NBA players just committed a major blunder
Union chief Billy Hunter, flanked by Derek Fisher (left) and other players, has no leverage.
The NBA players can tell themselves that the owners created this mess. They would be right.
They can say it was the league’s owners who handed them the last collective bargaining agreement, the owners who gave them long and lucrative contracts, the owners who have done inexplicable things like give Joe Johnson a $119 million contract. And they would be right about all that, too.
But this was the bonehead move of all bonehead moves.
The NBA players decided Monday to reject the owners’ latest proposal for a new CBA. They plan to decertify the union and take the league to court for antitrust violations. This is what it looks like when an entire league of players commits suicide.
If the players are serious about all this, forget this season. At least.
Commissioner David Stern said Monday, “If I were a player, one of 450, I would wonder what it is [NBPA] Billy Hunter just did.”
Stern also referred to this as a “nuclear winter.”
Something tells me he has been practicing these soundbites for a while. My only hesitation in completely taking Stern’s side on this is, like the players, I don’t trust him, either.
But Stern and the owners really are holding all of the cards. The NBA is not the NFL in terms of stature or revenue streams. So it doesn’t really matter that the NBA owners are as wrong as the NFL owners were in their desire to change the rules of the game and take back what they’ve already given the players.
The NFL owners never were going to allow the cancellation of regular season games because there was too much money on the table. Everybody was winning, just not to the degree the NFL owners wanted to win.
That’s not the case in the NBA. The bottom line is . . . well, the bottom line. If close to half the NBA’s owners aren’t scared about shutting down the league for a year because they were projected to lose money anyway, does the union really believe the owners are going to blink?
There also are too many markets — Atlanta being one — where the NBA is simply off the radar right now. It’s about college football and the NFL. Soon, it will be about baseball trades and then spring training.
I’m not saying nobody cares because many do — just not so many that a firestorm from the fanbase is going to prompt the two sides to go back to the negotiating table.
Like all owner-player battles, this is being driven by high-powered agents who don’t want to see their commissions go down and the top 10 percent of the salary list who can afford to miss paychecks. But at some point, the players in the league who don’t have long-term security will grumble.
The players will have to give in, and this will not have been worth it.
By Jeff Schultz
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239 comments Add your comment
German Shepherd Dawg
November 14th, 2011
3:34 pm
Who cares?
GeoffDawg
November 14th, 2011
3:39 pm
What’s an NBA?
bart
November 14th, 2011
3:44 pm
You said it best by stating that nobody really cares.
Chris
November 14th, 2011
3:45 pm
I look at the NBA lockout the same way I looked at the NHL lockout a few years ago… This will be the best NBA season ever!
TexasLeaguer
November 14th, 2011
3:47 pm
Yawn . . . one less union . . . one less sport . . . really doubt, in the 18 months that it will take to run it’s course, that these players will still be competitive with the new, younger, practiced . . . AND HUNGRY . . . fresh college recruits.
Actually . . . too funny!
rduck
November 14th, 2011
3:47 pm
they just did us a favor. maybe the baseball players will cause a lockout next… can only hope
go dawgs
November 14th, 2011
3:49 pm
who cares????????
NOTSO FAST
November 14th, 2011
3:52 pm
SO MANY PEOPLE JUST DON’T CARE IF THEY EVER PLAY BASKETBALL AGAIN. WE DID CARE ABOUT THE NFL.
Against Rape of NBA Players
November 14th, 2011
3:53 pm
Schultz makes no sense. If the NBA isn’t the NFL in terms of stature, then why would the OWNERS dissipate fan interest and destroy their fan bases with a unilateral lockout? Only if they can convince pinheads like Schultz to pin the blame on the players. Too many owners in mid- and small-market teams bought in to the league at too high a price; too many owners agreed to ridiculous contracts (Joe Johnson’s among them); and now they’re trying to rob the players to cover their own mistakes. Even if I agree that players are overpaid, that contracts are too long, that too few teams have a chance to contend for a championship (let alone be profitable); that there are too many sub-mediocre teams in markets that won’t/can’t suppor them–and I agree on all counts–the mistakes are those of the owners, signing unproductive players, one bad contract at a time, and over-expanding into weak markets. The owners are trying to RAPE the players–the players are just defending themselves. Only an NBA-underwritten shill like Schultz tries to depict the situation as the players’ fault. Let the owners bleed REAL losses awhile, and see how fast they come back to the negotiations with something reasonable.
Nonfan
November 14th, 2011
3:53 pm
I wouldn’t care if they never played again. Let the lower echelon players find jobs that will pay them as well as their NBA jobs. Maybe they can play in Uzbeki-Beki-Stan-Stan. I think Herman Cain owns a team there.
IL Jacket
November 14th, 2011
3:54 pm
Has there ever been a total lost season in professional sports? In 1995, baseball played up until August I believe. The NFL started with scrubs one season, but I think the regular players finished the year. I think the NHL is throwing a party somewhere right now.
honest_abe
November 14th, 2011
3:55 pm
only football is immune to negative public sentiment due to labor issues.
considering how bad the economoy is most people will tell nba players to just go overseas. could care less about this silly brand of basketball they play these days anyway. it’s glamourized rec ball.
the nba can go to hell.
skydawg
November 14th, 2011
3:56 pm
Enter your comments here
Chris
November 14th, 2011
4:02 pm
Yes, IL Jacket… the 2004-2005 NHL season was completely lost. The first time that had happened in American Pro Sports.
Steveo
November 14th, 2011
4:03 pm
I hope the rich, overpaid fools never play again….it’s not basketball anyway…..just a bunch of ball hogs “traveling” up and down the court….the NBA is joke….stands for Nothing But Aholes…..
Joy
November 14th, 2011
4:03 pm
Now, the NBA players will have time and can really see the value of being a part of the community of the city they play in and get a sense of what reality is like for the many real working people that make just above minimum wage to bring family to a game to get disappointed with unenthusiactic lack luster playing and funky attitudes. In the past, I am involved in several charitible organizations and we have invited numerous players to speak or be part of the event without ever getting a response. They expect fans to love them when we do not know them…all look like some street tatooed up baller from my local basketball park who I paid big money to see. These players have gotten so removed from their fans maybe the can now take some time to give back rather than expecting to receive all the time…. If there are teams not making money because venues are not selling out or merchandise being sold, those players as part of their job should be out recruiting their fan base and building a support base in their community.
The Real Renegade
November 14th, 2011
4:06 pm
The Braves won the World Series in 1995 idiot.
Frank Lane
November 14th, 2011
4:07 pm
could not care less. bunch of very tall, spoiled children.
BamaMan
November 14th, 2011
4:07 pm
Who cares. The world would be better off without an NBA anyways. As long as they don’t cancel the college season, it won’t be missed at all.
Delbert D.
November 14th, 2011
4:07 pm
Send them all to Europe. Don’t let them come back. Bankrupt the owners, while we’re at it.
Top Dawg
November 14th, 2011
4:10 pm
This is WONDERFUL. I truly hope the NBA never plays another game. Good riddance!!!
Michael
November 14th, 2011
4:11 pm
Stern might as well go ahead and start negotiations with Versus for the NBA’s next NBA deal once they finally do come to a deal because dedicated NBA/Hawks fans like myself will continue to watch, but the casual fan will lose all interest in the sport. I was a casual NHL fan before they had a lockout, but since the NHL came back, I haven’t watched more than 5 minutes of any game.
Michael
November 14th, 2011
4:12 pm
*negotiate with Versus for the next TV deal I mean
Ron Mexico
November 14th, 2011
4:12 pm
I don’t know one person who has said “man, I really miss the NBA”. This is a non story because no one really cares
WitStream
November 14th, 2011
4:13 pm
Who cares? This merely clears the way for the XBA! Go to #XBA on Twitter for some good laughs.
#WitStream
Man In Blazer
November 14th, 2011
4:16 pm
Let’s use this opportunity to continue ramping up for soccer, America’s sport of the future since 1972. Bring MLS to the ATL!
Ron Mexico
November 14th, 2011
4:17 pm
Just let the players go. Owners can then go down to the local parks, grab a few guys with no shooting skills off the local court, then throw a uniform on them and call them the NBA. There will be little difference from the current product
Dawgfan79
November 14th, 2011
4:18 pm
Your right on this one, Jeff. Not enough people care about the NBA.
They play college basketball 7 days a week for the die hard basketball fans.
Its not like the NFL where Sunday is blocked off just for the NFL.
Carmelo Anthony
November 14th, 2011
4:18 pm
With no paycheck, how am I gonna pay for all my new neck tattoo’s?
extremus
November 14th, 2011
4:20 pm
I hope the NBA DIES for the sake of pro sports as a whole, and the sooner the better. The writing has been on the wall for a long time with players in all three major pro sports (I’m not going to consider hockey a “major sport” anymore as its decline outside certain markets has been evident). Ever-increasing guaranteed contract demands based on some ridiculous notion of “market value” (translation: he got paid that much so I should get THIS much), and agents like Scott Boras have really contributed to that.
The simple fact is, professional sports and its players have tried to act like their own economy exists in a bubble outside the one where many Americans are struggling to pay rent or buy groceries, or are out of work altogether. It’s an unsustainable business model when a family can no longer afford to attend an average pro game but you see luxury suites and boxes for the rich and powerful everywhere; it’s plain to see that our national pastimes have come to embrace other values. And yet they can’t see why so many franchises are losing money; go figure.
I frankly don’t CARE that the owners are multi-billionaires or mega-corporations who have money to burn on “hobbies” like owning a team; when you’re already making 6, 7, or 8 figures every year and you complain that you should get a bigger share of league revenue that sounds ungrateful and hedonistic in the worst possible way. The fact that some players have actually likened the owners or commissioners to slave owners is laughable and at the same time sickening; time for a REALITY CHECK. Go back to a service industry job where say, after 10-plus years of service you get let go whenever the company feels they can get someone to do your job cheaper and without paying benefits like has happened to so many everyday Americans the past few years, and THEN try your “Cry Me a River” Occupy Wall Street routine.
