With the continued speculation that the NBAPA will decertify, the love of the game that is always shown by players and owners has slowly deterred. The finger pointing has gone on too long for any basketball fan to bear witness to. Especially, most recently with the comments from David Stern giving his version of Stephen Colbert’s “Wag of the Finger” to the agents of the league and the players. News surfaced over the weekend about Stern claiming that the agents were not doing their jobs by presenting the players with the wrong figures because they don’t want to lose money. Well, your so called “best deal” was rejected by THE PLAYERS, not the agents and now the loss of an entire NBA season seems almost certain.
So, who will the finger be pointed at now Mr. Stern? Steve Bartman? The thief who stole Shawn Bradley’s bike? Tucan Sam? How about pointing it back at yourself?
As the summer and fall progressed, the negotiations between the NBAPA and the NBA increasingly became more like a couple going through a divorce arguing over who gets the dog and who gets the fancy china set from grandma. It turned into “he said, she said” most in part with David Stern, Derek Fisher, and Billy Hunter. Although it seemed that Stern was doing all the finger pointing and has been referred to as a “Plantation Owner”, the players are seemingly the ones to blame now.
If the players are always pleading “we just want to play ball and they won’t let us”, then they should have accepted the compromised deal that was proposed. The reality of the situation is that neither side was going to get everything that they wanted. What is wrong with a 50/50 split in revenue share, a flex cap that is essentially almost a hard cap with a luxury tax system implemented, and a three year mid-level exception of $3 million. Because the last time I checked, 50/50 is better than 53/47 and $3 million is still a filthy amount of money.
Oh yeah players, remember all the times you have said that money doesn’t matter. Well it appears that the love for money has outweighed the love for the game. I think you all may have been listening to a little too much Bone Thugs N Harmony (For the Love of Money).
Now I understand that the players didn’t want the proposed flex cap largely in part because they all want to form ‘super teams’ in big market cities. However, are the players not always pleading that they all want to compete against the very best night in and night out? The flex cap that was proposed would have most likely forced certain teams to give up pieces of their teams but it would have also given the smaller market teams a legitimate chance at landing a big time free agent. With that proposal, the NBA could have possibly seen all 32 teams vying for a playoff spot or most likely at the very most being extremely more competitive than before. Now I am not saying that would have happened, but there was the possibility. Also, I am not trying to say that I am taking the owners side in this battle. The owners are just as much to blame, by trying to propose a deal where they would have received 53 percent of the revenue while the players only receive 47 percent. Excuse me owners, you are not the ones that fans are paying to come watch, the ones sacrificing your bodies every day and night. The truth of the matter is owners, the players are what makes the NBA tick (yes, I know that is an easy statement to make and all readers will say “duh”) but the owners don’t seem to ever realize that reality enough.
It was also the owners’ fault that the lockout has even reached this point. It was your decision to not utilize the last two CBA’s wisely. You spent your moolah on overpaid players, trinkets, and toys. The falsely claims made by the owners that they reportedly lost hundreds of millions in 2011 didn’t help matters either. Most importantly because Forbes found those statements to be untrue and actually showed the owners of the league profiting instead of losing.
Nice job owners, that’s like starting an online relationship based off the lie of “I’m 6’5, dark, and handsome” when in reality you are just an overweight 40 year old who plays video games in their mothers basement.
Yes, I did just make that lofty comparison.^^
As everyone knows both parties are to blame. Some players wanted to compromise and take the deal that was recently proposed this past week. If the players truly loved the game like they say they do, then the latest proposal would have been accepted. The labor battle was lost for the players straight from the get go. A decertification seems almost imminent now and will not help the cause and only push this rift farther, most likely to the point of no return. A small compromise would have made every team a little more competitive, would have provided the fans around the world with what they wanted, as well as spawn the return of the game you all know and love. And players, incase if you forgot what game that is, it’s BASKETBALL……not MONEY.
P.S. Thank god we have NBATV throwbacks to fall back on.
Alex Rosencutter is an NCAA basketball player and kinesiology major at Clarke University in Dubuque, Iowa. Originally from Kenosha, Wisconsin, this hoops addict and die hard Miami Heat fan, who is obsessed with old school hoops, has a fever for basketball and the only prescription is more basketball.
