LeBron Says Contraction "would be great for the league"

[LooseCannon]

Contract New Orleans and Charlotte, they are pretty much the two worst run teams with the worst fan support and luxury box support.

So, why not try first to re-locate those franchises?  Put a team back in Seattle.  See if Louisville can support a franchise.  Try to annoy the Lakers by moving a team to Orange County.

[screwedupmaniac]

Contract New Orleans and Charlotte, they are pretty much the two worst run teams with the worst fan support and luxury box support.

So, why not try first to re-locate those franchises?  Put a team back in Seattle.  See if Louisville can support a franchise.  Try to annoy the Lakers by moving a team to Orange County.

How about a team called the "Orange County Choppers"? Heck, I'd buy a jersey.

[nickagneta]

Contract New Orleans and Charlotte, they are pretty much the two worst run teams with the worst fan support and luxury box support.

So, why not try first to re-locate those franchises?  Put a team back in Seattle.  See if Louisville can support a franchise.  Try to annoy the Lakers by moving a team to Orange County.

Why because there are still 3-4 other franchises that are not being properly supported in their locations and would have to move anyway. Sacramento is not going to be there long term, their stadium situation is a joke, the Maloofs can't afford to build on their own, California has passed legislation against paying for stadiums for sports franchises and they are losing money like crazy in that city.

The Memphis situation isn't much better. The Nets are already moving out of Jersey, the Sixers haven't been drawing crowds for years and Atlanta's ownership is in a state of flux and their fans barely support them when they have good teams.

Those of you looking at this from a team being competitive standpoint have it all wrong. You need to look at the attendance figures, the average ticket price figures, the luxury box revenue figures, and the profit and loss statements of these franchises. That is where you will find the reason and need for contraction. The owners would probably have very little problem with contraction. It would be the players union that would have the problem

[dpaps]

Imagine if Lebron had suggested contracting the Cavs.... hahahaha


And for all the criticism he's getting for this, I, along with many other fans and sports writers, agree with him.  It's just simple math.  Take any 2,3, or 4 teams and add all of those players to the other 26-28 teams and, wow, all of a sudden the teams are much better.

Contraction is bad for individual cities (only the 2 or 3  that lose a team), but better for the league as a whole. I don't think theres any need for a city to have multiple teams. Contract the clippers and nets. LA wouldn't care. Believe me, I live there.  Problem solved. Maybe thats our best chance at Blake. haha, Winner of this year's finals get first pick in expansion draft.

These "Lebron is so immature, everytime he opens his mouth...." are just absurd. He makes a perfectly fine statement, which you can disagree with, but he still has the right to voice his opinion, especially when it's one that many many other people agree with.

[incoherent]

While i'm not for contraction, the ideal time to do it is now if its going to be done. Expanding the D-league to one team per each nba team would keep many players from being without jobs, and provide teams with an adequate 'farm' system.  It sure beats rookies never getting any playing time.

It would also provide games that low budget fans would be able to attend.  Heck, i can afford tickets, but i'd still catch a game that has gody, bradley, etc running the show. 

This might be the best idea I've heard on this topic yet. TP

I like the idea of each team having it's own farm team to pull players from, not shared teams like it is now.  And I also like the idea of contraction, maybe not by 6 teams like some have suggested.. 2 perhaps.

[action781]

Contraction is absolutely what is best for the league.  Of the four major sports, the NFL is the only one that doesn't really need to contract from a competition standpoint.  The others could all stand to lose 4-6 teams (not that I think any of the leagues would contract that many if they were even going to contract).  

Get rid of New Orleans, Memphis, Toronto, Sacramento, Oklahoma City, and Charlotte.  Then just shift the divisions around a bit.

I like your idea of your division lineup and fueling the rivalries, kind of like how the NFL does.

Sacramento has a pretty loyal fan base though and has very dedicated ownership.  I wouldn't contract them.  I wouldn't contract OKC either.  I like the idea of contracting LAC and GS instead.

[action781]

While i'm not for contraction, the ideal time to do it is now if its going to be done. Expanding the D-league to one team per each nba team would keep many players from being without jobs, and provide teams with an adequate 'farm' system.  It sure beats rookies never getting any playing time.

It would also provide games that low budget fans would be able to attend.  Heck, i can afford tickets, but i'd still catch a game that has gody, bradley, etc running the show. 

This might be the best idea I've heard on this topic yet. TP

I like the idea of each team having it's own farm team to pull players from, not shared teams like it is now.  And I also like the idea of contraction, maybe not by 6 teams like some have suggested.. 2 perhaps.

Wow, great idea.  There are currently like 17 d-league teams (I know it's an odd number)?  Eliminating 6 teams would bring the number of NBA teams down to 24 and d-league teams up to 23.  Throw in 1 more and every NBA team has a farm team.  I really love it.

[Celtics4ever]

Sign he knows they need help. They should contract the Heat, they don't sell out and ship himto CLE.

[Finkelskyhook]

Is anybody sure the messiah knows what contraction means?

He's probably talking about his wife.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

I'd feel bad for all the people who would lose their jobs (which I have not seen anyone mention). Sure the players would lose a couple mil (I feel so bad for them 0.0)... what about all the people behind the scenes?