The NBA has made other huge mistakes that have eroded its attractiveness to many fans. One of the most obvious is a heavy rap and hip-hop culture and a chest-thumping atmosphere of individual arrogance and hubris that makes even the NFL pale in comparison. It may appeal to the young black demographic and to the rap stars and celebrities who sit at courtside, but for me and many others who grew up with Russell, Doctor J, Dominique, MJ, Bird, and Magic, the game has lost its once much more universal appeal. The final straw for me was last year’s hour-long ESPN vehicle for Lebron James’ enormous ego; I haven’t watched an NBA game since and don’t plan to if they do play again.
Now the commissioner and owners are talking about eliminating teams…the precursor to a league-wide implosion. I hope that MLB and the NFL are watching this unfold and taking notes; I really do, because the exact same thing could happen in a year or two when baseball’s labor negotiations begin. The death of the NBA would go a long way toward restoring some common sense and more responsible priorities throughout the rest of pro sports. And that’s worth rooting for.
Ron Mexico
November 14th, 2011
4:20 pm
To all NBA players: “Don’t go away mad; just go away”
extremus
November 14th, 2011
4:21 pm
My last comment got “filtered”, Mr. Schultz.
WitStream
November 14th, 2011
4:22 pm
As an aside, I find it impossible to believe the people in that photo are doing something stupid. I blame the media!
Red-N-Black
November 14th, 2011
4:23 pm
Ah yes, I want more millions LOLOLOLOL. Don’t have to worry about a lame Basketball game interupting my TV waiting for Football season to roll around. Have fun making ends meet like normal folk. Amen and God Bless.
GTT
November 14th, 2011
4:24 pm
How does this affect the WNBA?
oldfart
November 14th, 2011
4:25 pm
But what are the 20 year old’s that never went to class going to do? Does Uzbekistan allow you to declare early for the draft?
cory dillinger
November 14th, 2011
4:25 pm
You ever notice that most people who say they could care less about the NBA always seem to rush to a blog about it. If you don’t like it then don’t talk about it.
Handy Manny
November 14th, 2011
4:27 pm
This is great !!!!! I hope these guys are working at Burger King in a few months. No one cares about the NBA anymore ….Period. Half the teams can’t even compete.I hope the whole league goes to HELL !!!!! They can go find a job and make 35,000 dollars like the rest of the us !!!!!!
HAHA
November 14th, 2011
4:27 pm
Just walk baby!!! No one cares about NBA Hoops!
cory dillinger
November 14th, 2011
4:28 pm
I like the Hawks and root for our local fanchise and it sucks we probably won’t have a season. I hope both sides understand how much damage they are doing to the brand and may just cause so much harm that it may never be repaired.
Ron Mexico
November 14th, 2011
4:29 pm
Labron James, Kobe Bryant, Carmello Anthony, etc have a (maybe) high school education, made no attempt at college, and negioate against owners who have made all their money by making smart decisions and building businesses? I wonder who will come out on the winning end of this one????
Bye
November 14th, 2011
4:29 pm
Look instead for a proliferation of rap albums in the coming months.
WitStream
November 14th, 2011
4:31 pm
Not thatexactly he actually caressomewhat about anything, but if all this makes Joe Johnson kill himself do the Hawks still have to honor his contract?
Queen James
November 14th, 2011
4:33 pm
NBA Players: Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. No one cares. I can’t wait until I go out to eat and have an ex-NBA player valet my car.
Handy Manny
November 14th, 2011
4:34 pm
Ron Mexico , when can I buy you a beer !!!!!!!
LeBron James
November 14th, 2011
4:35 pm
The lockout is costing people their jobs. I already had to fire my tattoo artists, one of my barbers, and several other members of my posse. At this rate I’ll be down to only 75 in my crew by the end of the year. I guess I’ll just make a rap album
g
November 14th, 2011
4:35 pm
Enter your comments here
Ron Mexico
November 14th, 2011
4:36 pm
Ron Mexico , when can I buy you a beer !!!!!!!
Manny, I’ll be checked in at the W downtown under the name “Mike Vick”. We can meet up and then head to Majik City or Tattletales
Whatashow
November 14th, 2011
4:37 pm
@IL Jacket yes the was in fact. In the NHL during the last CBA.
This is so absurd. A cap system is required if you want a league with more than 5 competitive teams in it. If you aren’t a powerhouse spending team, good luck getting that championship because the grass will always be greener. Sure, you might not be playing in Miami or LA, but 2+ million to be a rotation player? Where do I sign? I obviously have some kind of financial disconnect with the players.
The owners can wait and collect the non basketball revenues from concerts and events to fund their legal battle, and the players will have to tough it out for a year or more in Europe or maybe in some weird trampoline Slam Ball league.
gspot
November 14th, 2011
4:38 pm
Have you noticed that Howard and James and others are playing celebrity games – the players have a hard time dealing with “not being the center of attention” and therefore have these worthless games just to get in front of a crowd.
Kudzu
November 14th, 2011
4:39 pm
Please cancel the NBA league…forever. Let’s start over…
Ron Mexico
November 14th, 2011
4:40 pm
With all these NBA players out of a job, look for the crime rate to go up
Kyle
November 14th, 2011
4:45 pm
The only thing that matters is football and after yesterday that is pretty much over with in this town until next year too (other than the SEC Championship game).
flagboy?
November 14th, 2011
4:45 pm
A great day for sports.
The end.
Skeezix
November 14th, 2011
4:47 pm
You are right Jeff. The owners hold the cards here. Most of these overpaid/pampered players are clueless, being so lacking in real world experiences and so out of touch with reality. They have been poorly served by their union leadership.Here in NC most sports fans I know care most about college sports, then it is probably a tie between MLB and the NFL, with maybe the NFL slightly ahead of MLB.
Nobody I know cares, except maybe a handful of Bobcat fans in Charlotte. I mean the Bobcats? Are you kidding? I don’t know this firsthand, but there must be a few folks in Charlotte who really care because 2,000 to 3,000 usually show up for the games (probably hoping they’ll see MJ).
NBA SUCKS
November 14th, 2011
4:47 pm
I want to know who in the hell watches this crap?? This league has been in the toilet for at least 10 years now.
More boneheaded than...
November 14th, 2011
4:48 pm
…then Smitty going for it on 4th down from his own 30 yard line, in overtime???? Maybe, maybe not…
Actually...
November 14th, 2011
4:50 pm
With all these NBA players out of a job, look for the out of wedlock, baby daddy rate to go up higher than it already is…
Dap01
November 14th, 2011
4:50 pm
All NBA players can jump off a cliff.
NBA SUCKS
November 14th, 2011
4:50 pm
If were lucky they will cancel 2 years of this garbage. I’m always up for more viewing opportunities of NCAA Basketball!
Matt from MN
November 14th, 2011
4:52 pm
I’ll just bet you could walk by Philips Arena any night this winter and hear pin drop. Hahahahaha…way to go screw yourselves over, ASG!!
NBA SUCKS
November 14th, 2011
4:53 pm
Would love to see a national poll if people care about NBA basketball. I’m sure everybody loves watching grown men covered in Tats acting like thugs!
gabeaux
November 14th, 2011
4:54 pm
The players are delusional thinking they are irreplaceable. The owners are delusional in thinking their franchises are irreplaceable. No one is winning in this battle. The owners think their deeper pockets will eventually grant them victory over the players, but that victory will be at the cost of all but the most rabid of fans. It will take years to win back a fan base willing to pay big league prices after the old fans have been watching college hoops where the athletes really care and respond to coaching.
Skeezix
November 14th, 2011
4:57 pm
Furthermore, I would say around my state that even minor league baseball is bigger than the NBA. People in Durham, Greensboro, WinstonlSalem and Kinston N.C. support their minor league teams. Those teams get far more press than the NBA.
My point is, the NBA owners know this and they know they have a real serious problem with their product. The clueless players don’t seem to have figured this out. Well, let them get a regular job paying $12.00-$15.00 an hour with no benefits and then maybe 51% of revenues might start looking a lot better.
gspot
November 14th, 2011
4:58 pm
What’s the name of the “league” with the play by play “thug” actually on the floor with a wireless mic?
Boyz From North Ave
November 14th, 2011
4:58 pm
I would rather watch two mules having sex than give ANY of my time to the NBA. Both the players and the owners (aside from Mark Cuban) all suck big fat ones.
BuzztheKiller
November 14th, 2011
4:59 pm
I have not even noticed they were not playing. I hope the league folds and these one trick clowns have to get a real job after they blow the rest of their money. They have wayyyyy over-estimated their worth and popularity. They must think they are in the NFL which actually makes money.
Carolina DAWG
November 14th, 2011
5:00 pm
I would not walk to my parking lot for an NBA ticket FREE of Charge– Do not care if they NEVER PLAY another game.
duronimo
November 14th, 2011
5:01 pm
The words “Joe Johnson and 119 million” spoken together, embellishes the definition of the word “stupid.” It highlights the fact that owners are paying insane amounts to players no longer willing accept their irrational millions! They deserve each other.
BuzztheKiller
November 14th, 2011
5:02 pm
Look at the picture, its says it all. Three crooks surrounded by a bunch of clowns.
NBA SUCKS
November 14th, 2011
5:05 pm
Why does the national media still cover these clowns? I mean the TV ratings are horrendous, the product is lacking, and the players are just unprofessional. Face it the league has suffered every since MJ retired in 98. He was the leader and players respected him. Now is almost total anarchy with the players behavior and attitudes.
?
