NBA Lockout: Face-to-Face Meetings on Saturday Will Provide More False Hope
Don’t get your hopes up about this reported latest meeting to solve the NBA lockout on Saturday.
The NBA owners and players haven’t met since last Friday when talks completely broke down once again.
If you remember, on Oct. 26, there was apparently a ton of progress made between small groups of people on both sides of this nasty NBA lockout.
They negotiated from approximately noon on the 26th until 3 a.m. EDT the next morning.
Derek Fisher and David Stern both left saying that progress had been made and they were optimistic that a deal could be done sooner than later and agreed to return to the negotiating table that next day.
However, on Oct. 28, the last time the representatives from the players union and NBA owners met, talks completely broke down once again.
Obviously, it was because of the Basketball Related Income (BRI), which the players’ side will not agree to go a penny below 52 percent of according to Billy Hunter, executive director of the NBA Players Association.
David Stern closed his books, packed up his stuff and left upon hearing that statement and now we are back to square one.
No more optimism, no more hope that the season could start as soon as Dec. 1 and with the possibility of a full season.
The meeting on Saturday will just bring more of the same.
Who cares if they leave saying they made progress or feel good about being a deal done anymore.
The bottom line is both sides believe they are completely in the right. The players have actually conceded much more than the owners in terms of BRI. They are used to receiving 57 percent but are willing to give five percent of that back to owners to get this season going.
Owners need to stop being so greedy and realize that they were only getting 43 percent of BRI during the last CBA and still making plenty of money. An extra five percent of a huge business like basketball is the equivalent of millions and millions of dollars per team.
I just think that the owners are using their leverage as ultra-rich millionaires to win a war of attrition against the players and their quickly thinning bank accounts.
They realize they can outlast the players and still be millionaires no matter how long this thing drags on for, while it has been widely reported many NBA players live paycheck-to-paycheck.
It’s a sad tactic but one that may work and a reason why I would not get my hopes up for a 2011-2012 NBA season or a win for the players’ side when this is all said and done.
