NBA Season in Jeopardy as Both Sides Walk Away from Negotiations

The NBA has a great marketing department. 

They probably do a better job promoting their star players than any other professional sports league. Of course, part of that is the nature of the sport. Basketball only has five players, and every player is involved on every play. 

The fans are much closer to the players during the game than you are at a baseball game. We get to see the players, tattoos and all, unlike in football, where they can't take their helmet off without being penalized. The NBA even has a great slogan to promote it's game.

The NBA: Where Amazing Happens.

Well, brace yourself, basketball fans, because we aren't going to see "amazing" for quite some time. In the latest round of labor negotiations, the players and owners both walked away from the table dejected.

The owners want a bigger split of the revenue (the players currently get 57 percent), and more importantly, they want a "hard cap." The players want to keep the majority of league revenue (they are proposing a number close to 53 percent), but won't negotiate unless the current "soft cap" system stays in place.

The players are going to lose this negotiation. Everybody knows that. It's "billionaires vs. millionaires" as everybody likes to say. If this were a game of chicken, imagine the players riding at the owners in a Ford Taurus. The owners are riding in a Sherman Tank. 

The players don't stand a chance.

Sure, the owners should concede on a few of the smaller issues. They should try to treat the players as fairly as they can. But let's be honest here, the owners are losing money! What kind of business can keep operating if it's losing money? Teams like Memphis, Indiana and New Orleans would be better off if there was no NBA season because then at least they would break even! 

When your best case scenario as an owner is "shut the season down, so I don't lose money," then your business model is screwed! Why can't the players see that? Don't they see that the system needs a serious overhaul? 

Think about it, guys like Eddie Curry and Stephon Marbury can sign huge contracts that are fully guaranteed, then just stop playing hard, but they still get paid every penny. How is that fair to a guy like Serge Ibaka, a promising young player who is outperforming his contract? 

Shouldn't the system be set up to reward the guys that perform? Wouldn't that make the game better?

If your favorite NBA team could shed a couple of "bad contracts" right now and replace those guys with players that could help your team, wouldn't that make the game better? Why should the owners carry this "dead weight"?

That is what makes the NFL such a great league for the fans. If a guy like Albert Haynesworth or Terrell Owens tries to hijack your locker room, you can get rid of him without paying the full amount of the contract.

Of course, the players say that they shouldn't be punished for the owner's poor business decisions. Really? That is their comeback? Let me repeat their argument in plain English so we all understand them. 

"Gilber Arenas signed this contract for a gazillion dollars. It's not our fault you paid him that much when he was one of the top scorers in the league. It's not our fault that you thought he might keep playing at a high level. You should have considered the fact he might get hurt, bring a gun in the locker room, and then revert into a role player. And you should fully expect to pay him like a top five player in the league if that worst case scenario ever comes true."

What planet are you guys from? Can you tell me how in the world that makes sense? I wish these guys would stop and think for one second about the game. I wish they would remember how they felt when they were breaking into the league, trying to earn that first contract, and then trying to earn a regular spot in the rotation. 

Instead, they are trying to protect players who are stealing money.

Commissioner David Stern gave this quote, courtesy of cnnsi.com, that sums it up perfectly:

"We know how to negotiate over dollars when the time comes, but they so conditioned any discussion on our acceptance of the status quo, which sees a team like the Lakers with well over $100 million in payroll and Sacramento at 45," Stern said. "That's not an acceptable alternative for us. That can't be the  outcome that we agree to."

Does the NBA want to be like baseball, where the Yankees and Red Sox dominate the sport, with only a couple of teams taking turns challenging them every year? Or would they rather be like the NFL, where every team has a chance to compete in a given year? In the NBA, Minnesota is perennially awful. In the NFL, the Browns, Lions, and Rams have gone from terrible to young and exciting in about 18 months. 

Why can't the players see that? 

So for now, all we can do basketball fans, is hope and pray that the players will get a clue. All we can do is hope that maybe a deal can be struck, and that the season will start on time. If that doesn't happen, I have a new slogan the league can use. David Stern can borrow this from me, free of charge.

The NBA: Where Stupidity Happens.