November 14th, 2011
5:07 pm
Are those the crips or the bloods in the picture with their lawyers? Is it mandatory not to smile in a picture if your….
what the
November 14th, 2011
5:10 pm
greedy basta#%$
yeti
November 14th, 2011
5:10 pm
awesome. I will not have to watch NBA highlights on ESPN
Ted M
November 14th, 2011
5:12 pm
Yep Boneheaded is corrected.
The real story…
Atlanta Braves closer Craig Kimbrel became the NL Rookie of the Year in a unanimous vote
what the
November 14th, 2011
5:12 pm
OCCUPY NBA….move the stoners and their tent cities to the players yards
J
November 14th, 2011
5:19 pm
lmao, it’s always the idiotic Dawg fans that try to bash the NBA. That is irony at it’s finest!
Paddy
November 14th, 2011
5:22 pm
Jeff…..you are correct. There are people that care about the NBA not playing. The problem is that, that number has dwindled dramaticly the last 10 years. The ones that do care are not enough to make most teams viable or interesting. The league caused this marketing disaster. Fans want to see the Lakers come to town not Kobe’s Lakers come to town! Folks with disposible income have left the building and are not coming back anytime soon!
J
November 14th, 2011
5:24 pm
seriously, DAWG fans, why even waste your time commenting here … we know you’re not basketball fans and your comments show that.
moboman
November 14th, 2011
5:35 pm
As if we didnt know how clueless some of these guys are. Guess they will have to cut down to only 200 pairs of Nikes. Let em sit. This will only enhance the college game. Wish the NCAA could let some of the guys who left early go back to school. At least they could enhance their skills while Hunter et al figure out that nobody cares and they have zero leverage. Poor guys, soon they will have to learn that 10+ million a year is something they can still get by on. Cant have a league where only 5 teams can afford to win and everyone else loses money. The owners are doing the right thing. All teams have to be on the same level set of rules for league balance. It only makes sense. Revenue sharing and a hard cap is the only way to fair way run a league, whether the players like it or not.
Mel in Midtown
November 14th, 2011
5:38 pm
Hey, very rich college dropouts – where’s that next check comin’ from? I’ll bet a bunch of kids who left college to enter this past NBA draft are pissed!
Marty
November 14th, 2011
5:42 pm
Who freaking cares about these grossly overpaid goons?
Muffican Jam
November 14th, 2011
5:43 pm
tell you what Stern, take the rest of the season off. then we’ll call you guys when we miss your product enough to even care.
UGASlobberknocker
November 14th, 2011
5:43 pm
Those poor NBA players/fools think they are the NFL.
The owners are losing money hand over fist while people like Joe Johnson are making $20 million a year. The owner provides the opportunity for the players to make money, then he loses millions..yet the players are supposed to keep raking in the cash? That isnt how business works, boys. Go get a real job. Us working stiffs will just watch college basketball til April, then jump right to the Braves. NBA? What NBA? We won’t miss you guys, I promise..In fact, just cancel the whole decade while you are at it.
kenny v
November 14th, 2011
5:45 pm
I REMEMBER WHEN I WORKED FOR THE PISTONS IN THE EARLY 60′S WHEN YOU COULD’NT GIVE AWAY A TICKET AWAY. ARE WE FACING THAT AGAIN?
UGASlobberknocker
November 14th, 2011
5:48 pm
@J
I’ll give you that most of us Dawg fans consider basketball just an irritant, a season where. if we lose in the 1st rd and dont make the NCAAs, hey, at least there is no conflict with spring football. Me, I probably would have flunked Jim Harrick, Jrs basketball class..BUT
that doesn’t mean we cant be hatin’ on greedy professional idiots. that is something even Tech and Ga people can agree on.
gadawgs
November 14th, 2011
5:49 pm
WHO CARES! If they never play another minute I truly will not lose any sleep over it.
what?
November 14th, 2011
5:57 pm
There’s a strike in the NBA??? Never noticed.
extremus
November 14th, 2011
6:02 pm
Oh, whatever are those poor, wretched NBA players to do without those annual millions in guaranteed contracts? They all have egos to feed. Those NBA owners are slave drivers, I tell you.
May the NBA DIE, and DIE SOON, so it can serve as a warning to the other pro sports that boundless greed, hedonism, and stubborn hubris make for an unsustainable business model. If drastic measures aren’t taken, the NBA is only the beginning; soon all of professional sports could find themselves endangered by their own avarice. If the NFL and MLB don’t watch closely and learn they too will be discussing writing off seasons and even cutting teams and/or disbanding altogether. Professional sports’ economy does NOT exist in a bubble distinct from the rest of us who are frankly hurting right now. One has only to look at newer stadiums to see how luxury suites and boxes have replaced an average family being able to afford attending a game, and that my friends shows the WRONG priorities (in a word, MONEY trumping everything including character and ethics).
IL Jacket
November 14th, 2011
6:07 pm
Sorry, Real Renegade, obviously that was 1994. Thanks for the information about the 2004-2005 NHL season.
Kantspell
November 14th, 2011
6:19 pm
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
LawDawg
November 14th, 2011
6:22 pm
The owners can have 48%* piece of the post-LeBron, people-caring-about-the-NBA pie, or they can wait a year and take 52% of the post-strike, worse-than-MLB-in-1995, casual-fans-are-done-with-your-league pie.
This whole thing really makes no sense to me. If the total revenue contracts by 5%, then getting an extra 2% is actually a loss and at this point, I think the revenue of the league is going to contract a lot more than that. Good job losing all the goodwill from last year’s finals.
* I do not care enough to figure out what the actual numbers are.
LawDawg
November 14th, 2011
6:23 pm
48% of a billion is more than 52% of 800 million
JSS
November 14th, 2011
6:23 pm
You people are silly, the last time three times someone tried to show the American consumer sham talent in the marketplace of professional sports, it turned them out to pasture. The NFL replacement season, the XFL, and the CFL expansion into the US. It is time for a lot of you to grow up. This is not a typical labor-management issue. The labor is the product. Why is that so hard for you to understand? The owners bought into a system that is not intend to make mega-profits. The players are not the reason that the T-Wolves, the Hawks, the Pacers (and how they messed that up is amazing), the Grizzlies, and the crown princes of the cluster four letter word the Kings can losing money hand over fist. Decertify, the labor law automatically turns in the players favor because the owners can no longer impose a labor agreement. The owners will then have to deal with the courts, and the St. Louis circuit will be no where near the appeals case. Stern is the mouthpiece for 15 owners (if you believe the media), they are willing to leverage the league’s short-term mess for the chance to get off from under their blunders!!!
BurytheBone
November 14th, 2011
6:33 pm
I had rather stack greasy bb’s than watch 1 NBA game.
LowCountry XPlant
November 14th, 2011
6:34 pm
I don’t really care for either side. But, given this contract offer and having Stern all over the tube shouting take it or the next offer will be considerably less – I would have done the same thing the players did.
SR
November 14th, 2011
6:40 pm
Haven’t cared about the NBA in years. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ…….
dwdawg
November 14th, 2011
6:41 pm
SOA’s-spoiled overgrown athletes
MSD
November 14th, 2011
6:46 pm
And college hoops starts this week, so good riddance.
Cobb Dawg
November 14th, 2011
6:51 pm
There’s still professional basketball in this country? I hadn’t noticed for about the past 20 years. I couldn’t care less about what they do. I can only name a couple of players and that’s because they were on the front pages for being arrested for something or another. File this story under “who cares”.
Boggs
November 14th, 2011
7:16 pm
I hope they never play again
"Chef" Tim Dix
November 14th, 2011
7:23 pm
Contraction will eventually be what saves U.S. Professional Sports (save hockey which will never be a major sport in the lower 48).
StingerSplash
November 14th, 2011
7:27 pm
Um, Jeff, why are you and Mark both writing on a sport that isn’t even playing right now? Did you both run out of ideas to write columns on the Thrashers? They’re not playing in Atlanta right now either.
moboman
November 14th, 2011
7:35 pm
JSS
The NFL replacement season woke the players up to reality and got the league rules straightend out. The NFL is the better for it. It is exactly what the NBA needs. Let the players sit and watch NCAA ball with all the rest of us this winter. Plenty of hoops to watch on TV without them. Pretty soon that avg 4 million salary is going to start looking pretty good compared to nothing coming in. Hard cap time folks. The NBA is broken.
Pago Pago DAWG
November 14th, 2011
7:44 pm
Offering the great joe johnson only 119 million is a slap in the face, an insult!
But really cares about the nba. We’re surprised and shocked people you still go and pay and pay.
Cedric
November 14th, 2011
7:51 pm
Will be glad once the NBA resumes and hopefully boring baseball games that last 4 hours will be stopped and done away with. I can only hope and pray.
SEC Football
November 14th, 2011
7:53 pm
I AM LIKE MOST! WHO CARES!!!!!!!!!!
THESE GUYS ARE SO OVERPAID AND DO NOT KNOW HOW TO HANDLE THEIR MONEY!!!!!!
THE OWNERS WERE CRAZY TO START WITH TO GIVE AS MUCH AS THEY DID YEARS AGO ANYWAY. HOW MANY BUSINESSES DO YOU KNOW WHERE THE EMPLOYEE MAKES OVER 50% OF THE REVENUE AND THE OWNER TAKES ALL THE RISK! AND THE FANS ARE WHO PAYS FOR ALL OF THIS! ALL PROFESSIONAL SPORTS HAVE GOTTEN OUT OF HAND.
Cedric
November 14th, 2011
7:53 pm
Based on the comments I know why…
Cedric
November 14th, 2011
7:54 pm
Hopefully the college ballplayers will get paid as well.
BasketballTopFan@Yahoo.com
November 14th, 2011
8:01 pm
I too believe that the NBA players have made a serious, serious mistake by rejecting the owners offers. Players need to understand that we are facing some of worst financial times of mankind.
