Ramifications of greed and ego

[nickagneta]

The boiling point is about to be reached and the possibility that an entire NBA season could be lost forever is drawing closer and closer. Greedy and egotistical owners don't want to give into greedy and egotistical players and vice versa. No one wants to be perceived as being on the losing side and so rather than splitting their differences down the middle, the NBA players and owners would possibly rather go the Armageddon route and blow up the 2011-12 NBA season.

But what will be the ramifications? Is everyone, and I do mean everyone, seeing what could happen? Lets take a look at some of the possibilities:

1. The NBA will lose fans, that's a certainty. The possibility is they could lose a lot of fans. This could translate into bad news in the smaller markets especially if the current economic environment continues. The New Yorks, Chicagos, LAs and Miamis of the NBA will still sell out every night, if for no other reason than corporate season ticket buyers. But the Charlottes, New Orleans', Memphis', and maybe even Atlantas of the NBA could see major problems in loss of gate receipts.

2. Local broadcasting rights outside of the top 7 or 8 markets are not going to suddenly be looking at increasing. If anything, as local broadcasting right's contracts end, some might be renewed at a significantly lesser amount than they were before. More lost revenue.

3. For every game the NBA isn't televising nationally, you can bet they are losing tens of millions on in the next national television deal. The NBA now makes less than a billion dollars a year on a pretty poor national television deal. If TNT, ABC and ESPN lose weekly game after game, the Christmas games, the All Star game, the playoffs and then the NBA Finals, you can rest assured that the next television deal will be at the very least $1 billion less than what it could have been and probably a lot more than that.

4. Trust between the agents and GMs and the players and the owners will be shot. Gone will be the cooperation between agents and GMs to ensure players end up in certain places or will take home town discounts. Gone will be the owners willingness to get the players every single modern perk available to them. Gone will be the players willingness to come back even when they aren't 100%. Gone will be the players desire to help the teams in and around the local community. The working environment these people have known for the last 11 years will dramatically change and the bad feelings and anger will stick around a while. Doing business in the NBA will be a lot harder and aggravating.

5. Certain press members and entities that have given the NBA a tipsy toe type of look at poor publicity will not be so forgiving. Expect a media backlash. The nature of the media with the NBA is such that they stay very quiet and loyal so they can be in the locker rooms and get the quotes and stories but rest assured, these people are not going to be happy with a lost season. Stories will come out shedding bad light on owners, GMs, players, and the NBA front office. Stuff that otherwise would never have come out before will become public consumption. I would expect the ESPN coverage, which has been extremely favorable and forgiving to take a turn for the very worst. Business partners don't take a billion dollars from you and then give you nothing in return without some hard feelings and consequences arising.

6. The game may have seen the last of Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Chauncey Billups, Steve Nash, Ray Allen, Jermaine O'Neal, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Kenyon Martin, Ben Wallace, Vince Carter, Marcus Camby, and Antonio McDyess.

7. This lockout could mean the end of David Stern. I don't see him or his dream of international expansion surviving a year off because of a labor dispute. Stern has meant so much to the game and yet he might ultimately remembered not for being possibly the greatest commissioner in professional sports history, but the man who couldn't get a deal done and ruined the league he grew into prominence in the first place. His legacy will be crushed and as much as I am not thrilled with the guy, I think it would be a crime.

8. It could solve absolutely nothing. Even after the players come back and whatever deal is put into place, if the GMs and owners still decide it is in their best interest to find loopholes in the CBA, pay the luxury tax to hire the best players, overspend for poor and mediocre talent, mismanage their teams and give every free agent they have or can sign off of another team a max contract, we could be in the same dilemma when the next CBA ends. Larger BRI cuts to the owners and harsher penalties for luxury tax teams isn't going to solve anything as long as massive revenue sharing and better front office management don't also occur.

[Roy H.]

Well written, nick.  Why don't you throw this up as a fanpost, and I'll promote it to the front page for you?  I see it generating some interesting discussion.