[hpantazo]

I'd feel bad for all the people who would lose their jobs (which I have not seen anyone mention). Sure the players would lose a couple mil (I feel so bad for them 0.0)... what about all the people behind the scenes?

many people across the country lose their jobs every year when companies downsize or shut down, it happens. If they were good as an organization then they wouldn't be talked about for contraction. I'm sure most of the people in the organizations can find other jobs, and the players that don't make it onto other teams shouldn't  be paid as NBA players anyway. It's a much more fair option than asking people to pay good money to see teams like the bobcats and the clippers on a regular basis.

[GreenFaith1819]

Is there anyway that Lebron can contract? Just him?

[Finkelskyhook]

I'd feel bad for all the people who would lose their jobs (which I have not seen anyone mention). Sure the players would lose a couple mil (I feel so bad for them 0.0)... what about all the people behind the scenes?

many people across the country lose their jobs every year when companies downsize or shut down, it happens. If they were good as an organization then they wouldn't be talked about for contraction. I'm sure most of the people in the organizations can find other jobs, and the players that don't make it onto other teams shouldn't  be paid as NBA players anyway. It's a much more fair option than asking people to pay good money to see teams like the bobcats and the clippers on a regular basis.

The reality is that if those teams were continually losing money they would either move, be sold, or fold.  Fans are attending those games....Paying good money to watch them.  So why contract? 

I enjoy NBDL games.  They're not officiated like professional wrestling events....Where calls are determined not by what actually happens on the court.  But by who the participants are.

If Stern sees the need for contraction, we'll see it.  But until the messiah is commissioner....We probably won't see contraction.

[Snakehead]

And Woj strikes again with another Tabloid quality write up:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-kobelebron122410


"LeBron James(notes) has embraced the villain role in a most unprecedented way, pushing away from his peers and aligning himself with David Stern, Dan Gilbert and the owners desperate to destroy the Players Association. He left the sport stunned on Christmas Eve, searching for an understanding of why he would go so far to undermine the union on the cusp of an apocalyptic collective bargaining brawl."

I like how he throws in Dan Gilbert.  Nicely done.  Also the phrase "desperate to destroy the Players Association" adds a nice touch, like the owners, Stern, and LeBron are Darth Vader-esque villains.



"The Timberwolves and Grizzlies are in such terrible shape because of ownership and management decisions. They’re messes because Stern has fostered so many incompetent ownership groups under his watch, and then pushed bad executives into small markets in political paybacks."


Paragraphs like this make me laugh.  So the entire organization sucks... but it's Stern's fault?  That's not how it works.  It blames Stern when in fact Stern has been propping up teams like New Orleans who should be bankrupt to keep the league from contracting.  It's easy to say "owner A or B" sucks now in hindsight, they all had the money necessary and I'm sure they all made persuasive pitches to Stern on why they should own a team.

And old Woj ignores the fact that teams targeted for contraction are targeted for legitimate reasons, which he fails to mention.  This is a freaking business.  If a team doesn't get attendance and money it can't just go on existing.  And he doesn't even acknowledge the lack of competitiveness and he just says "the NBA is better now than it was then" which is his opinion and fine, but plenty of people would disagree.



Most of all, god forbid someone disagrees with a union.  Unions are not the pure and good and magical.  Unions saw my father pay dues for a 40 year commercial pilot career only to, at his retirement, cut his pension for hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Painting the execs as evil and unions as good is simplistic and childish.



Woj should go write for a tabloid.  I used to kind of like him but he is a hack now.

[Snakehead]

I'd feel bad for all the people who would lose their jobs (which I have not seen anyone mention). Sure the players would lose a couple mil (I feel so bad for them 0.0)... what about all the people behind the scenes?

many people across the country lose their jobs every year when companies downsize or shut down, it happens. If they were good as an organization then they wouldn't be talked about for contraction. I'm sure most of the people in the organizations can find other jobs, and the players that don't make it onto other teams shouldn't  be paid as NBA players anyway. It's a much more fair option than asking people to pay good money to see teams like the bobcats and the clippers on a regular basis.

The reality is that if those teams were continually losing money they would either move, be sold, or fold.  Fans are attending those games....Paying good money to watch them.  So why contract? 

http://deadspin.com/5708313/the-new-orleans-hornets-sad-financial-documents/gallery/

"The New Orleans Hornets' Sad Financial Documents

We've obtained audited financial data for David Stern's new prize, the New Orleans Hornets. The statements cover 2008 and 2009, and among other things they paint a picture of a team already in hock to the NBA.

Two things jump out, at least to this layman's eyes: the team's operating income, which in 2008 was a $6.4 million loss and in 2009 was a $5.9 million gain (slide 11), though that latter figures includes $3.4 million in revenue assistance from the NBA (slide 28); and the team's net cash in operating activities, which represents the "measurement of money [owner George Shinn] is being asked to take out of his pocket to keep operations going," according to sports economist Andrew Zimbalist. In 2008, that amount was $7.4 million; in 2009, $1.4 million (slide 13). Zimbalist points out that "things got much more problematic for the franchise" the following year."


Just take a peek through those financial documents and realize the Hornets still exist this year.