When you have countries on the brink of economic disaster, unemployment and foreclosures at record levels, stock market nosedives, and worldwide economic worries now is not the time to for NBA players to demand more outlandish money and benefits.
No matter what is said or done the cost of any player and owner agreement will fall on the fans of the National Basketball Association.
BasketballTopFan@Yahoo.com
Kramer
November 14th, 2011
8:03 pm
NFL, college basketball, and even the NHL. Screw the NBA and their thug players and corrupt owners.
beone
November 14th, 2011
8:08 pm
Players were lucky to have the CBA they have enjoyed for the last few years. Now it’s back to reality or some semblance of it, since Pro Sports isn’t reality anyway. They’re a bunch of cry baby millionaires many of whom have trouble making a complete sentence. What a joke!
phil
November 14th, 2011
8:15 pm
What a wonderful day! No NBA season is a dream come true!
The basketball is terrible, awful, pathetic…
Besides, now that Nowitzki won a title, humiliating Lebron Overrated yet again, i hope they never play again.
He Hate Gator
November 14th, 2011
8:17 pm
Who cares? We have college BB after football is done!
phil
November 14th, 2011
8:19 pm
Fire FG…
JSS
November 14th, 2011
8:22 pm
Mobo…
The replacement strike only set the groundwork for the next labor agreement. The owners caved on every point over the next 3 deals. The only thing that replacement games did was 1. tell the players that TV money was more important than actual gate 2. forced the use of replacement players forever from the table 3. look at the 2011 agreement, the owners bent over backwards trying to keep the union at the bargaining table and certified because they knew regardless of the player lawsuit that it was their only recourse to save their monopoly… You suck at Labor history…
robert
November 14th, 2011
8:26 pm
negotiating to get the best deal possible is one thing. but at the end of the day the players must realize the owners hold the cards. their leaders are too proud to admit defeat and its going to cost them billions at the end of the day
P B Orr
November 14th, 2011
8:32 pm
I haven’t really watched an NBA game since they stopped playing defense in about, oh, 1990. Even the Jordan era saw a lot of standing around and bad defense. There’s no defense at all any more other that (maybe) in playoff games, so the game is boring as hell, and no one can fix that. I don’t care if they ever come back to play. Basketball needs a reboot anyway featuring team play and defense again. Ripe time to start a new league.
JSS
November 14th, 2011
8:41 pm
A new league? Are you crazy? You can’t get arena deals that make it worthwhile… Then you have to have TV deals to make it worthwhile from a transportation, franchise revenue, or ad revenue point of view… Ask the MLS and NHL how difficult that is…
JSS
November 14th, 2011
8:48 pm
Robert, the minute the Union decertifies the owners right to get a single deal goes away… They hold no cards other then being owners… The NHL players never understood that fact, they should have stayed in Europe and rode out the owners money… The minute the insurance money runs out, then you hold their feet to the fire… China keeping NBA players out is the only wrench in the players face… Still, they need to do what the NFL players didn’t, take the owners to court over anti-trust not the right to lock them out…
Sir Purr
November 14th, 2011
9:03 pm
Who cares! Holy moly do I luv Schultzie!
the Boss
November 14th, 2011
9:04 pm
Too bad owners cannot just say “ok here is our new system. Any player that wants to be part of this sign up and we will simply bring in new talent and start over.” The teams are the league, not the players. Rosters change all the time. Players come and go. So simply start over with a system that makes financial sense for those business owners that took the risk, and dropped down the coin to buy these franchises to begin with. I am quite certain the line of players “wanting in” would stretch far and wide. In time, “fans” would find new players to admire. Its simply business.
NBA players just committed a major blunder – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) | Basketball News Pro
November 14th, 2011
9:04 pm
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
Ken Stallings
November 14th, 2011
9:07 pm
Jeff,
I must disagree with your view that the NBA players blundered. Perhaps the situation will not work out to their best interests, but sometimes you have to make a stand in principle.
The problem with the negotiations is that David Stern has been far too aggressive for the owners. A commissioner is supposed to be a balance of force between the players and the owners. Stern has not merely warped that truth, but destroyed it!
The offer should not have been made with a “take ir or get worse” ultimatum. Stern’s attitude throughout these negotiations has been entirely condescending to the players, treating them like chattle vice professionals.
I frankly cannot see how Stern can remain effective as NBA Commissioner after this unfolds to an end.
Finkle is Einhorn
November 14th, 2011
9:22 pm
My chances of watching NBA games has now gone from 1% to nonexistent even if they play some. There is nothing more annoying than grown men being overpaid to play a kid’s game arguing during a historic recession.
jay
November 14th, 2011
9:42 pm
@GeoffDawg you’re not even funny. That’s been done before! Be original! What’s an NBA? Shutup.
Marshall Kerlin
November 14th, 2011
9:44 pm
Hurrah! Atlanta sports without Hockey and Roundball for a while? If only Spring training could get here quicker. GoBraves
Brucerugby79
November 14th, 2011
9:53 pm
I do not know anyone who cares at all about the nba–everyone i talk to is hoping there is no season-i don’t think these players understand that no one cares–i hope the whole thing falls apart-college basketball is way more fun to watch–i do feel for the lower paid players who are now out of a job
Finebalm
November 14th, 2011
9:54 pm
Let me know when we can discuss Alabama Auburn football
jay
November 14th, 2011
9:55 pm
“I haven’t really watched an NBA game since they stopped playing defense in about, oh, 1990.”
So why are you commenting? <>
big d dawg
November 14th, 2011
9:55 pm
good riddance to the worst pro sport league ever!!
david
November 14th, 2011
10:06 pm
Like the way they dunk not think.
harleyman
November 14th, 2011
10:08 pm
Is this some kind of pro league, this NBA, you are talking about?
Here we go again
November 14th, 2011
10:23 pm
People don’t miss the NBA now, but come February, people will start to miss it. And by mid-may, when the NFL draft is over and people realize that baseball has already been going for 6 weeks and they’re STILL only a quarter of the way through the season, people will REALLY miss it!
The truth
November 14th, 2011
10:23 pm
Been thinking about this and I have determined that I don’t give one damn if the NBA ever plays another game. It will be better for college basketball if they don’t. The players can go get a real job if they can pass the literacy and drug tests.
occupy nba
November 14th, 2011
10:27 pm
it’s the fans that blunder by supporting the staggering salaries, owner appetites, attitudes, etc. the fans will never wake up and realize who’s really getting screwed and realize they can collectively determine who gets what. but they rather give away their resources (after sam gets his) for a few minutes of circus entertainment.
JR1967
November 14th, 2011
10:28 pm
It said much about the popularity of the local NBA team when their flagship station was put on a low-wattage translator FM station last year.
clem
November 14th, 2011
10:30 pm
who watches nba except for later rounds of playoff? prima donnas all….
nba owners ought to get a decent return on their money, in this economy not sure what that is, but 7%-12% seems reasonable….
players way overpaid as most athletes are……
lower owner profits and lower salaries so common man can go and see live…
this robin harris & cribs of rich and famous needs to wind down
oldfart
November 14th, 2011
10:34 pm
harleyman
November 14th, 2011
10:08 pm
Is this some kind of pro league, this NBA, you are talking about?
___________________________________________________
Yep, the NBA is professional basketball just like the WWE is professional wrestling. Sometimes they even use the same referees.
Not an NBA Fan
November 14th, 2011
10:35 pm
Jeff, as you say, there are those who care, but I just happen not to know any of them. After Chamberlain and Russell, it’s been a long slide downhill.
brick
November 14th, 2011
10:35 pm
The NBA has gotten to the point where it is not much more than professional wrestling, entertainment. Back in the day, players had to dribble the ball to advance it, and keep their hand on top of the ball, but now with 2 dribbles and a crossover where his hand goes under the ball he can go from one end of the count to a dunk at the other end. Why not just remove dribbling from the game, just tuck and go? The answer is its better entertainment to watch a guy run down court and dunk than to watch a guy have to actually dribble and control the ball while the defense can race full speed down the court.
Bottom line, the NBA is about 4th or 5th in popularity behind college football and basketball, MLB, the NFL and most likely soon soccer and with a season missed will probably fall behind Nascar.
Howbout
November 14th, 2011
10:37 pm
Let the players barnstorm around the country and rent gyms they can play in. Bet they could make millions and millions doing that…
sIdney c
November 14th, 2011
10:38 pm
The nba is dead to me. first the ASG has screwed the Thasher fans and i wouldn’t go to a game if we had a season.
Ckgator
November 14th, 2011
10:43 pm
Poor NBA players. Whatever will they do without the requisite 3-5 years of binge spending before going broke?
Paul in NH
November 14th, 2011
11:13 pm
I love the statements about how the problem in the NBA is that it is all about players/stars and not about teams and then there is a statement from the poster that they haven’t watched the NBA since Jordan, Magis and Bird were playing.
Got to love the irony.
Bravesbobblehead
November 14th, 2011
11:14 pm
I gave up watching BBall when Dr. J retired. These over payed babies make me &&D^^^%E!!!
MattMD
November 14th, 2011
11:27 pm
Send this NBA crap overseas where it belongs!
Drew
November 14th, 2011
11:30 pm
Don’t care. It’s a game populated by showboats, low-lifes and morons… all obscenely overpaid. Won’t miss ‘em at all.
heartofdarkness
November 14th, 2011
11:57 pm
Is it too late to appoint the negotiating teams to the Super-committee?
Two Handed Set Shot
November 15th, 2011
12:09 am
Who gives an eff about the NBA? predominatly the comments on this blog is they can go play elsewhere which i tend to agree with. Watch out for Kentucky to dominate in college basketball because none of those boneheads can be one and done now that the NBA is not an option.
