With every hour that passes by, there is an increasing chance that
there will be no 2011-2012 NBA season. At the very least, it will be a
virtual certainty that a severely shortened season, due to a
disagreement between the owners and players over how to split $4 billion
in revenue, will take place. Over the past several days, the owners and
NBA Player Association representatives have stated that they are
working long hours to try to reach an agreement, yet the sides are only
marginally closer than they were before. Rather than inundate you with
the specific numbers, however, I want to express my immense frustration
with everyone involved in the negotiations.
The 2010-11 NBA season was, from the beginning of the offseason to the
end of the NBA Finals, the most entertaining season I have witnessed as a
sports fan. The fact that I do not even have a team that I consistently
support in the league says all one needs to know about the quality of
play and storylines that took place last year. We all know about LeBron
James' now-infamous "Decision," which, to his shock, made his Miami Heat
public enemy number one. The Los Angeles Lakers looked to have a real
chance to win three straight championships, with Kobe Bryant on the
precipice of tying Michael Jordan's six NBA titles, only to be swept by
the previously much-maligned Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the
playoffs. Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls transformed from a very
good young point guard into an MVP, and led the Bulls to the Eastern
Conference Finals for the first time since Jordan was their shooting
guard. Even the bad teams had players to root for, such as the Minnesota
Timberwolves power forward and NBA rebounding leader Kevin Love. In
short, it truly was a banner year for the league, and clearly a
springboard to an even more compelling season this year.
Alas, the fans do not run the NBA, and really we have no say in the
goings on of these labor negotiations. We are pawns that continue to buy
merchandise and season tickets and watch games on television—a means to
an end.
Owners want shorter contracts, a harder salary cap and a larger
percentage of the revenue than they received in the previous Collective
Bargaining Agreement so that the rules prevent them from making foolish
signings that they clearly would continue to do otherwise. Meanwhile,
players are upset that the owners are punishing them for choosing to
sign them for exorbitant amounts of money, and have little interest in
giving up any financial progress they have made in the past decade. Add
in Commissioner David Stern doing his best to play hardball on behalf of
the owners, and agents discussing decertification, and we are left
where the NFL was in April—only that was five months before the regular
season was scheduled to start.
Since there has been no sense of urgency until last week, the NBA has
far too much ground to make up for a timely solution to take place.
Thus, all the momentum the league has built up over the decade will
entirely disappear. So I hope the league is happy, when they will
inevitably come to an agreement and both sides force smiles and claim
victory, because in the end everyone loses. The NBA: Where League-razing
Happens.
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