NBA Chat, Do we have a season? We may have a season... TOPIC OPTIONS

[SparksALot]

So it looks like after that all-nighter a couple of nights ago there may actually be a deal in place that could be announced as soon as Sunday. Not only are there reports of that deal, but that the NBA are actually asking arenas to keep dates open into April. So looks like they are trying to get a full 82 game schedule played as well.

Hoo-boy, if they are trying to get 82 in... the small free-agency window is going to be insane. It should make the NFL's look tame. Then a short training camp and pre-season and BOOM! Games! If the NFL is anything to go by we may be seeing teams playing the wave defense. Wave at the opposing player as they drive past you to score. Bring on the 130-120 games!

[samojed]

They better shorten the season and let the players prepare, instead of having to deal with a whole bunch of injuries. It's gonna be brutal if they agree on 82 games.

[Hitman]

Celtics are old and have no chance to win another title, aka



Just kidding. I hope they figure it out soon. I wouldn't lose any sleep if they don't have an 82 game season though.

[SparksALot]

Yeah I agree 82 games is a bit much. They don't want to lose money and pay back venues and season ticket holders, though. I think they should shorten it as well to something around 70 games.

I'm interested to see what the Lakers have to offer with Brown. They also have some holes to fill, and probably will be looking to make a big FA splash or make a big trade (Odom?) to get a PG. I will be very intrigued to see what Kobe, Gasol, and Bynum can do in a standard offense. Ron-Ron, I'm sorry, I mean Metta-Metta may actually be slightly effective on the offensive side of things as well now that he doesn't have the triangle to confuse him any longer as well. Gonna be an interesting year in Laker-land. I know for a team this loaded with talent anything but another trip to the Finals would be a disappointment, but I don't know.

[Jurkov]

I can't even remember who the Warriors drafted. I know Mark Jackson is the new coach though!

I'm taking my first year off from fantasy baseball next season and really, I could benefit from a year off from the NBA too. Lost my passion for both.

[SparksALot]

From Deadspin:

BREAKING: NBA LOCKOUT JUST ABOUT OVER ACCORDING TO LOW-LEVEL TEAM EMPLOYEES WITH EMAIL ACCESS
After four months, the NBA lockout is in its dying throes, according to multiple team employees who have been informed by the league that business as usual will resume as early as Monday.

The New Jersey Nets ticket sales office, idle for most of the fall, is holding a series of hastily called meetings today under the theme "Be Ready." One staffer tells us that a department-wide email has been circulated, instructing employees that "it's time to get back to work." The short-staffed 76ers' team office has been told that Monday will be "all hands on deck," as per orders from the league.

As talks enter their third day, progress has already made on salary cap issues and an amnesty clause, and the only major remaining road block is BRI. As of this morning, the two sides were reported to be only 2.5 percent apart. All the employees we spoke to say the mood among their office higher-ups is to expect an agreement to be reached in principle by the end of the weekend, but also that they don't actually know anything because they are in fact low-level team employees. HIT THE SIREN.

[Antoine3323]

I'm not optimistic that they can reach a deal on the BRI by the end of the week. Both sides are reportedly not willing to budge from 50 and 52%. I'm hoping they can though

I really hope they don't try to have a full 82 game season. It's just too much, too late. Players won't have enough time to prepare for that

As for the Lakers killfactor, I wish I was as optimistic as you about them. They are aging and lacking some serious talent at PG. I also dont have a lot of confidence in Mike Brown

[SparksALot]

Guess not. Stern announced that they canceled games until Nov. 30th today after dissolution of talks again. The word was the only thing they had to get past was 2.5%. Great way to piss away all the goodwill of last season NBA. Get the best ratings in years? Lockout time! The MLB and NFL are laughing.

[samojed]

Ettore Messina: 'Kobe comes to practice by helicopter'
What am I supposed to say to him?

After earning a status as one of the most successful coaches of the last 15 years in Europe, Ettore Messina was hired this summer by the Los Angeles Lakers as an assistant coach.

A few days ago, he spoke about leadership in a conference on sport business and digressed on the first challenges of his new life as a Laker.

“The other day I was on the phone with the Lakers staff, asking advice on where I should get a house,” said Messina. “I was told some people prefer living close to the practice facilities; others, like Kobe, live further away. Sometimes, in order not to challenge the incredible L.A. traffic, Kobe even comes to practice by helicopter.

“At that point I thought: ‘This guy makes $25 million and comes to practice by helicopter – What am I supposed to say to him? “Down with that ass, bend your knees”?’”

[Fitz]

Do people actually watch the NBA before Christmas?

[Curly BCS]

I love the NBA...loved it as a kid when it was the Celtics and the Lakers dominating with Magic and Larry Bird etc. Would love to watch it now really but what is this lockout stuff? Some kind of strike?

[Antoine3323]

Yea, the players and owners couldn't come to an agreement on a new deal before the last CBA expired, so the players are on strike until they can work out a new CBA

[SparksALot]

so the players are on strike until they can work out a new CBA

No. The owners have locked out the players. There's a difference. A strike is when the collective bargaining agreement (the CBA) between the players union and the league is deemed unacceptable in it's current state and the players decide not to honor their contracts and refuse to play. A lockout is when the owners deem the CBA to be unacceptable in it's current state and lock the players out of the building, refusing to let them practice, play, or take part in any official team meetings or functions.