YouGoneWatchAnyway
November 15th, 2011
12:32 am
It’s amazing to me how some are calling NBA players thugs and low-lifes for doing business. Why are you a thug or low-life for trying to get a better deal? I think Schultz called it a bonehead move not a crime. Most of us can read between the lines because thugs and low-life are only used when the topic is the actions of a black athlete(see picture of nba players). Its also used when UGA players get in trouble…but the bottom-line is “YouGoneWatchAnyway” because somebodey has to pay those thugs and low-lifes salaries…
Tim
November 15th, 2011
12:54 am
Actually, one of the main problems is sportswriters like yourself Jeff, that have given the owners a pass. What if the situation were reversed, and the players were behaving like these owners? You would have written several articles DOGGING THE PLAYERS OUT. If the players received 57% of BRI last year, how could they be expected to go down to 50%? Since when do people give up that much in a negotiation?
It’s not like the players were unreasonable. They went down to 52.5%, and were actually considering going down to 50%. It’s time for David Stern to go. He has to be the most patronizing negotiator in history. How are you going to tell the players, “You better accept this deal, because the next one is going to be much worse”. Who negotiates like that? Trying to punk someone into accepting a deal is a lousy strategy.
Sportswriters should be lambasting and shaming these owners. But you give them a pass. And it’s amazing to hear people talk about the “spoiled” players. So you hate the millionaires but love the billionaires huh? The billionaires aren’t spoiled? I wish these players would realize they don’t need David Stern are any of these owners. We don’t pay to see the owners. I wish these players would take their talents overseas and give a middle finger to the NBA.
Columbus
November 15th, 2011
1:01 am
Yeah yeah…..This happened in 1998-1999. Lockout year. NBA is a LOOOOONG season OK? back then they started playing in Feb 4th 2009 with a 50 game season. Relax Schultzie. You thought this woudl end any sooner than the 1998-99 lockout? You say the players screwed up? LOL. Yeah half the owners really need some money too. Some teams might not make it through this if there is no season. You dont think there are not owners going crazy in stress right now? Sure there is. Players can go overseas and play. Owners cant….. a 50 game season is fine with me and im sure them too. The holiday season will come and fooball wll be about over and the NBA will be back filling a sports void after they dont have to compete with football. Might even come sooner than that but it WILL come. DOn beleive and overreact to all the hype like Penn St. firing Paterno instead of just having him take a leave of absense until the dust settled. DOnt take every piec of news and act like it is all over with. This is how things work. By the way did you find some creative way to find something negative in Kimbrell winning the rookie of the year? How bout UGA going to the SEC title? Oh yeah you did on UGA. Didnt take long they havent even clinched the berth! And you hd to piss on the cake didnt you? You and Bradley should go get married You are depressing to read except when you make your football predictions. Very sad you arent more fun to read like that mot of the time instead of depressing. Thats OK, its only a matter of time before there is backlash and basically people going elsewhere for their UGA and Braves news. Nobody would read you or Bradley otherwise…..we certainly dont read you for you are enjoyable to read or great writers or provide inside info….Chip is great and whats his name umm the Braves guy…..tip of my tongue, he is great to read. You and Mark just suck when it comes to being enjoyable or funny Where is Grizzard? Heck where is Odom? Terrence? Heck can we get 2 newspapers back in ATL? Something….depressing and cynical is what we get. We DESERVE better and so do the teams you are covering By the way do not call UGA Atlantas team OK? You got GT. You have NO ownership at ALL of UGA it is many miles from Atlanta….MANY It is basically as close to TENN and Augusta asit is ATL and is closer to South Carolina but you Bradley calls it a local Atlanta team?! The best thing that EVER happened to UGA is it NOT having ANYTHING to do with ATL! Bunch of bandwagon fickle hatin fans and no support for UGA from AJC. You should be banned from writin about our beloved UGA and just stick with your LOCAL teams….GT and GA ST. Leave UGA to the REST of the state OK? Its ours. Yours is GT and GA ST. Got it? Nah you guys dont get nothing t AJC. In your own little obivious worlds……
ScottBravesFan
November 15th, 2011
3:11 am
Extremis,
MLB’s CBA is up next month. They are already finished negotiating and will announce the new CBA sometime this week or next. The only hurdle they had was draft slotting rules, which is basically how much a draft pick can get paid, and they settled on it today. MLB is making way too much money and the players are making way too much money, no way would there ever shoot that golden goose.
donald
November 15th, 2011
3:51 am
i say put out a now hiring sign out and get the games going. Owners need to manage money better and so do the players. Comming from a person makeing less than 15,000 a year as a cashier i seem to just squeak by month to month, players get millions and cant survive. so to that end put out a now hiring sign let them sit home and watch on tv someone else play the game they love or could it be money they love more. i remember when players played for the love of the game they did not make millions but they still supported thier families still bought cars and still bought houses. maybe they should have a mandatory course on how to manage your money when you sign with a team before you take the court.
Paddy
November 15th, 2011
4:33 am
Wait a minute……….those players in that picture do not look happy with Billy Hunter. I thought the players rejected the proposal as a unified group? And people say that the “Union Mentality” is dead. If the NBA strike does not make every worker want to join a union, nothing will.
Position Alert: If the majority of the buying public does not like your product; DO NOT GO ON STRIKE!!!! It makes you look stupid, don’t you think?
Paddy
November 15th, 2011
4:41 am
donald……….you remember the days that players played for the love of the game? I spent my entire working life with folks that played for pay. donald, I never met one player that played for the love of the game. Not even Ernie Banks. You must be really, really old. Does not make them bad people, but nobody plays any game for free!
GUNGA DIN
November 15th, 2011
5:30 am
the owners created all these problems by paying outrageous salaries to tattooed thugs. build a team of players where no one makes over a million a year or has a multi-year contract. pay for play. . too many good players out there that would jump at the chance to play ball and earn a six figure salary. also time to reign in the hip-hop thug culture if you want the fans back.
GwinnettDad
November 15th, 2011
6:14 am
Didn’t watch a single NBA game last year. The players & the owners deserve each other. College basketball is far more interesting anyway.
Paddy
November 15th, 2011
6:20 am
gunga din………….if basketball wants its fans back, a good start would be to promote THE LAKERS ARE COMING TO TOWN; not Kobe’s Lakers are coming to town.
Fans want their team to be successful. Fans have NO interest in their players being successful. It is human nature and alot of NBA teams and League exect’s flunked marketing 101.
MB
November 15th, 2011
6:31 am
First off, all of the “ron mexico” and “handy mandy” comments obviously come from haters and losers. Stop hatin’ just because your life SUCKS. Thats your fault. And as far as the rest of you retards that dont wanna see the nba come back, please shut your faces! You all sound really stupid right now. Yes its ugly right now, but they’ll eventually get it together. And as for the notion that football is the ultimate team sport- get over it already!! I dont know an ultimate team sport where the star on one team has to sit on the sideline and watch the other star DRILL his “ultimate team”. If they protect the sissies anymore than they are right now, it’ll be flag football. The nba is still great, and they have better stars than the nfl. And if none of you cared, why take time out of your loser lives to comment? You all should come from out of your momas’ basement and get a life. If nothing else, get some fresh air in your acorn that you call a brain.
MB
November 15th, 2011
6:52 am
GET OVER IT OLD FARTS!!!
JSS
November 15th, 2011
6:55 am
If he didn’t ban you for your homophobic laced tirade back in September who in the heck are you to run your mouth now? You are a creep! You always come on blogs trying to undermine other people and groups of people and no one calls you on it… Well you’ve been called on it… Go ask all of those parents who are struggling to get their child support paid in a timely manner regardless of what their exes do for a living where their payment is…. You are a sleaze blogger… You are cry baby! I never cried “protect me” from “Larry” when you spewed your eleven year old like filth on this venue… If you can’t take it, stop trying to dish it! You don’t have two dimes to rub together to cover any bet… Try sticking to hand cranking your generator!
crazy pizza lady
November 15th, 2011
7:20 am
players are stoopid. they negrotiated from 50% of 4 billion to 0% of 0.
tell them to find somebody with a degree to put on the team that deals with the owners.
TooBadOneAndDone
November 15th, 2011
7:30 am
The best part if that the One and Done crowd from last year’s College dropouts are now wishing they had stuck around for another year. Finish your Education. In the long haul, it pays off.
just facts
November 15th, 2011
7:33 am
you start the article off with an incorrect statement because the PLAYERS did not reject anything. the union leadership rejected the offer and did not even bring it to a vote.
Jeff Schultz
November 15th, 2011
7:40 am
MB — I had to delete a comment of yours because it started to get into race-baiting, which I don’t allow on my blogs. You can repost without that part of the comment if you like.
Steve
November 15th, 2011
7:40 am
No loss. Haven’t cared about the NBA in decades.
But I wish that the baseball owners and commissioner would get a backbone and actually stand up to the players. Baseball needs a hard salary cap.
Jeff Schultz
November 15th, 2011
7:41 am
Liberalefty and Larry — Same deal. No race-infused comments allowed.
NBA no More
November 15th, 2011
7:42 am
I have been a life long NBA fan but if they do not play this season I will not watch another NBA game ever. GREED killed the game!!!!!!!
Ronin
November 15th, 2011
7:43 am
Who cares about the NBA…. haven’t watched a game in years and don’t plan to start. No interest in pro basketball, at all. If I want to see a game, I’ll support a local college team or even high school group. Not another dime of my money for whining millionaires.
ChillyMutt
November 15th, 2011
7:58 am
REALLY guys? You’re not happy with 50%? Really?
Nuclear winter … I say scorched earth.Start new next year.
Double Zero Eight
November 15th, 2011
8:06 am
Greed and egomaniacs…… a dangerous combination
in any venue.
