantees players a 6 figure pay checks every year along with their current contract salaries. I think that is more than enough and the players should accept it.
The 2nd issue is the Hard Cap and Luxury Tax. Owners want to limit player salaries and have teams that make more money spread the wealth amongst the teams with less financial power. To be fair, the problem was created by owners paying way too much for players, believing that paying an average player a stars salary makes him a legitimate talent. Over the years, and even more so during last years free agency, mediocre players were over paid in order to appease fans with a star in smaller markets. As great as Joe Johnson and Rashad Lewis may be, they are no where near worth the $100 million plus dollars they earned, in the NBA or any other pro basketball league. Of course no player ever wants to hear there is a limit on their potential earnings, which is why players were going to the highest bidder. Which brings us to the 3rd issue, competition.
For years wealthy owners have pretty much bought out great players from smaller franchises that could not match their bid and filled their rosters with top talent. This created pools of players jumping ship to larger markets with wealthier owners. This can't continue if the league wishes to remain a legitimate sport and not a sports entertainment franchise like the WWE. What many players fail to realize is that more parity brings more financial gain through an increased popularity, support by fans, sponsors and TV deals with stars in every market. Since 2000, the Lakers have participated in 7 out of 10 NBA finals, with a pay roll way over $336 million dollars. This makes a lot of sense when you compare that to the Milwaukke Bucks' pay roll of $209 million, a team that has only made the playoffs 5 times in 10 years, and besides an Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 2000, never made it out of the 1st round.
Some will scream, "hey it's a business!" Fine, script the games, have the outcomes predetermined and add soap opera story lines before, during and after matches and I will be the first to sign up. However, if the NBA is still wants to be considered a professional sports association, parity must exist and reckless spending by owners and endless greed from the players needs to stop.
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