Talks finally going the right direction...

Yeah, I?m with that. This whole thing is just another case of corporate greed that is being exposed everywhere these days. Get rid of the teams that can?t hang. I don?t care if it?s because of poor management, or that franchise resides in an economically poor area. It doesn?t matter. If you don?t have it what it takes?get out the league. They are just a hindrance on the league and only seem to exist just to make money instead of contests. If you own a team and have trouble competing because of financial reasons ?sell the team, or disengage, simple. No player should be cunningly forced to play where he doesn?t want to because the owner foolishly thinks he owns that player.

In other news?.the players just grabbed up a few power attorneys that seem to have Stern and the owners panicking a little. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/b...-superstar-side-labor-strife-article-1.978238

This is good news for the ballers. When I see all these guys from different teams standing together for a common cause I can?t help but respect that. Basketball (sports) isn?t a serious issue. It?s in a world of its own and I can only wait patiently for them to sort this bitch out. Some fans forget that this is privilege entertainment?..it?s not a necessity in life.

Players and the owners know that this is a partnership and not a regular job (as some fans so blindly think). Without the players there will be no league/owners. Without the owner?s the players will have to find another way to showcase their talents?but people/fans will still support them. I?ll rather wait until the players are satisfy, I doubt I will be willing to pay to watch them play when I know that they are not happy doing it. I?m not going to support organize slavery, nor pay greedy owners to watch adults play a kids game. I suspect the owners will stop playing these dumb mind games and get back to the table and get serious. If this goes to court you can kiss this season goodbye. I ain?t mad thou?life goes on?at least for me.

So we would welcome contraction of some of these teams? I don't think anyone would really miss the clippers as an organization... Bobcats? meh. Kings? I'd like to see them stick around actually. I think this lockout hurts them the most as a club.

What teams would be up first in contraction talks and how would that playout, if that is an option?

thank god talks are finally going in the right direction
:boohoo:

Contraction

How is contraction helpful to the "players" as a group? There will be fewer jobs for some of the best athletes in the world.

A reasonably competitive balance will likely increase overall attendance, interest and everything else that would tend to grow the BRI pie.

I believe that Stern is accurate in suggesting that the players' disclaimer/decertification is an attempt to create leverage and therefore a negotiating stratagem. The law suits, played out to any possible anti-trust pay-out, will take several years. What is supposed to happen in the interim?

I am still waiting to hear precisely what would do it for the players. The owners laid out their proposal in some detail. The union balked. There were surely several issues likely to displease the players, but all I have seen from the players' side is a rejection, not an alternative.

If no one is a union member and if each franchise is prohibited from restraining trade "unreasonably," why would there not be a free for all for players? Does anyone believe that there will be no basketball until the courts issue final judgments? And if the courts do come out for the players, what does the NBA or whatever succeeds it look like?

Perhaps the union can get a little bit more from the owners, but I am afraid the owners are prepared to let the season go and see how the players feel next year.

not sure how contraction would work.. as a comment while its a different sport.....

i was in san diego in the summer and wanted to go to a padre game... stub hub had seats first row on the dugout.... $71 a ticket... when i got back to ny, i went online to compare what it would cost at a yankee game... and took a $hitty team (balto)... a similar tick was $1400..

how the hell can a small market team ever compete against that??.. and the yanks sell 90% of their seats.. the padres probably 30/35%

the concludion.... i don't have one....

I've read the owners are actually split and that it?s
Clevelands owner Dan Gilbert and the Suns? Robert Sarver who are mainly the ones holding up the process. IMO, Gilbert is still sour over Lebron leaving his team and can?t help himself from acting like a spoiled child.. He still thinks he can own someone and make billions off of them?clearly his actions show just how much power the players actually have. Gilbert (and some other owners) just wants to take that power away and I?m glad the players are bonding together. I hope Gilbert sells the team or gets kicked out the league for acting like a weeping bitch.
----------------------------

Article:
Shaquille O'Neal might be the right guy to broker a deal. Not between NBA owners and players but perhaps between James Dolan and Phil Jackson.

O?Neal, promoting the release of his new book ?Shaq Uncut,? praised his former coach with the Los Angeles Lakers and even called Dolan ?a fabulous businessman.? Jackson, of course, retired after last season, but it is already being speculated that the Hall of Fame coach will resurface with the Knicks next season. Current Knicks coach Mike D?Antoni is in the final year of his contract with the club.