Phildo
November 15th, 2011
8:14 am
Give me a good college basketball game anyday. A thousand times better than the sand lot brand that the pros play. Stopped watching the NBA 15 – 20 years ago (OK, went to a couple of Hawks games on freebies and sat in the lounge swilling beer the whole game, so my record of not watching remained intact.) Point is, who cares? Certainly not me, nor apparently many others.
Joey
November 15th, 2011
8:25 am
“My only hesitation in completely taking Stern’s side on this is, like the players, I don’t trust him, either.”
**********************************************
Yeah, I wouldn’t trust someone who, while in charge of the NBA, player salaries have skyrocketed. The average salary is $5.84 Million per year. Even the players who never get in a game make hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
Hunter is right. The NBA players are just like “plantation workers.”
Bless them all . . .
Pimps
November 15th, 2011
8:33 am
Dumb NBA players ! If the owners are losing money playing the games then the owners are GLAD the deal was rejected !
AND1
November 15th, 2011
8:34 am
These NBA players can go play with And1 for $100 per game…
dressdown
November 15th, 2011
8:35 am
At these business meetings in 5 star hotels, can’t the players at least show up wearing a suit instead of club attire? They look foolish. After partying all night, take an hour, go back to the hotel and throw on something more professional.
Interesting question??????
November 15th, 2011
8:36 am
IF they decertify the union, does that mean all the contracts are null and void? you would think there are some serious consequences to decertify the union…….. Wouldn’t loss of a contract allow the owners to present all these greedy players with new lower contracts??? Then the big-buck players would not have the lucrative contracts to fall back on once (if ever) this is settled?? This is really going to set the stage for future professional sports negotiations………. I think the players are absolute idiots….. Just imagine – in a REAL job that all us regular people have to live with…. GO TO you management and tell them you demand a big slice of the profit they make, above what they pay you…. utterly ridiculous………
AND1
November 15th, 2011
8:37 am
Jeff, Sandusky is a tool. “I showered with them and touched their legs but with no sexual intent.” Hmmm… Showering naked with a naked 10 year old boy touching his leg ? The prosecution needs several of these prior victims to step forward and put this rapist away for life.
Terry
November 15th, 2011
8:40 am
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Hardly anyone even watches it anyway & those that do start watching it after the Super Bowl and March Madness.
Bill
November 15th, 2011
8:43 am
Once again…..who cares. Overpaid thugs who really don’t play the game the way it should be played…as everyone says watch the last 3 minutes to see what happens. Bring on college basketball and let’s watch the game be played the way it should…
Child Please
November 15th, 2011
8:43 am
The NBA just had their best overall revenue/profits last year as compared to several seasons before. Attendance and television audience also increased in every market; so please get off the board talking about the NBA is a non-essential and nobody cares. People may not make a big fuss now because the NFL is playing from now until February. But if the NBA is not back by then for the first time in years there will be no professional sports of note (sorry you would have to pay me a $150-200 per hour to watch a hockey game) and that’s not good. Especially since primetime television SUCKS!!! Oh well, I’ll pull out my Columbo and Perry Mason dvds and read a few good books.
As to the NBA players they are a bunch of pinheads. They will not win their decertification/anti-trust lawsuit on the same grounds that it did not work for the NFL players. You are a union and you have no standing in the federal court. And all of this nonsense regarding the owners taking away something from the players is just that — nonsense. Every corporation makes mistakes in spending money, however, if they decide to make cuts in benefits or salaries; in the real world the employees cannot complain that you can’t do this. We have to live with it and deal with it.
Unlike the players, the owners have to think about the viability of their team (and the league) years from now when these pinheads have retired and blown their fortune. The players are simply looking out for what they can get now.
Interesting question??????
November 15th, 2011
8:49 am
Hello Jeff —
Does decertifying the union mean all their contracts are null and void?
if not, why not????? I would think that lets the owners off the hook? no?????
Thanks…
AND1
November 15th, 2011
8:51 am
All these NBA owners own tons of other businesses to make a living. They don’t need the NBA. the players sole livelihood is NBA salaries. So who needs whom ?
AND1
November 15th, 2011
8:53 am
Man, those $6,000 tattoos just became a missed house payment for these NBA thugs !
JB
November 15th, 2011
8:57 am
A lot of these guys in the NBA would struggle with landscaping jobs at 12.00 an hour. And you are going to tell your boss that 6 million a year is just not cutting it for playing a frigging game……Next.
Mid Town Joe
November 15th, 2011
8:59 am
Jeff,
How do you think this will affect the college game? I see it hurting it in some ways.
schultz likes ASG
November 15th, 2011
9:02 am
Hey the Players can find a job flipin burgers at Mcdonalds and soon are washin cars ….blame bush for strike.One thing Stern is pullin the owners underwear to do this which means Mr howard stern soon be fired as NBA commish.and if no deal U may see NBA be come defunct soon….And all u see is NBA pass games played on tv….I wonder how Atlanta sperm group is doin..Dang mean sprit//They lost a NHL team now basketball must be fun Phillips arena a ghost town…U got it n I bet ole Mayor of atlanta is upset oh wait he went to a Rap concert ….He be voted out of office soon be replaced….So that old song from CBS is now bein played with different lyrics …..You see no basketball this year cause stern is on espn the nba is now dead on abc …abc abc u see no one on the court cause its all dark no Heat in Miami on abc and see Labron James choke again on abc this year…..and schultz they be no NBA again it done so wonder what those college players think now they should shut down college basketball no way be in NBA now..lol Hey Maybe we can start a new ABA again like old days with teams in virginia and memphis and Ny nets and Pittsburgh condors and Minnesota and Utah and Oakland n San Diego in league that is New of land and the commish could Be Dr J julius ervin n Micheal Jordon runnin it Cinninnati also with st.louis start ….kentucky in ABA and back in action….seattle and vancouver back in new league
JB
November 15th, 2011
9:02 am
Most of these guys are broke at 30 after collecting 40 mil over 6-8 years…………move that to broke at 25 now.
JB
November 15th, 2011
9:07 am
The owners needed to corral this league in….It was getting out of control with crazy salaries and waning interest. Paying 15-25 mil per year to seguys is crazy. The old saying goes, we’ll take it as long as they’ll pay it…………..Guess what?….It’s over
JSS
November 15th, 2011
9:10 am
“As to the NBA players they are a bunch of pinheads. They will not win their decertification/anti-trust lawsuit on the same grounds that it did not work for the NFL players. You are a union and you have no standing in the federal court. And all of this nonsense regarding the owners taking away something from the players is just that — nonsense. Every corporation makes mistakes in spending money, however, if they decide to make cuts in benefits or salaries; in the real world the employees cannot complain that you can’t do this. We have to live with it and deal with it.”
Wrong… Wrong… Wrong…
The only way you get off from under collectively bargained contracts or agreements is Chapter 7 Bankruptcy… The NBA does that and a Trustee steps in and you want to see the Maloofs, Glenn Taylor, ASGs, and Leslie Alexander’s of the bunch all commit suicide within the same hour! The contracts are valid until they run out. What happens once they decertify is 3 things: the union becomes a trade association (the only they can’t do is collective bargain), the teams can no longer act as a single unit trying to get or impose a contract or an agreement, and finally the NLRB can no longer protect the players or the owners collectively. 30 teams, 500 players must now reach agreements (in theory) on contracts beyond this point… But the owners have locked out the players, they get a break until a court takes up whether they want to enjoin either side from their position… The owners are crazy, they tried to North Korea, North Korea!!! North Korea has no principles (the players) just pushed the button… Look for a fallout shelter!
MrDan
November 15th, 2011
9:12 am
HEY HEY NBA, cancel your season…………forever.
Just expand the NCAA tourney to 240 teams and let it run till June. Good riddence.
moneytrain
November 15th, 2011
9:17 am
the players be hurting for cash! I heard things are so bad, some players are leaving IOUs at the clubs instead of 1’s when making it rain. That bad.
Call it like it is
November 15th, 2011
9:19 am
Its no great loss. The players are looking for pity from a smaller and smaller fan base that they are not making enough money. A fan base that is struggling to make ends meet, yet with the extra money they have, they are supposed to buy tickets to watch the cry babies play. Please. Of course hindsight is 20/20 but I bet most of them wish they had put that free scholarship to use and actually gotten a degree. Now no degree, no job, no money, and the Escalade is being repo as we speak. And yes the owners help to create this garbage. Let them all sink.
Jimmy Crack
November 15th, 2011
9:20 am
I hope they settle this thing by February.
I would love to see a 40 game regular season sprint. It would be so much more exciting.
Realistically, with the same Hawks team in place, if they didn’t play this year I would not even notice.
Hotrod
November 15th, 2011
9:28 am
Thought it was just me all these years. The tats,guns,rap, became something I did not want any part of. Once turn down courtside seats for a game. Just didn’t care anymore. Now I am finding out it was not just me.
zeke
November 15th, 2011
9:33 am
I for one do not care if they ever play another game! Same for the nfl and mlb! I was a rabid baseball fan most of my life since I was old enough to play and understand the game. Teams, players, statistics were all important! I would watch any game on tv with my Grandfather! He played on family teams in the early 1900’s and remained an avid fan his entire life! He passed away in 1983 and did not see the scourge of the players union and the strike! THANK GOD! Since that strike, I could not care less if another game is ever played! The absolute audacity that the owners must give more than 50% of revenue to players making the grossly overpaid salaries they now receive! The players deserve no more than the salaries they are able to negotiate, plus any bonus that the owners may decide to give them based on performance and profitability! Same for the nfl, nba, nhl or any other sport OR BUSINESS! UNIONS ARE SCUM! THEY HAVE ALMOST SINGLE HANDED RUINED THE ECONOMY OF THE USA! THEY HAVE CAUSED BUSINESSES TO MOVE MANUFACTURING OPERATIONS OUT OF THE COUNTRY TO AVOID THE EXTORTION OF UNION CONTRACTS THAT FOR GOD SAKE THE GOVERNMENT ALMOST MANDATES! So no, I WOULD NOT CARE IF THER IS NEVER ANOTHER PRO SPORTS GAME PLAYED! BAD THING IS THEY HAVE ALMOST RUINED COLLEGE SPORTS WITH THE CHANGES IN RULES AND ALLOWING SUCH STUPID THINGS AS DUNKS, 3 STEPS AND NOT CALLED FOR TRAVELING, SETTING AN ARBITRARY LINE NOT TO ALLOW CHARGING AND PENALIZING GOOD DEFENSE! AND, ON, AND ON, AND ON!!! THIS APPLIES TO ALL!!
