What blows my mind is this: you have players who have million-dollar contracts who are STRIKING coz they can't get a little more.

This is 10 shades beyond f*cked up, and the NBA players can go EABOD.

/what's asinine is that both sides of the fence are biatching over money when there's so goddamn much of it

xanadian: What blows my mind is this: you have players who have million-dollar contracts who are STRIKING coz they can't get a little more.

This is 10 shades beyond f*cked up, and the NBA players can go EABOD.

/what's asinine is that both sides of the fence are biatching over money when there's so goddamn much of it

At least the NFL knew enough not to kill the golden goose.

Every time a strike comes up in a major sport, I wonder... does anyone think about how badly Baseball did for years years after their strike, or how bad a lockout hit hockey?

They're quibbling over a relatively few dollars today, and making sure that they lose millions or even billions of potential revenue in the future.

...And not a single fark was given that day. I'm actually glad they're striking. These guys play a child's game for billions of dollars a year, collectively, while the rest of our jobs to to hell in a handcart. Maybe now people will realize that professional athletes do not substantially improve their lives.

/Multi-millions, xanadian. Many multiples of millions in some cases.

xanadian: What blows my mind is this: you have players who have million-dollar contracts who are STRIKING coz they can't get a little more.

The owners have held at demanding a 50-50 split for weeks. The players got 57% on the last one. They have eroded their bid a little by little over time in good faith, and the owners have held at 50-50. They're trying now to get the players to agree to 47%.

And you're blaming the players?

GAT_00: The owners have held at demanding a 50-50 split for weeks. The players got 57% on the last one. They have eroded their bid a little by little over time in good faith, and the owners have held at 50-50. They're trying now to get the players to agree to 47%.

So...the owners are Republicans?

/ba dumb bum bish

My reaction?

Meh

Maybe the NBA will disband all together!!

I don't give a damn about the NBA until June. Okay, maybe May.

This got a tag? Should've gotten a tag instead.

"We've told them that we don't want a hard cap. We don't want a hard cap any kind of way, either an obvious hard cap or a hard cap that may not be as obvious to most people but we know it works like a hard cap," Hunter said. "And so you get there, and then all of a sudden they say, `Well, we also have to have our number.' And you say, `Well wait a minute, you're not negotiating in good faith."'

But if players think what's being proposed is a hard cap, here's another warning: Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver won't rule out the league seeking one.

"Our response is then let's have a hard cap, which is what we wanted," he said.

Well I guess he showed them that he's negotiating in good faith.

ITT: Hockey fans mad that their sport is still less relevant than a locked-out National Basketball Association.

xanadian: What blows my mind is this: you have players who have million-dollar contracts who are STRIKING coz they can't get a little more.

This is 10 shades beyond f*cked up, and the NBA players can go EABOD.

Um, you do know what a "lockout" is, right? It's like, the exact opposite of a strike.

As in, you literally couldn't be more wrong if you tried. The players want to play, but the owners won't let them.

I realize it's tough to read and understand TFA, but give it a shot occasionally. It'll help you not make completely incorrect statements. (The same applies to everyone who reflexively agreed with you. I understand that nuance is difficult, but you ought to try it once.)

Cut the # games played in half, and make the playoffs double elimination.

/You too NHL.

Gonz stole my thunder there. It's a lockout of the players by the owners. Owners want the players to pay for the owners and their teams' management for being FARKING STUPID and paying the players more than they're worth. And certain owners (see Cleveland's Dan Gilbert and Phoenix's Robert Sarver) would much rather not have a season than make a deal. If they get their wish, the NBA will be a dead duck.

\I can all but confirm the Sarver part
\\At least the NHL still had Canada as insurance against their lost season.
\\\NBA doesn't have the same luxury.

The owners have much more to lose here. Players can find a gig overseas. Sure, with a paycut, but we know, the owners know, and the players know that, of the top 4 American Sports, basketball has the most worldwide appeal. NFL players can't do that, MLB players are too valuable to play a useless season in Japan or South America, the KHL pays a mediocre salary, and the other Hockey Leagues are too small for anything nice.

Canceled games? But the season doesn't start till mid-April.

desertgeek: Owners want the players to pay for the owners and their teams' management for being FARKING STUPID and paying the players more than they're worth.

Which is why there needs to be a hard cap and non-guaranteed deals. Yes, making the mistake of paying Jerome James and Eddy Curry $50 million is f*cking absurd, but it shouldn't absolve those players who decide to give a shiat for two months, make their bank and spend the next six years at the buffet.

TheJoe03: Starhawk: File under "Riddance, Good."

This is the kind of thinking I don't understand. What the hell did the NBA do to some of you guys? I hate NASCAR but I don't want it to fail or cease to exist, I just ignore it and don't watch it. I get that many don't like the rules and the game play in hoops, but why does it offend some of you guys? Do you think the NBA leaving will bolster the NHL? Maybe a little but to wish for the failure of a far more popular league is petty and ignorant.

NASCAR doesn't strike. Or lockout. Or ass-rape their fans over ticket prices. Drivers don't throw parties with million-dollar bar tabs - because they don't make nearly the money. NASCAR pays attention to its fan base. I think that's why people hate the NBA or any other league that strikes - they don;t give a fark about their fans, who by and large are totally dedicated to them.

Just my opinion, though.

Personally, I don't get the "fan" mentality at all. Why the fark should I care who wins at a game, unless I'm playing? Why should people starve in America while some asshole drunk driving rapist makes hundreds of millions for playing a game (even if he is really talented at it)? Don't get it.