?He may come back,? O?Neal said of Jackson, a member of the Knicks? ?70 and ?73 teams. ?Phil says he?s never coming back but he changed my NBA career. His focus and the way he did things and the way he taught us how to do things, he did it on a cool, calm respectable level. Then I went to Miami and we had problems with all the (yelling). I?m like, ?We just won three out of four with this guy (Jackson) so why would I do it this way?? That?s why we had problems."

As for the Knicks? Big 3 of Carmelo Anthony, Amar?e Stoudemire and Chauncey Billups, O?Neal says that group came together too late in the season to make a major impact. O?Neal was injured and didn?t play when the Celtics swept the Knicks in the first round.

Give them a full season together and they?ll definitely be a team to be reckoned with in the East,? he said."

O?Neal spoke to a small group of reporters after taping a segment for CenterStage that will premiere on YES Network on Wednesday, Dec. 7. If and when the NBA season starts, he will make his debut as a regular studio analyst on TNT, joining the successful team of Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and of course, Charles Barkley.

Shaq joked that he won?t have trouble sharing the spotlight with Barkley since he himself is uncomfortable with all the attention. Sure, that?s why the former center was at ease during his 90-minute interview with Michael Kay, playfully taking shots at the show?s host, Kobe Bryant, Pat Riley, Patrick Ewing, Stan Van Gundy, the media and even himself."

Afterward, O?Neal said that the motto now for the NBA Lockout is ?February or never.? He added, ?I came up with that because the last one was done in February and we only played 50 games. In a couple of days it?s going to be December."

The players gained leverage this week by dissolving the union and taking their fight to court by filing an anti-trust lawsuit. The players appear to be unified while the owners, some of whom O?Neal worked for, are divided.

Miami?s Mickey Arison and the Lakers? Jerry Buss are pushing for a deal while Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert and the Suns? Robert Sarver are among the hard liners unhappy with the offer the players recently rejected.

"Mickey has a higher guru in Pat Riley to handle the business,? says Shaq, who retired in June. ?He makes unorthodox moves, but his moves pay off. Sarver...his moves don?t pay off.

?We need to create a system where the owners are protected from themselves. They?re trying to blame us for bad management. Both sides bring up great issues, but it will be a shame if we lose a season.?

Source- http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/phil-jackson-rumored-mike-antoni-replacement-ny-knicks-retirement-shaquille-o-neal-article-1.978545

Worth reading:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7250994/business-vs-personal

bullshit article..

players are property... yep... just like every other working stiff... if the boss says jump... u ask how high... and most people aint getting paid nearly the $$$ even the lowest player makes...

but like any other working stiff u have a choice.. tell the boss to go fuk himself...

lots of players have made lots of $$$, why ain't any of em turning around at the end of their career and buyin a team... cause they dont need the b.s. that comes along with owning a team, and dealing with players who dont think their shit stinks...

gumbel and those other shitheads screaming race..race..race... fuk u guys... it aint slavery... if wade,bron,kobe,dirk (lets throw a white guy in the mix) don't like the deal... walk away... simple... just leave... doubt a black man in 1860 could tell his 'master' fuk u and leave...

its all about green ($$$)...

personally i hope they blow up the season... and maybe even next season... let the players go to europe or china and see how they get treated... they will be begging to come back and blow gilbert/air/dolan if they have to..

or start your own league... wade,bron,etc ... u guys made lots of $$$... start it up and be nobody's property...

now that i got the rant off my chest... happy sunday to all...

Did you read the whole article or did you stop reading at the moment the author is giving to much stuff about players being black and owners being white? Because if you scroll down and skip that part this guy is making a lot of sense...

* Signs on to see how the lockout is going

* Reads paris401's post

* Goes back to sleep

Lol, last night I had a dream I was watching the Knicks playing the 76ers, we won like 105:77 (don't remember precisely, but it was a blowout) and later I was hanging out in the town with Cool Clyde and 80's (don't even know how do they look like, somehow knew it was them :lol: ) and we got a conclusion it's all about Mike Woodson getting our defense back in order.

I know, it has nothing to do with real basketball talk, but when AmareForPresident wrote he's going back to bed it reminded me I had a dozen of basketball dreams lately. :lol:

Dzwonsson said:

Did you read the whole article or did you stop reading at the moment the author is giving to much stuff about players being black and owners being white? Because if you scroll down and skip that part this guy is making a lot of sense...