[nickagneta]

Well written, nick.  Why don't you throw this up as a fanpost, and I'll promote it to the front page for you?  I see it generating some interesting discussion.

No prob.

[Who]

8. It could solve absolutely nothing.

This is my expectation.

I have seen very little that will benefit the fans and/or the league as a whole.

From the very beginning, neither side has been focused enough on improving the product and growing the game.

[LB3533]

8. It could solve absolutely nothing.

This is my expectation.

I have seen very little that will benefit the fans and/or the league as a whole.

From the very beginning, neither side has been focused enough on improving the product and growing the game.

Outside of the officiating, what else can be done to improve the game....or "needs" to be done? (Flopping?)

I felt the last 3-4 years were some of the best the NBA had to offer.

With Lebron leaving Cleveland, interest in the NBA as a whole, had never been higher maybe since Jordan was still playing (with the Bulls?).

In a time of recession, where do people have the extra luxury to help the NBA bring record revenue in each of the last two seasons?

[317]

you forgot that we could see the loss of 2-4 teams, i put the odds of the Hornets surviving a lost year at 10%, and that is only because i think there is a 10% chance they wont be able to figure out another team to get rid of with them.

[fairweatherfan]

Here's another possible and maybe even more depressing ramification:

If the owners get a favorable deal, now or later, and the next TV contract is much more lucrative, there's a strong chance we see a strike when this CBA expires.

[BASS_THUMPER]

#1 and #6..

u hit the nail on the head...

[Celtics4ever]

Greed and ego sounds like Congress...

[LB3533]

I don't think either side is greedy.

The owners are trying to look for a positive business model that will lead to profits.

The players want to try and limit the damage and protect their current earning power.

If one side is the lesser aspect of greed, it's the players.

[PosImpos]

Yeah.

Bottom line, the NBA as a whole, and every one involved with it -- including the fans -- is and will continue to be diminished by this lockout.  Not only is it most likely going to solve nothing, it's more likely than not going to severely damage every aspect of the NBA from the ground up. 

The NBA could be feeling the effects of this for years to come.

[ACF]

6. The game may have seen the last of Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Chauncey Billups, Steve Nash, Ray Allen, Jermaine O'Neal, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Kenyon Martin, Ben Wallace, Vince Carter, Marcus Camby, and Antonio McDyess.

That's the worst part. Very sad, really...

[guava_wrench]

I don't think either side is greedy.

The owners are trying to look for a positive business model that will lead to profits.

The players want to try and limit the damage and protect their current earning power.

If one side is the lesser aspect of greed, it's the players.

I agree that greed is not the problem.

It is uncertainty and motivated reasoning. No one can really say what a fair contract is ahead of time, but both sides understand their own point of view.

[Celtics4ever]

The owners are trying to look for a positive business model that will lead to profits.

The players want to try and limit the damage and protect their current earning power.

While I can understand both sides, I point out their both after money.

Greed is defined as:

An excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth

I don't buy all the talk of the owners about the poor business model.   Since when are the employess responsible for a poor business model.  Both sides made the last agreeement and neither had the foresight to see the economy tanking and revenue being down. 

I think the players get paid to play a game.  I would take 50% were it me.  I get that they are the draw for the game and they are trying to preserve hard win gains in income.  The average income of an NBA player is  presently $5.15 million dollars.  The minimum salary is $473, 604 dollars.  This isn't exactly blue collar wages.

Almost everyone wants more money in life.  You can twist it as maximizing their income but isn't that still greed to some degree?

[Q_FBE]

Owners talking about poor business model? Excuse me, who writes the player's salary checks? Who is responsible for the marketing, TV contracts, corporate sponsorships, and budgeting. These are the NATIONS business leaders who we hope have a passion for the NBA game (Though I am beginning to question some of the owners motives).

Fans measure your performance by Wins, Losses, and Championships, not by how much you make. And if you make too much profit, shame on you for charging so much for tickets.