Amare suggests that the players start their own league

[Rondo2287]

For those arenas that currently have leases with the NBA, sooner or later they are going to want to start taking dates assigned to the NBA and putting on replacement entertainment.

If this is a year or two undertaking, I could see some of those venues making themselves available to a new league, especially if the NBA is not honoring their contractual obligations by providing games to be put on at those venues.

I'll bet John Henry would have no problem finding money to become an owner in this new league, if he thought it could work. Big if though, Henry usually invests in sure things.

Like Carl Crawford and John Lackey

[nickagneta]

I would become a huge fan of any team that named themselves the Boxers. The Boston Boxers....I would definitely have season tickets.

[nickagneta]

For those arenas that currently have leases with the NBA, sooner or later they are going to want to start taking dates assigned to the NBA and putting on replacement entertainment.

If this is a year or two undertaking, I could see some of those venues making themselves available to a new league, especially if the NBA is not honoring their contractual obligations by providing games to be put on at those venues.

I'll bet John Henry would have no problem finding money to become an owner in this new league, if he thought it could work. Big if though, Henry usually invests in sure things.

Like Carl Crawford and John Lackey

LOL

[looseball]

Nope, I am a Celtic fan, period.   I despise most other teams and players.

True Green!  TP!

[BballTim]

My guess is if the players really did this, the league would have 16 teams, 8 per conference, 4 per division.  It would exist only in the major markets (or places people would want to play) and would have something like a 60 game season (8*3 div, 5*4 conference, 2*8 other conf.)

Eastern Conference
NE
Boston
New York
Philly
Toronto

SE
Miami
Atlanta
Wash D.C.
Orlando


Western Conference
SW
Los Angeles
San Francisco
Denver
Phoenix

MW
Chicago
Detroit
Houston
Dallas


You get a good national mix, you cover only cities that have teams and are large and/or can easily support a team, and you load the teams up with talent.  

Let's take this as an example.  Where would the Boston team play?  The Garden is already under lease to the Celtics.  What other indoor venues in the area are going to hold the number of necessary fans?

  Is the Garden under lease to the Celtics though? They rent it out for game days but other events can be held there on other dates. Are they going to be paying full price to rent out the arena for those 41+ home games whether they play or not?

  Not that I expect you to know, I'm just thinking that this would be leverage for the players. If the players aren't playing, they don't make money. If the league doesn't play, the owners don't make money. But if the owners are still renting arenas for games that they don't play then they're actually losing money.

[2short]

If the best players in the world all sign in Italy or start their own league I fully believe that the fans would follow.
I'm sure the players can get a group together to run things smoothly.  Stern needs to step down anyways.  Replace the refs as well.

[greenhead85]

Amare is cognizant of that. You can see in the quote, that he offers it as an option if the lockout goes on for one or two years. That is plenty of time to find financing and hammer out the thousands of details.

Right, and then 10 years down the line, the league is either a huge failure, or they are in the same situation where the players and owners are fighting over revenues and systems, just with new faces and names.

Exactly.
The system really has to be fixed, not the league getting nixed.

[slamdunk]

I doubt it. It would require too much work and I can't imagine there would be too much interest in a non-NBA basketball league.

[wahz]

Given that serious discussion about the players forming their own league is at least a little silly, I suggested this would happen 2 days ago.

The players should do everything they can to very quickly get as organized as they can. They should talk to select existing owners about wanting in first of all or as soon as they have created a skeleton of a organization. They should file paperwork to form the corporation and get clearance on all potential legal issues. As someone else suggested, its going to be almost impossible, but if they start with great urgency, it might light a fare under some owners and we can get to the 50/50 deal and cut out this nonsense....or

Maybe Cuban can be commish. He'd be the last championship owner of the now defunct NBA, and first commish of the World Basketball Association. A few years from now the new teams can buy the old names back because those old owners will need the dough.

[slamtheking]

believe it when you see it.   it'll never happen

Putting the players in charge of a league where they have to decide personnel decisions and splitting the monies between players will have them at each others throats.

[BASS_THUMPER]

ill be the commissioner and have ladies night..buy one beer get on free..


i can see it now~

[dtrader]

I think it's a great idea.  It's a long shot, but not because it isn't possible...more because the current lockout will end before enough people put their minds together to make a new league happen.

Obviously, the players would need a ton of help to establish and run the new league, but it isn't like they dont have the $.  True, they dont have as much $ as the current owners taken individually, but as a collective, the top players certainly have enough to get a league off the ground.

It wouldnt be near as large or global as the NBA, but so what.  If the new league featured the best talent in the world, then it would become the new NBA quickly.  Sponsorships, TV deals, and arena contracts would come in a wave as soon as the new league was able to convince people it was for real.  A few sell out arenas featuring big names and a smooth operation would make that short work.

I dont see it happening in 100 years, but it's certainly possible, and might not be a bad idea if the right people gave it serious thought

[Redz]

ill be the commissioner and have ladies night..buy one beer get on free..


i can see it now~

As long as there's a Pittsburgh Pisces franchise, I'm in.

[BASS_THUMPER]

I think it's a great idea.  It's a long shot, but not because it isn't possible...more because the current lockout will end before enough people put their minds together to make a new league happen.

Obviously, the players would need a ton of help to establish and run the new league, but it isn't like they dont have the $.  True, they dont have as much $ as the current owners taken individually, but as a collective, the top players certainly have enough to get a league off the ground.

It wouldnt be near as large or global as the NBA, but so what.  If the new league featured the best talent in the world, then it would become the new NBA quickly.  Sponsorships, TV deals, and arena contracts would come in a wave as soon as the new league was able to convince people it was for real.  A few sell out arenas featuring big names and a smooth operation would make that short work.

I dont see it happening in 100 years, but it's certainly possible, and might not be a bad idea if the right people gave it serious thought

why not global

its the stars in the nba that make the nba the nba..

[dtrader]

I think it's a great idea.  It's a long shot, but not because it isn't possible...more because the current lockout will end before enough people put their minds together to make a new league happen.

Obviously, the players would need a ton of help to establish and run the new league, but it isn't like they dont have the $.  True, they dont have as much $ as the current owners taken individually, but as a collective, the top players certainly have enough to get a league off the ground.

It wouldnt be near as large or global as the NBA, but so what.  If the new league featured the best talent in the world, then it would become the new NBA quickly.  Sponsorships, TV deals, and arena contracts would come in a wave as soon as the new league was able to convince people it was for real.  A few sell out arenas featuring big names and a smooth operation would make that short work.

I dont see it happening in 100 years, but it's certainly possible, and might not be a bad idea if the right people gave it serious thought

why not global

its the stars in the nba that make the nba the nba..

I agree that the stars will carry their influence regardless of what league it is...the ongoing exhibitions prove that.  But I think it would be more difficult to convince a global marketing partner to get involved in a new league, than a domestic firm, just because the connections probably wouldnt be there from the start.