The Headless Horseman's Headless Horse: Yes, making the mistake of paying Jerome James and Eddy Curry $50 million is f*cking absurd, but it shouldn't absolve those players who decide to give a shiat for two months, make their bank and spend the next six years at the buffet.

So, if you're an owner, don't make that deal. Capitalism says "Stupidity should hurt".

I wish there was a way American sports could have promotion and relegation, like Euro soccer. "Oh, you were stupid for too long? Welcome to the minor leagues!" It's the most cutthroat system out there, and it's beautiful.

Benevolent Misanthrope: TheJoe03: Starhawk: File under "Riddance, Good."

This is the kind of thinking I don't understand. What the hell did the NBA do to some of you guys? I hate NASCAR but I don't want it to fail or cease to exist, I just ignore it and don't watch it. I get that many don't like the rules and the game play in hoops, but why does it offend some of you guys? Do you think the NBA leaving will bolster the NHL? Maybe a little but to wish for the failure of a far more popular league is petty and ignorant.

NASCAR doesn't strike. Or lockout. Or ass-rape their fans over ticket prices. Drivers don't throw parties with million-dollar bar tabs - because they don't make nearly the money. NASCAR pays attention to its fan base. I think that's why people hate the NBA or any other league that strikes - they don;t give a fark about their fans, who by and large are totally dedicated to them.



NASCAR doesn't strike or lockout because there is no union. Drivers are classified as independent contractors (IIRC) So, when a driver gets injured, he's good and farked.

They will send a lovely wreath to a funeral, though.

Also, NASCAR pays attention to its fanbase? So, North Wilkesboro and Rockingham are back on the schedule, the Chase has been abolished, and Brian France has been tarred and feathered?

TheJoe03: Starhawk: File under "Riddance, Good."

This is the kind of thinking I don't understand. What the hell did the NBA do to some of you guys? I hate NASCAR but I don't want it to fail or cease to exist, I just ignore it and don't watch it. I get that many don't like the rules and the game play in hoops, but why does it offend some of you guys? Do you think the NBA leaving will bolster the NHL? Maybe a little but to wish for the failure of a far more popular league is petty and ignorant.

I don't hate basketball, I just hate the NBA (college basketball is a huge passion). The NBA is a poor product. The players don't give a crap in December, the fans don't show any emotion until the playoffs, and six players have become more important than more than 50% of the other teams in the league. That last part is not how to run a league; the NBA isn't the only league guilty of doing that, but they do it more than other leagues around the world.

By the way, you're accusing non-NBA fans of doing the same thing you're doing to the NHL.

The Headless Horseman's Headless Horse: desertgeek: Owners want the players to pay for the owners and their teams' management for being FARKING STUPID and paying the players more than they're worth.

Which is why there needs to be a hard cap and non-guaranteed deals. Yes, making the mistake of paying Jerome James and Eddy Curry $50 million is f*cking absurd, but it shouldn't absolve those players who decide to give a shiat for two months, make their bank and spend the next six years at the buffet.

I don't disagree. It should be that way. But the only way that's going to happen is if they go full-NHL. And when it comes to labor issues, one should never go full-NHL.

Gonz: So, if you're an owner, don't make that deal

That's the thing with guaranteed contracts.

NFL doesn't have them. If a player stops producing, or gets injured they can be cut. Which is harsh for the players (perhaps unnecessarily so), but good for the teams and fans. Only the amortized portion of their bonus ("guaranteed money") counts against the cap.

MLB has guaranteed contracts, but they don't have a cap. If the player stops producing, they sign someone else.

In the NBA, if a guy signs a big contract and decides to stop playing, or gets some injury that takes several years to come back from (or ends their career), the team is on the hook not only to pay them, but it still counts against their cap. So they have a roster hole for a number of years.
It even makes trading them difficult to impossible until near the end of their contract.
Then you get the weird thing where you trade "expiring contracts"; basically you take one horribly overpaid guy and trade him, but since said overpaid guy's contract expires at the end of the year, the team you're trading him to can "free up cap space" when it does. So you can get good players for an overpaid piece of shiat, as long as his contract is up soon, so the other team can release him. Any system where a sucky overpaid guy suddenly becomes valuable is broken.

It's farked up and it makes it frustrating for fans because they get into situations where it looks like not only does their team suck, but they have no hope of getting better for YEARS because some guy showed promise, but then got plantar fascitis, developed a drinking problem, turned into a head case, etc.

Now you say "don't sign the contract", but with unrestricted free agency, if you don't take chances on some guys, you'll lose anyone who starts to get decent. Especially the small market teams.

But I doubt that's very high on many the owners' list of issues; a hard cap would arguably make it even worse.
They just want more of the pie, that's pretty much it.

drunk_bouncnbaloruber: The NBA is a poor product.

I couldn't agree more.

Gonz: So, if you're an owner, don't make that deal. Capitalism says "Stupidity should hurt".

I won't disagree with that. There are more than a few owners and GM's that severely lack both foresight and the ability to grasp short-term history, but it doesn't mean the players should be completely insulated either.

If they're going to threaten to walk when their deal is up, it's not unfair of the owners to ask for the threat of no money if they decide to drag ass.

desertgeek: But the only way that's going to happen is if they go full-NHL

I know absolutely nothing of the NHL. Are you talking about minor-league demotion?

I think a hard cap could work similar to the way the NFL is set up.

It's a good thing most of those players went to college, some even earned a degree, they can fall back on that and find another job until basketball starts up again.

They majored in basketball color commentary?

Nevermind.