Who Do You Blame (Merged)

[PosImpos]

Now that the NBPA has rejected the owner's most recent offer and filed a disclaimer of interest (a.k.a. the nuclear option), it is looking less and less likely that there will be an NBA season.

Who do you blame for this debacle?  Why?





Personally, I blame the players.  The owners have certainly seemed like the bullies in these negotiations, but I can't entirely blame them, given the way some of the most prominent players in the league toyed with them for the past couple of seasons.

I think the players had no leverage from the beginning of these negotiations.  Considering that, I can't blame the owners for using their advantage to try to strike a deal that was favorable to them.  

I blame the players for not recognizing, or not accepting, that they had no leverage and instead insisting on coming out with a win.  As a result, everybody -- especially the fans -- will lose.

[Donoghus]

Both.

Its been an utter disaster almost from Day One from both sides.

[Fafnir]

I blame the owners more than the players. I just don't believe that the the reason they're losing money is that the player's share of money is too onerous, especially given that the players came down to 50% of BRI. Once that happened I thought they'd be able to figure out system issues, but given the NBA's  (third?) "Final Offer" it was clear that by coming down from 52 to 50 got them almost nothing there.

Expanding into bad markets that have always looked to lose money combined with exploding costs that I still don't believe can be completely explained by the economy, inflation, etc.

I also think we as fans get way to self-righteous about everything. These negotiations and now legal actions are all about career earnings, benefits, future players, future profits, future competitiveness, and future costs. We don't have a stake in the negotiations, so its really easy to throw blame around, start the 20th I am sick of this thread, etc..

[slamtheking]

I blame them both.  you'd think both sides would realize having a season would be better than having none at all.

what really sucks is that if I wanted to divert my attention to other sports, all my other favorite teams are having (or will be having) crappy years: Redskins, Kings, PC an URI.   

[StartOrien]

I can't help but being most angry at Billy Hunter. The NBAPA has been nothing short of pathetic throughout negotiations.

[Fafnir]

I can't help but being most angry at Billy Hunter. The NBAPA has been nothing short of pathetic throughout negotiations.

Why do you think so? What could he have done better for the interests of his players? Do you think they should have just caved and taken the 47% offer that was first put out there?

Or should they have taken this offer now?

I just get the feeling that we as fans are angry at no basketball and aren't thinking about how we'd react if our bosses asked us to take a 10% wage cut and also imposed stricter limits on us as well.

[fairweatherfan]

It's a lockout, not a strike, and the players made major concessions at multiple points.  The owners wanted more and kept daring the players to stop them.  So, here we are. 

Nobody's blameless, but the owners initiated it.  No matter how much money they make, I don't believe the players have any duty to put their salaries and pensions on the line to protect owners from their own overspending, and sign away all power to fight contraction with further cuts on BRI on top, and do whatever the heck the D-League proposal actually was, and reduce the players' freedom to mutually agree with teams that wanted them there, in addition to the 12% pay cut, reduced raises, and other concessions they'd already agreed to.

Owners pushed too hard for too much, and these are the consequences.  Maybe they're ok with them, who knows, but their actions brought us here.

[ACF]

Both. But mostly, I just want David Stern gone.

[cman88]

I blame the players, billy hunter and the Agents who basically are playing a large part in this.

they have no Leverage in this lockout. Hunter didnt even have the decency to let the 400+ players vote on the deal. It is rediculously stubborn to expect that the owners will eventually cave and give them what they want

the players ARE going to lose this lockout fight and most likely the season as well.

This is like driving down the field and scoring a touchdown when you know you are going to lose in a blowout game...ya it looks like you at least made an effort, but you still got blown out

[indeedproceed]

Owners. The players are the only ones really conceding anything here, and it is for pretty dubious reasons (the supposition that the players' salaries is what is making the league unprofitable).

[Fafnir]

Both. But mostly, I just want David Stern gone.

Its the owners who are putting David Stern in this situation they are his bosses. He's there public face but removing him won't help the situation at all, the owners would still be the same.

[barefacedmonk]

Nobody's blameless

That's how I feel.

We may have already seen the last of players like KG, Duncan, Kidd etc. 

[CelticBalla32]

Without a doubt, both sides have been downright awful throughout this entire process. It sickens me that logic was never involved in the process.

Then you've got guys like Ric Bucher (who is horrible as it is) regularly tweeting things like "kudos to the players for showing backbone." Here's the thing... this process shouldn't be about pride. It's about the game. Both sides have forgotten that.

Absolutely nothing positive will come out of this. Nothing. At. All. And the players aren't gonna "win" anyway, whether it's in the hands of the courts or themselves.

[nickagneta]

They are both to blame. While I agree with almost all of Fafnir's post and opinion, the players have to have a major portion of the culpability because they could have just acknowledged their loss, continued with the negotiating(obviously they got 2-3 final offers, this couldn't have been the last), and only gone nuclear after the owners dropped to 47%.

[CelticBalla32]

More thoughts: Hunter didn't allow the entire body of players to vote because he was afraid that the "little guys" would have voted against the hardliners' wishes to pursue litigation. He was afraid that they would have had no choice but to accept the deal, or be thrown to the wolves for being the guys that went against their own union's wishes.

Everybody and their mother knew that this deal had a 0% chance of being accepted without a full union vote.