NBA Lockout

                     There are so many issues here. SO many reasons why this is all going wrong. Between media comments such as, "Stern being a modern day slave owner", the NBA, owners and players not being able to see eye to eye, mostly because there has been this build up for years. People have seen this one coming, just like they saw the NFL one coming. The big difference? The NFL got it done, people are willing to forgive and forget if you indeed make them forget. However the flip side of that is if you persist with the lockout and during a down economy none the less, people cannot and will not relate to people making millions and some making billions not being able to agree about how to split the pile.

                     The unfortunate part about all of this is that the NBA as a product is really not that great. They cannot compete with the NFL, or as Juice reminds me with even NASCAR. They are not even close to getting a deal done and whether or not its true people see it as everyone being greedy. Owners want more money, players want more money, and they all already make too much money for playing a child's sport. This is the general attitude of the sports fan. Dont get me wrong we all love the sport. We all pay money, a lot of it at that, to go and see these guys play a game. That indeed is all it is. In a down economy, when people are not working and filling into welfare offices and standing in line at the unemployment office. People dont get it and nor should they.

                      The other part is the fact that there are so many people being affected by this that do not have millions in the bank. There are so many people that work their asses off for the orgainzations every night that dont have a dime to their names that are now out of work. The people that run the concesison stands, people setting up the hardwood floors, announcers, t shirt people and yes even mascots. These are just a few of the individuals that are suffering because these two sides whom do have millions in the bank cant come up with an agreement on how to slice the pie. On behalf of all those individuals I would just like to call Bullshit.

                     SO the owners want a lot of things, yes they are offering 50/50 to the players but the owners within themselves cant agree on whether or not they should have revenue sharing. Stern is focusing on this because within the last CBA the big market teams made money where the smaller market teams lost over 300 million a year. So Stern and the smaller market teams are pushing the idea that the larger market teams would share revenue with teams that perhaps dont make as much money like a Charlotte or a Golden State. This is the model that the NFL has and for them it has been pretty successful. It has allowed small market teams like Green Bay become sucessful enough to win SUper Bowls. Many of us would not consider Green Bay a small market team but its not true, they absolutely are, but that in turn is the point. if revenue sharing is successful then small market teams can become competitive with everyone else. If its not successful you have large market teams wondering why they are sharing money that they feel like they have worked their asses off to make.

                      The owners also want a hard cap and less guaranteed money. No more of these long term deals where if a player underperforms or doesnt come to camp in shape (ex. Baron Davis signing that 5 year deal and being fat all year long) they get paid anyway. Im against these kinds of deal because of that exact reason, in my reality if I dont perform I dont get paid, or even worse dont have a job. Its that simple, what I put into it is what I get out of it. The problem with having a hard cap is a lot of these teams will over time be able to increase the value of their teams simply by not paying out in wages what they paid out before. Therefore increasing the amount of revenue the team has, which the players feel like is not fair because if the organization is making more money than they should also.

                       Players want more of a percentage of splitting revenue, and now are propsing a system of no salary cap at all. Which is pretty presumptious and arogant if you ask me. When you are already not seeing eye to eye, why propose something that is going to divide you even more? At any rate  Billy Hunter keeps saying that they want to negotiate but that Stern has said to them that they will not continue to talk until they agree to the 50/50 first. Which puts the whole situation at a stale mate.

                      This is what my proposal is that is fair for all:

             1.) Contracts should be no longer than 4 years. Within that contract period, players dependent on performance should be able to either make more money, or make less money. COntracts can be negotiated. The players have been pushing for this on their side, where players like Kevin Love whom have clearly been out performing their contracts should be able to make more money, or even better yet Derrick Rose. On the flip side to go back to my man Baron Davis, you should be able to take money back if the player is not able to perform to the level that is necessary. This is something that the owners have been pushing for. This is controversial I know but its something that if necessary.

              2.) Take the 50/50 split. Thats it.

              3.) A hard cap for teams is probably the way to go. If not a hard cap them remain with the soft cap, but Im so pro salary cap its ridiculous. This whole business with no salary cap at all is ridiculous and we should all foget it was even mentioned. The players will tell you that it was an owner that came up with the idea, but it was Marc Cuban. Thats a great idea to him too because he has got a shitload of cash.

               4.) and finally... within that hardcap rule there has got to be revenue sharing. Allow these small market teams to come in and be competitive. Allow these teams to help build the league, make it more money and more popular, because over time the end result will be less teams and less places for players to go and the NBA will not be able to withstand that kind of move.

                Lets start thinking about the economy we are all in and the fact that the people who give you their hard earned money are never going to see the kind of cash that you are making even during the loss of a season. Can we?

-Pickalicous