Villanow
November 15th, 2011
9:33 am
I don’t watch the NBA until the playoffs, if then. And part of me wants to see the two sides get what’s coming to them. But so many jobs and cities and souvenir sellers depend on the NBA season. It would be a tragedy if it was cancelled.
PMC
November 15th, 2011
9:34 am
Why is the league acting like this deal is final? It’s freaking NOVEMBER???
The NBA is not even good until Feburary. They could start the season in March and it would be fine.
PMC
November 15th, 2011
9:34 am
chill Zeke, it’s freaking basketball, they aren’t building the railroads.
PMC
November 15th, 2011
9:36 am
Sorry Bob Cousey isn’t still selling shoes.
Treeofwoe
November 15th, 2011
9:47 am
I’ve watched and pulled for the hawks since the mid 70s when dad and I used to watch them together on TV. Loves me some Falcons and some Braves too. Here’s the problem I have with professional basketball…and it has nothing to do with the money. If your revenues are shrinking maybe its because the product is becoming unfair to the small market teams to have a chance and because the play has devolved into a sloppy butt-bumping-in-the-paint-fest. If you want to increase fan interest do these two things irrespective of the money situation.
(1) Use this time out to institute a salary cap. The NFL is successful for a reason. The cap is a BIG BIG reason. People start out on a level playing field money-wise so fans can at least HOPE for a fair shake at a good season. Coaching, drafting, and good front offices mean so much more then. I.e. quality goes up. This is another reason why baseball is also losing fan interest…salary cap. (not the only reason, but one reason).
(2) Call fouls consistently against the “elite” players. This fact alone has allowed me to check out and stop watching playoff basketball at all. They allow current big men to push defenders from their spot time after time after time after time. What we have now is WWF under the hoop instead of good passing, movement, and working on actually shooting the ball. They allow “stars” to travel more than actors in rehab. The fans see it. We know that it’s a farse and not consistent so why watch. You are killing the sport by being essentially uneven and dishonest with the fans with the sham on the courts.
(3) Distance yourselves from the hard core rap culture. Believe it or not it has harmed your brand image. Rap and hip hop aren’t bad per se, but there are good hip hop and rap culture statements and songs and there are bad ones. Parents make decisions for their kids on what they feel a brand represents. Anger, cursing, drug culture, violent behavior, and disrespect to women aren’t high on their list. College basketball doesn’t have this link, and they are doing JUST fine.
Fix at LEAST these three issues and you’ll see viewership and attendance increase. Make the product competitive, enforce the rules of play and enforce them fairly, and make the sport more family friendly = more fans. Just my two cents. Go Hawks!
Mark in ATL
November 15th, 2011
10:25 am
The NBA and the players overstepped their bounds here….we won’t miss the NBA like we would have missed football. We have other options for entertainment from November through June.
1. Football goes until Feb
2. College basketball plays March madness through the first of April
3. Then baseball starts
This is from a lifetime NBA fan but if you go away it doesn’t hurt me…just leaves more $ in my pocket and I get used to spending it on other things.
Bruce Mac
November 15th, 2011
10:31 am
Too dang funny. Overpaid idiots are striking for what? More money, like they aren’t already overpaid out the wazoo. What a bunch of spoiled out of touch morons. Strike forever, who the heck cares?
GwinnettDad
November 15th, 2011
10:42 am
Maybe, just maybe, if and when the strike ends, the NBA will begin the regular season and . . . . almost NOBODY except the player’s’ family, friends, and dependents will attend the game. Then, it would become clear just how much most players actually care about the people that have watched them in the past. Time for some franchises to fold, time for some stories about once million dollar babies in unemployment lines.
NewOrleansJazz
November 15th, 2011
10:52 am
It all started when Charlotte Hornets gave Larry Johnson
an undeserved big contract before he had proven himself as a bonafide NBA player. From that point on everyone sought a contract bigger and larger than Grand-mama’s. Can you image the Hornets paying Larry Johnson more than Magic and Jordan. Right now the Hornets is one of those teams that are suffering from bad business decisions of their past. The owners created this monster and now they are trying to re-construct, they are trying to right the ship. Good luck with that. Hate to see the season lost. It’s a shame you cant see the Lakers and Kobe do their thing.
RAY
November 15th, 2011
11:02 am
Ok people get this straight….”IT WAS A LOCKOUT”..the players are willing play this year with the agreement already in place….”IT’S THE OWNERS”…who do not want to live up to their agreement with the players……
down but not out
November 15th, 2011
11:11 am
YesSir GwinnettDad,
was just thinking that fans really need to wake up and reject any offer owners and players are giving regular people about any possiblity of saving their season and going to ‘work’. then without the financial support and loss of income, they could perform in a reality show about sensibility and being thankful. i love basketball, and am not mad about being unemployed nor envious of those who’ve achieved success and fortune. although having lost income, have gained much in perspective and learned what is really important. so much is wrong and needs to change, it won’t stop until folk think different and make some changes. just heard on the radio this morn how being really rich and broke is a matter of the heart.
Tim
November 15th, 2011
11:34 am
I actually agree with Jason Whitlock’s column:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/NBA-lockout-blame-David-Stern-media-mouthpieces-not-players-Derek-Fisher-Billy-Hunter-for-decision-to-disclaim-union-111411
The media has basically served as MOUTHPIECES for the owners. The coverage has been awful. But that is what happens when you have a corporate media, and a lack of independent journalists.
Whitlock:
“I know this labor battle is a self-serving mission, but at least these young athletes are standing up and taking a risk for something. This is a start.
As best I can tell, they capitulated on the financial issue and gave the owners a 7-percent ($1.1 billion) giveback on basketball-related income. They took the financial hit in order to gain some control over the system that governs them. That seems more than fair. But in this era of corporate greed that’s not nearly enough.”
So the players were willing to give back 1.1 BILLION in basketball-related income, and Jeff Schultz writes a blog about the players being the blame? THE OWNERSHIP HAS GOTTEN A COMPLETE PASS FROM THE MEDIA. This is why they are so stubborn and rigid. There has been no heat PLACED ON THEM to get the deal done. The corporate media acts as if the players are supposed to jump on any deal that is presented. The players made several concessions, it is the owners that would not budge. That is not how you negotiate. With David Stern’s patronizing tone throughout this ordeal, his time should really be up as NBA Commissioner.
61 year Braves Fan
November 15th, 2011
11:41 am
You could pay me and I wouldn’t go across the street to see this crap they call basketball.
Ken Stallings
November 15th, 2011
11:45 am
As someone who is from North Carolina, and remembers well the sordid details, the Charlotte Hornets tendered that contract and then Larry Johnson suffered a back injury and was never the same player he was before. Remember that with a healthy Johnson, Alonzo Mourning, and Tyrone Bogues, the Hornets upset the Boston Celtics in round one of the NBA playoffs and sent the city of Charlotte (and the area) into euphoria!
The problem is that after the Johnson contract, George Shinn (owner of the Hornets) played hard ball with Mourning, who was actually a better player than Johnson. Mourning left and the team was never as good again.
But, the move to New Orleans was not caused by those contracts (one signed for too much and the other stiff armed). It was caused by the sordid lifestyle of George Shinn and his marital infidelity, plus his constant lies to the Charlotte, NC government and community leaders. Shinn wanted a new arena despite the Charlotte Arena being relatively new and paid for by the community. Charlotte wanted assurances that Shinn was not shopping his team to the highest biddng city while it asked for more time to raise the funds in a responsible manner. Shinn told the city council and mayor that he was not interested in moving the team. Then, his personal jet was seen in another city with Shinn negotiating for a move of the team!
As a consequence, the city told Shinn there was no way they were going to spend multi-millions of dollars outright, fund bonds, and raise the lion’s share of the money for Shinn’s desired new stadium just so he could pocket revenue from luxury boxes that the existing arena did not have in numbers sufficient for Shinn. Then, once again, rather than realize the shaddy crook that Shinn really was, NBA Commissioner David Stern once again sided totally with the owner and orchestrated the move to New Orleans.
Shinn didn’t even have the decency to rename the team, which if you did not know, the name Hornets goes back to a Revolutionary War era military unit that helped defeat the British at the Battle of Kings Mountain. If Stern had any foresight, he would have pulled off a very simple plan to give the team in New Orleans back the Jazz name, give the team in Utah the Bobcats name (which was a homage to former team owner Bob Johnson), and give the team in Charlotte back the Hornets name. But, of course, Stern doesn’t care about any of that!
Charlotte should have never lost that team. For years the people of Charlotte packed the Charlotte Arena, setting NBA attendance records for an expansion team that lost horribly! All Shinn had to do was to be a reasonably honest man and he would have gotten his new stadium just as Bob Johnson did. But, the people of the area saw the ugly side of David Stern in defending the seedy George Shinn, and frankly have refused to put their full support behind any NBA team as they did with the Hornets. It was a love affair and a honeymoon that lasted years, and if you ask the players of that era they will tell you how special it was.
