Billy Hunter tells NBA players to prepare to miss half a season

[greenpride32]

Not looking good after today's meeting. 

"We've advised (players) they may have to sit out half the season before we get a deal," said Hunter.

"We did not have a great day," said Stern.

"We reiterated to the players that we needa system that is economically feasible," said Stern.


I had read somewhere the players are complaining the owners are sticking to the same demands they had back in January of 2010 during labor negotiations.  Sounds to me like the players just think the owners will cave over time but so far they haven't budged.

[PosImpos]

in other news, financial analysts told consumers and job hunters to expect the country to be in an economic downturn for at least the near future.

#obviousnews

[BASS_THUMPER]

whats that bad news fellas..

jeez..

*sippin*

[cman88]

its over the hard cap apparantly as the sticking point...I think it looks bad on the players to be so against having a hard cap..they dont want to give it up, because it looks like teams will be less likely to overpay for them

when you look at leagues like the NFL and NHL..which have hard caps, the league is much more competitive and fun to watch because you really dont know who is going all the way....also, it puts it much more an emphasis on management to manage who they sign to get the best team possible..

now, there will still be bottomfeeder teams and top tier teams...but it will be more based on who can best manage the cap to put the best team possible out there..rather than if you're the lakers or Miami just spending as much as you can on the best free agents...vs a team like the Timberwolves who have good players, but maybe not the best market..

or even the celtics, who are a big market team, but never really attracted many big time free agents...and IMO im more confident that ainge could put together a competitive team post-big 3 with a hard cap in place than with what is currently in place

[gpap]

Wow...just when I was getting my hopes up that the season was going to be salvaged.

Depression setting in

You know it's funny, if anything gets forgotten or overlooked, I'd like to say this. People in sports just don't realize how attached fans get. And unfortunately, that's why the owners wear the fancy suits and I am buying a ticket.

[Eja117]

That's a good point that the owners probably want the league to look a lot more like the nfl, and the players have to fight that tooth and nail. If I'm a half way decent nba player I'd rather sit out two or three years than have that.

[Adelaide Celt]

The whole situation is just a joke. This league encapsulates all that is bad about 'professional sport' in one big mass of sheer greed and selfishness.

When it is finally resolved I hope it's done in such a way that both the owners and players still aren't happy and have had to compromise more than they wanted, if that's possible.

[The Walker Wiggle]

when you look at leagues like the NFL and NHL..which have hard caps, the league is much more competitive and fun to watch because you really dont know who is going all the way....also, it puts it much more an emphasis on management to manage who they sign to get the best team possible..

The best five teams in the Eastern Conference at the end of 2009-10 season were, in order, Cleveland, Orlando, Atlanta, Boston and Miami. All five of those teams won fewer than twenty-five games at some point in the decade — Atlanta won as few as thirteen. While at the bottom of the standings were New Jersey, Washington, Philadelphia, Detroit and New York - three of those five were Finalists over the same span. The NBA already has parity to rival the NFLs.

Maybe you're just a bigger fan of football.

[PosImpos]

when you look at leagues like the NFL and NHL..which have hard caps, the league is much more competitive and fun to watch because you really dont know who is going all the way....also, it puts it much more an emphasis on management to manage who they sign to get the best team possible..

The best five teams in the Eastern Conference at the end of 2009-10 season were, in order, Cleveland, Orlando, Atlanta, Boston and Miami. All five of those teams won fewer than twenty-five games at some point in the decade — Atlanta won as few as thirteen. While at the bottom of the standings were New Jersey, Washington, Philadelphia, Detroit and New York - three of those five were Finalists over the same span. The NBA already has parity to rival the NFLs.

Maybe you're just a bigger fan of football.

How many of those up and down teams actually won championships in the last 30-40 years?

The championship count in the NBA tells a much different story of parity.

[The Walker Wiggle]

How many of those up and down teams actually won championships in the last 30-40 years?

The championship count in the NBA tells a much different story of parity.

Why do we have to go back thirty or forty years? We're discussing the latest CBA.

By my count, over the past ten season the NBA has had six different champions, that's with 15 man rosters and best of seven series.

Over the same span, the NFL has had seven different champions with 53 man rosters and a single elimination tournament.

Where's the beef?

[The Walker Wiggle]

So for the sake of argument, I went back forty years even though it's not quite germane. Somebody do correct me if I'm wrong, but since 1972 haven't we had

Fourteen NBA Champions
Fifteen NFL Champions?

And again that's with the NBA's shorter rosters and best-of format.

[raynman]

...

or even the celtics, who are a big market team, but never really attracted many big time free agents...and IMO im more confident that ainge could put together a competitive team post-big 3 with a hard cap in place than with what is currently in place

I Agree.. With the hard cap, it would be hard to trade Dwight to say, the Lakers. And with few teams under the cap come 2012, we'd have a better chance of signing him..

[guava_wrench]

when you look at leagues like the NFL and NHL..which have hard caps, the league is much more competitive and fun to watch because you really dont know who is going all the way....also, it puts it much more an emphasis on management to manage who they sign to get the best team possible..

The best five teams in the Eastern Conference at the end of 2009-10 season were, in order, Cleveland, Orlando, Atlanta, Boston and Miami. All five of those teams won fewer than twenty-five games at some point in the decade — Atlanta won as few as thirteen. While at the bottom of the standings were New Jersey, Washington, Philadelphia, Detroit and New York - three of those five were Finalists over the same span. The NBA already has parity to rival the NFLs.

Maybe you're just a bigger fan of football.

I was thinking the same thing.

One reason for the illusion of parity in the NFL -- unbalanced schedules. You will see mediocre teams in the playoffs on year because they play in the NFC West or they played against the NFC West and AFC West that season and had an easy schedule. Then the team gets destroyed in the playoffs because they are facing top teams.

Despite those teams, we still see the same teams at the top over and over again in the NFL. I suspect that single elimination and the greater risk of injuries make consecutive super bowl championships more unlikely in the NFL, but we still see the same core rosters at the top of the league year after year.

[Fan from VT]

I do wonder what would happen if the union decertified. What kind of contract would dwight howard get? Lebron in a couple years? yikes. Rookie deals would sky rocket again. It would at least be interesting.

[greenpride32]

The NBA owners don't want Red Sox/Yankees every single year.  You've got LAL with $100m payroll vs SAC with a $45m payroll.   I'm going to assume most people on here are Red Sox fans so you probably just dismiss the competitive balance in baseball because your team is in it every year.  But let's say you're a TOR or BAL fan; then how would you feel about it?