I have no great facts or enlightenment for you on the recent NBA lockout. Many people who are not even NBA fans have already read about some of the awful contracts on the NBA, or how two of those top 10 contracts (Rashard Lewis and Gilbert Arenas-- who were traded for each other this season) go to two guys who can't play basketball at a high level anymore and also have been suspended by the league for various nefarious plots (Rashard for violating the league drug policy and Gilbert for just being an overall idiot). Many of you know that three of those contracts go to men who no longer play at the level they are payed for even though they still matter to their teams (Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant). And of course many of you know that the Atlanta Hawks are idiots and gave Joe Johnson more money than LeBron James gets (I'm a LeBron hater as much as the next guy, but he is better than Joe Johnson and his name is infinitely cooler). Many of you know that Eddy Curry was given a 60 million dollar contract for being fat and stupid and, according to recent reports, is in debt.
On the other side of the coin, many of you know that the owners claim that they are losing as much as 300 million a season and have been in debt ever since the now previous collective bargaining agreement was agreed upon in 2005. Meanwhile, Mark Cuban is thinking about buying a professional baseball team and Donald Sterling/Glen Taylor is still alive. Both of these facts are proof that most of the owners pretty much suck.
But I think one of the worst and most unbelievable facts about this new lockout is how it came to pass. They knew they were walking into that meeting last Thursday to lockout the players. They knew! This is some sort of strategy so the real negotiating can begin. And they have known this was coming for almost two years.
Now I don't know much about collective bargaining except for in the world of education. But even in some pretty rough meetings the goal was to actually figure out the contract even though the sides disagreed. Wait. What? They don't have collective bargaining for teachers in some states anymore? Really? The NBA is respectable and fair to it's multi-million dollar labor core and the government thinks forty grand is a little rich for someone who teaches kids how to exist in society? That makes perfect sense. Keep up the good work World of Education. Glenn Taylor is more reasonable than you. Nice friggin job. Enjoy the vouchers.
Ok, sorry I got distracted. Now the three or four of you who are still reading this post are probably wondering if I have picked a side on this lockout issue. Oh yeah, I have definitely picked a side. The fans.
We NBA fans don't care all that much if the players are getting payed a butt-ton (that phrase copywright of Mike Burkhart) as long as the game is exciting. And the game was exciting this year. As mentioned in a previous post, there were 6 teams that could have definitely won the title. And it went to the Mavericks who weren't even expected by most pundits to make it out of the first round. That is exciting basketball. Oh and the Pacers mattered. Not that any of you know that...
If an off-topic rant is too long I have decided to go to italics since I can't figure out how to do the cool foot notes (side notes?) thing that Bill Simmons does on Grantland. So pay attention Pacers fans. Go to a flippin' game. I had no money this year and I went to a game. The Pacers were last in overall attendance this year. Dead last. More people attended NBA games in Sacremento (an insult to basketball currently), New Jersey (openly admitting how much they hate it there by moving to Brooklyn in the next two or three years), Minnesota (are you kidding me?! KAAAAAAHHHNNNNN!!!), Charlotte (the city loved basketball so much that the Hornets left), and Detroit (I don't think anyone even lives there anymore). The Pacers had a scrappy and respectable team this season. They weren't awesome, but they played hard and showed as much in the playoffs. Also, Conseco Fieldhouse is a world class facility for basketball, and Indiana is a basketball state. Indiana fans, I don't care if you think they don't call players for traveling enough, or the game is too boring, or whatever lame crap you've got to say. Go to a Pacers game and enjoy yourself. It's cheap enough, and we just traded for a player who grew up here. That ought to appease you people who are still mad we didn't draft Steve Alford (got Reggie instead) or keep Damon Bailey. Oh, and The Malace at the Palace was seven years ago and all of the players from that scandel are gone. Get. Over. It.
Ok side rant done. Back to the regular rant.
So other than all the Indiana fans that don't go to games, the rest of the NBA fans will suffer because of the lockout. Popularity of the league will go down, which will lessen the hype, which will lessen the actual excitement of the game. Many players will leave for Europe to keep playing. The forward motion will stall and teams won't be as prepared for the season. We may not get to see Miami lose again for a whole season. We won't get to see KG get raging mad at a no-name player. We won't get to see Russell Westbrook show people that he is actually good at basketball. We won't get to see the Bulls try and shop Carlos Boozer to the Bobcats for three future second round picks (you know MJ would pull the trigger on that one). We won't get to see if Memphis basketball can matter again on the professional level. And we won't get to see if Dallas is able to defend that magical title run.
Look I know there are more important things than the NBA. If there is no season, I could actually be good at what I do (conducting and teaching bands-- the sit-down-or-march-around-with-mouthpieces-kind). I could read great books and have relevant discussions on them. I could actually help my fiancee' plan our wedding. I could listen to hours upon hours of great music. I could run some more races. But after all that, what would I do when I got done facebooking? Search for new Lady Gaga rumors? No, I want to follow all the trade gossip and overanalyzation of the world's most exciting real professional sports league and watch games on TV two to five times a week. And now these rich prics are taking it away from me and the rest of the fans. Lame.
I understand that I am not as smart and on top of the issues as David Stern, Adam Silver, and Derek Fischer. None of them are much taller than me and work in the NBA. That makes them smarter. But smarter doesn't mean they understand what they are doing. So many people I have talked to have already written the players and owners off like I did in the last sentence of the previous paragraph. The difference is those people were watching some playoff games and getting intrigued, but now they will quit and just wait out the NFL whining fest. I'm too devout to do that to the NBA, but I'm one of the few. I am not one of those fans who liked the product when no one else did (I'm talking to you Radiohead fans or any other rock band that made it big but lost some of it's initial fan base for it). I want everyone to be NBA fans, but it won't happen. Even if we had a full regular season, a decent portion of the fan base is already gone.
Listen up owners and players. I have tried my hardest to be someone who understands why you make the money you do, and I want to approach this like any fair contract dispute. But I can't do it anymore. Millions of people in the USA are out of work, and millions more are ridiculousely underpaid (firemen, cops, teachers, small business employees, The NHL, the dude who always gives me extra olives on my Subway sandwich, most of the Indiana University faculty, Brad Stevens, self-employed musicians, pastors, community organizers, non-profit businesses, nurses, Greene County IN, and the entire state of North Dakota to name a few). The most poorly payed player in the NBA this season made 473,604 dollars this year. That's a lot of money. If I made that cash in my first year on the job, I could buy a very reasonable and lovely house while my future wife covered some of the bills. I could buy it outright. That's for the lowly 2nd round rookie. Kobe "Black Mamba" Bryant makes 25 million dollars (even Tom Hanks doesn't make that). And these are the laborers, not the owners.
NBA: Get over yourself. Players, take less guaranteed money. Owners, don't shaft the players on profits. Now sign on the dotted line. There. Rant over. Now does anyone have any suggestions for great books? The trade/free agent rumors are scant these days.
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