The NBA owners are some of the worst villians and thugs in the league, yet the players are the ones who get portrayed in the media that way. The way the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers treated a man who simply offered his services as a free agent, the plantation metaphor that Bryant Gumble used was not entirely off the mark. Normally, I don’t agree with Gumble, whom I mostly find a disagreeable shill.
But, money doesn’t change the reality. The NBA owners think they are the game. They are not. Frankly, the wealth among the players is such that if they cared to, they could simply form a new professional basketball league and put the owners completely out of business! Imagine that! A league where the players are the owners! It used to be the case, and one who studies the history of American professional baseball teams can confirm it.
Perhaps that is what is really needed here: For the players to pool their money, negotiate directly with arena officials across the nation, buy their uniforms, hire the support staff, and put a schedule out for 2012-13. The NBA owners would quake in their boots, or would that be Gucchi loafers!
The truth is that people who pay their own hard earned money to be entertained for a few hours don’t care who the owners are! They pay to see the players! The owners should frankly be happy they had the money to purchase the team and make a pile of money watching skilled people perform their craft. Instead, they now want most of the revenue to split among a handful of billionares. Well, the players could freeze their plans stiff by forming their own league.
I’d frankly love to see it!
JSS
November 15th, 2011
11:46 am
And the message at 11:38AM is from the typical coward on the AJC blogs who have to hijack a username because they are unwilling to stand behind their own life… Yawn…
mrbiguns
November 15th, 2011
11:51 am
Thank God that I won’t have to flip throught the channels this winter and see all the back yard-street ball garbage called the NBA!
Just when I was beginning to think their wasn’t a God, he shows up and saves us all from this disgraceful, pathetic, thugg filled sport called basketball in the NBA!!!!!
HOOOOOOORRRRRRRAAAAAHHHHHH
Bring on the college basketball,, the bowl games and spring training!
Jimmy Crack
November 15th, 2011
11:51 am
Downtown is the problem with all the Atlanta teams. If they would build dedicated multi-lane roads that led DIRECTLY to and from the highway (and the cops let cars access them, duh) all of our stadiums would be filled to the brim. As it is now….Never. They make it difficult to get out of the venues and it is just not worth it anymore. So what did we all do? We all bought big HDTVs and stay home, while the national media calls us lousy fans. Sticks and stones.
lcdawg
November 15th, 2011
11:55 am
Really hard to believe the players won’t take the deal, where the heck are they gonna that kind of money other than in the NBA?
GwinnettDad
November 15th, 2011
11:56 am
“Corporate Media” favoring the owners? Ridiculous. Take ABC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN, NBC, LA Times, Washington Post, New York Times, the AJC, the AP, the UPI and CNN. In that list, if you find one Republican, they’re a token RINO (Yes, FOX is the exception, and look how demonized THEYH are) Someday, truth in packaging, just as there are ingredients on the labels of what you eat, you’ll find labels on what you read. The political affiliations of so-called impartial journalists should be public knowledge. This paper in 99% Democrat, you can count on it. Any newspaper that ever supported Cynthia McKinney? Good grief. I like neither the owners nor the players in this matter, but to read about the “Corporate Media” reminds me how stupid some NBA fans are.
GwinnettDad
November 15th, 2011
11:58 am
Yeah, as if this blog isn’t censored. “Corporate Media”? Try refuting that assertion here, and you’ll find you can’t. This liberal newspaper won’t allow it.
dawgballs00
November 15th, 2011
12:03 pm
Lebronze is going ringless again…Priceless. Sell the entire leauge to China. Who cares
RedandBlack
November 15th, 2011
12:12 pm
When are the Thrashers going to come back to Atlanta. We want NHL Hockey here in Atlanta. The Spirit Group sold the wrong team.
Who cares about the NBA. Bye-bye crybaby millionaires. Get a real job. Go Dogs!!
cdog
November 15th, 2011
12:19 pm
I AGREE JEFF. YOU KNOW, I WAS AT CHURCH ABOUT A YEAR AGO, I WAS LISTENING TO DEION SANDERS GIVE HIS TESTIMONY THAT DAY. HE SAID, MONEY WILL MAKE YOU MORE WHAT YOU ARE.EACH DAY I WATCH AND LISTEN TO THE NBA PLAYERS, OWNERS AND AGENTS, I SEE JUST HOW TRUE THAT IS.IF YOU’RE A SPOILED NUT LIKE SO MANY ARE, WITH MONEY, YOU BECOME MORE OF A SPOILED NUT. THEY DON’T HAVE THE MENTALITY TOSOLVE THIS SO FOR ALL YOU FANS, I WOULD ENJOY REAL BASKETBALL, WHICH IS PLAYED ON THE HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE LEVEL.FORGET ABOUT THAT IMITATION SHOW TIME STYLE OF SO- CALLED BASKETBALL. LET THEM GO HOME, THEY WOULD BE DOING US A FAVOR.
Robert
November 15th, 2011
12:36 pm
“China keeping NBA players out is the only wrench in the players face”
I think the players would make more money taking a deal they think of as losing in the USA than they would playing overseas
Let them go overseas – if they demand a lose-lose situation then fork them
Quite frankly I dont even understand where they get the idea of being entitled to even anything near 50/50 on a revenue split. They are employees for chrissakes, not business partners
Mandrell Dawg
November 15th, 2011
12:37 pm
The NBA will without a doubt suffer for this fiasco. Owners are divided among themselves; some for feeling duped into paying outlandishly for an NBA franchise, with little chance of turning a profit anytime soon for that initial decision alone; while others lose money signing free agents at crazy prices because unfortunately they know that if they don’t, another owner will.
It’s just as hard for me to feel for the players. The league minium for a player with 0 years experience for the 2010-11 season was around $473,000. I’m sure players were warned of this possibility last season, and possibly before. This is an ideal situation for players who don’t know, to learn the concept of a budget.
GregP
November 15th, 2011
12:51 pm
I look at the possible loss of an NBA season, this way: If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it…
Boom-Boom
November 15th, 2011
12:52 pm
The owners won in these negotations. The money these fools were making makes no common sence to tha viewing public. It is about time every sport gets a wake up call. The fans can no longer afford the pay hikes put upon them. The cost of inflation has not gone up 1,000% in the last 30 years last I checked so why would the owners choose to pay these salaries. Let the players see how it is in the real world for a while and you can get them for pennies on the dollar like it should be.
builderdawg
November 15th, 2011
12:52 pm
who cares…….I mean who really cares? lets see some of those players that cant do anything else go to work for a living like everyone else does. Boy, I bet those tatts on their necks will translate real well in the business world huh?
DZ
November 15th, 2011
1:18 pm
LET’S ALL GO OCCUPY PHILIPS ARENA!!
LOL just kidding. Nobody cares about the NBA.
gcs
November 15th, 2011
1:23 pm
This reminds me of Will Ferrell in “Old School” when he is drunk & streaking and he thinks a bunch of people are behind him but there is nobody there.
Rodster
November 15th, 2011
1:28 pm
Doesn’t matter one bit. I won’t miss the NBA at all. Go get real jobs chumps.
KZGuy
November 15th, 2011
1:36 pm
What ? You mean the NBA season hasn’t already started? I thought it was time for all the teams except two to make the playoffs.
DawgDad
November 15th, 2011
1:45 pm
Trolling through here for mere bemusement. What, again, is the holdup on reaching an agreement? Does anybody know?
The Hawks broke my heart in my youth when they moved from St. Louis, where I grew up. The ASG broke my heart when they sold out on us Thrashers/NHL fans and then the city, lying their way through the entire process. The NBA officiating is horrific and very likely corrupt. No measure of sympathy is possible for the owners from this corner.
Third periods are time to chase a beer and channel surf. Millionaire players who bailed on their colleges and likely can’t pass eighth grade algebra, standing around watching isolation play. Agents. The ESPN celebrity culture. No sympathy for the players, either.
I agree, the whole mess is a cesspool in desparate need of draining.
DBALL
November 15th, 2011
1:56 pm
Who will really miss the NBA in Atlanta? The Hawks? C’MON MAN!!! At least we know that they will not lose in the payoffs again.
moboman
November 15th, 2011
1:56 pm
Ray,
Like most items of supply and demand, the price will rise until it reaches the point of “no one will pay this price”. This is whats happening in the NBA, especially the small markets. I used to attend Hawks games, until the ticket price got so absurd that I just said “its not worth that for two hours of entertainment (on a good night).” Reality has hit, its not 2007 any more when every one thought prices could rise forever. New economy. New reality. NEW AGREEMENT. Hard cap.
Sammy
November 15th, 2011
2:00 pm
I wish I was Joe Johnson with $20 million
Big Baller
November 15th, 2011
2:05 pm
betcha these guys now know who’s really doing the slam dunkin
anotherdawg
November 15th, 2011
2:13 pm
If we could somehow couple this news with an announcement that all politicians had to give up their pensions and free health insurance, I would be even more happy than I was this past weekend.
chris
November 15th, 2011
2:41 pm
Jeff…The NBA is off my radar and will stay off my Radar. Just like you said, Football will take me into February, I’d rather watch College Basketball and the race to March Madness will be under way and then it will be time for the Boys of Summer to hit the field. I personally don’t care if the players come back.
I said this about the NFL and I will say it about the NBA. It is sickening that Millionaires are fighting with other Millionaires over more money when so many people in this family are struggling just to eat.
Larry E
November 15th, 2011
2:43 pm
The mayor of Atlanta better not say one word about trying to save the Hawks or the NBA, when he would not lift a finger to help the Thrashers. And I don’t care if you don’t like hockey, it sure beats watching the NBA, there is actual skill involved.
Jeff Schultz
November 15th, 2011
3:45 pm
I’m not sure why so many idiots — and you know who you are — feel compelled to hurl racial slurs in an NBA lockout column. But we’ve had to delete too many comments and I’m closing this blog to commenting.