Click to expand...

i did (read the whole article)....

Sports is not like any other job, it?s a partnership and these owners just want to change that by taking most of the revenue. If you?re part of a company and you happen to be the sole reason why it?s making so much money? you should be compensated fairly for doing so. This is not John working in the mailroom, it?s not Billy working in advertisement, nor do any of these talents work in billing or customer service. If this was like any regular biz the players would have been fired by now, but that?s not going to happen. WHY? Because the players are the business.

Just about any job can be replaced /filled with another employee to do that job? but the same can?t be said for sports. Sports is about the player not the owner. The owner just gets a piece of the pie for showcasing the talents we all want to see. Who goes to the games just to see the owners or the arena? Sports is not only very taxing on the body, it robs you of your social and private life (A Hugh sacrifice). Sports talents become the cog in the machine?without the cog the machine will not work, simple fact. Owners only provide the venue, While the players occupy it. If owners don?t provide the venue? players will have to create/find another one. If you ask me, I?ll say the players are the Bosses and they are doing most of the work. Anyone in the corporate areas of the franchise can be replaced, including the owner?can?t say the same for players.

What I think is on the minds of the owners is their ability to draft players, this may give owners the false belief that they can make any demands for the players to follow?.foolishly thinking they have expendables. All the owners really care about is filling the roster so they can fill the arenas. This is a serious issue because good players (on the NBA level) doesn?t come a dime a dozen. The ballers in the NBA are the cream of the crop and they should be recognized for it. Instead some of these owners want to demoralize the ballers and play silly games as if their BBall talent isn?t an issue when it clearly is...

I too, will like the season to be canceled, for various reasons. When grown men let greed come in between them for playing a kids game?I lose interest fast. I still can see (or participate in) a good game of BBall anywhere around this city. I don?t want to see any NBA ball until the players and owners are happy with each other. The world is filled with serious issues and I refuse to act like this is one of them. Nor will I give them the satisfaction as if sports is a big part of my life. It?s just entertainment and it will remain that way. You won?t see me shedding one tear over this nonsense.

i agree it aint like other jobs , and they should be compensated accordingly.. and there's the hangup.. owners feel they are, players think not..

but then it is like any other job...if you are the major clog in a company, and you feel u are not being rewarded , u can demand more $$$, and if the answer is no, u can get up and take your talents elsewhere.

thank god for the republican debates.. now thats entertainment

Could someone please tell me why the hell didn't they even try to make an attempt to save the season lately? There was no touch between both parties in the last 11 days. How do they want to make this deal done not trying to further negotiate? I know, they take it as a kind of war now and each side is waiting until the opposite party makes a call, but are they really so stubborn?

Dzwonsson said:

Lol, last night I had a dream I was watching the Knicks playing the 76ers, we won like 105:77 (don't remember precisely, but it was a blowout) and later I was hanging out in the town with Cool Clyde and 80's (don't even know how do they look like, somehow knew it was them :lol: ) and we got a conclusion it's all about Mike Woodson getting our defense back in order.

I know, it has nothing to do with real basketball talk, but when AmareForPresident wrote he's going back to bed it reminded me I had a dozen of basketball dreams lately. :lol:

Click to expand...

heeheeheehee

Dzwonsson said:

Could someone please tell me why the hell didn't they even try to make an attempt to save the season lately? There was no touch between both parties in the last 11 days. How do they want to make this deal done not trying to further negotiate? I know, they take it as a kind of war now and each side is waiting until the opposite party makes a call, but are they really so stubborn?

Click to expand...

why no contact?? cause both parties have tooooo much $$$$$$$$

paris401 said:

i did (read the whole article)....

Click to expand...

Thats the problem!!!

Say is again Sam

Stern been in the bussiness for 28 years
Stern knew both parties issues from the 50 game season.
As an experience commissioner of the NBA Stern resources
has been two steps ahead of the owner issues/and what the
player-union will accept/and will not accept months before July 1st.
It was Stern's job as the neutral-mediator to make sure the two
parties agreed to get the season started on time.

News Flash
The owners & players did not want to take this to court....
both parties wasted 4 months depending on STERN to reach a
conclusion with the next party.

New Lockout Gear

I just wanted to share the new lockout gear from our soon-to-be Brooklyn rivals