At this point it's all about revenue split. The NBA claims they've lost a shit-load of money (which is bullshit, but they used some good old fuzzy math accounting to make it look like they've lost money - despite having the best TV ratings and attendance they've had in decades over the last few years), and the players salaries, contract guarantees, and overall team budgets need to come down, and they need to get a bigger share of the pot as far as revenue generated by the games. They've come to agreements on pretty much every single issue except the revenue sharing. Both the league and the players want over 50%, and the hard-liners are driving the bargaining and stalling things. Guys on the owners side like Mark Cuban, Jerry Buss, owners of large market teams are OK with a 50/50 split. It's the small market guys like Dan Gilbert (who seems like he's still acting out of spite towards greedy Lebron-types) who are towing the hard line, refusing to budge. These are the guys who are more concerned with the bottom line on the paper rather than the bottom line out on the court *coughDonaldSterlingcough* On the other side you have the agents of the players driving the hard line. They are going to lose a percentage if the player budge to 50/50, and they don't give a fuck if guy's like Kobe are losing time on their careers and chances to chase championships or records, or veterans at the end of their career are losing chances to play as they get older but the season stalls. Those guys just want to go out and play now. They want to take the 50/50 split and go out and play some fucking basketball. But the agents don't give a shit, they can keep being agents and taking their cuts long after guys like Kobe and Lebron are gone.

So the NBA is stuck, and likely just pissed away all the goodwill it had created over the past few years. Yeah, sure, fans like me will keep watching, but those extra people they gained over the past few years? Later. The guys who are driving this things don't care about that, though. They don't care about the sport, more-so the money that comes with the sport.

[samojed]

I don't think I've seen a more repulsive player on the court. Dude's so far up his ass he's not even aware he's making himself hated more than he already is, if that's even possible...

[Age]

he is a cocksucker

[TimHa]

The MLB and NFL are laughing.

Hmm... shouldn't be the NHL the league who might get new viewers because the NBA isn't happening? MLB isn't playing at the moment and the NFL is just on the weekends. I guess people also want to see sports during the week and the NHL plays during the week. So shouldn't there be more people watching icehockey?

The NBA players and teamowners need to figure out that they are hurting themselfs more and more...

[Fitz]

he is a cocksucker

Yep.

http://deadspin.com/5581889/lebron-james-is-a-cocksucker

[Age]

Yep.

http://deadspin.com/5581889/lebron-james-is-a-cocksucker

[Tre]

I miss watching Derrick Rose play

[SparksALot]

Ladies and gentlemen, you're 2011-2012 NBA World Champions..... STILL the Dallas Mavericks.

Reports all over Twitter are the players just rejected the owners latest proposal. Union is disbanding, filing an anti-trust lawsuit against the owners. This is the other option for the NFL players that they decided against. That saved the NFL season, and this will cost the NBA it's season. Unless the owners fucking cave quickly (not gonna happen) there will be no season. No Lakers this year. That's fucking lame.

This post has been edited by SparksALot: Nov 14 2011, 11:01 AM

[Fitz]

What needs to happen for decertification to occur? If it's a simple majority then I can't imagine that 50% of the players would be ok going without a paycheck this year.

[Fitz]

Ok, now I just read that the union has disbanded, not decertified. I can't figure out the difference though.

[SparksALot]

Details:
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/201..._medium=twitter

[samojed]

Wow. The competition in the next half-season of the Euroleague will be sick! Looking forward to seeing level-headed players like Durant around here, though my team won't be able to afford any of them. And I'm also looking forward to seeing spoiled superstar brats facing the coaches with an actual authority.

[Antoine3323]

Well, this sucks. All those new fans gained last season are gone, and probably many more. What the hell am I supposed to do with my weeknights now?

[informed]

basketball sucks and now greedy mofos show their true colors. good riddance and i hope there is no season!

[Tre]

Totally disgusted. The NHL is still not completely recovered from missing an entire year. Teams like Sacramento & New Orleans may never recover if a whole year is gone.

[SparksALot]

Teams like Sacramento & New Orleans may never recover if a whole year is gone.

Yet it's owners of teams like that who are directly responsible for the situation being where it is. The amount of idiocy all around is sickening.

[Fitz]

Totally disgusted. The NHL is still not completely recovered from missing an entire year.

I thought the NHL was doing fine .

Teams like Sacramento & New Orleans may never recover if a whole year is gone.

According to whom?

[SparksALot]

I thought the NHL was doing fine .

Actually you are right. That said, the NHL was in a much different situation than the NBA, and in much more dire financial straights iirc.

According to whom?

Their owners? Not so sure about NO, but Sacto is losing money hand over fist. That's why they wanted to move to Anaheim (like moving to an already crowded market with a crappy team is magically going to make all their financial woes go away).

By the way, I just want to state I'm not on either side here, although I've done much more owner bashing in this thread. I think the players decertifying, while a bold move, was a fucking dumb one. It was not worth it to waste the entire season like that. Not over the shit they are arguing about. I understand they feel disrespected. It's their play that has made the NBA as popular as it's ever been. Yet they are the ones that even with the best deal that they proposed who will be losing 5% across the board despite making the NBA as popular as it is now. That said, the way the NBA was being run was unsustainable for small market teams and something needed to be done. Was it the owners fault ultimately that those teams are in the position they are in? For the most part, yes. But with the economy having changed so much just over the last few years, doing business as usual wasn't going to work. The players need to be cognizant of that, and while they are to a degree, I don't think what they were fighting for was worth losing an entire season over. Especially when you consider how much it is financially going to impact the communities surrounding the teams. Let's remember this is a sport where the venues are right smack-dab in the thick of things in cities. I read that if the entire season is cancelled the city of Miami could lose $200 million dollars.

This post has been edited by SparksALot: Nov 15 2011, 8:34 AM