You read that right last night...& it wasn't an Onion headline.
Chris Paul, arguably the best point guard in the NBA will be heading to Los Angeles...as a Clipper.
It was a mind numbing road to get to this point, but what started as NBA Commisioner David Stern's ego vetoing a trade sending Paul to the Lakers has become a fair trade on both sides. This will cover the good, bad, and ugly aspects of this move.
Now what one views as good and bad about this trade is mainly subject to your loyalties (especially if you're a Lakers fan) but we can all agree that everyone benefitted. Lets begin!
New Orleans Hornets
THE GOOD:
The main benefit for the Hornets is that in whatever trade they woul've pulled off there was something in return for Paul rather than watching him leave for nothing. Another benefit is the team avoids any type of in-season drama revolving possible Paul trades ala the Denver Nuggets and Carmelo Anthony last season.
The Clipper deal gives the Hornets the best prospect when thinking long-term. Guard Eric Gordon (who found out about the trade in an ackward fashion) has the potential to be a 25 point-per-game player and is only in his third year in the league. Center Chris Kaman (or rather his expiring contract) will help the team in the 5 spot. Forward Al-Farouq Aminu can fill a void left behind by David West's departure. Most notably the first round pick the Hornets get from the Clippers (via the Minnesotta Timberwolves) is unprotected in what some think is the best NBA draft class since 2003 coming up.
THE BAD:
Now here is the part where Lakers fans start yelling and play Devil's advocate. While the Clipper trade set up the Hornets long-term, the Laker trade would've kept them a playoff teal in the short-term.
The proposed Lakers trade would've sent forward Lamar Odom, forward/center Luis Scola, and guard Kevin Martin anlong with draft picks for Paul. That lineup could get you to the postseason, particularly after a shortened season. That would fill seats and would look good to potential buyers of the team. Unfortunately the team's age and contract would probably cancel that out.
THE UGLY:
The way the NBA and particularly Stern have handled this entire situation was just dumb.
The league made Hornets GM Dell Demps look like a fool in front of his peers when they vetoed the Laker trade. They then tried trying to explain their decision and looked even dumber as they tried. The ugliest part of this fiasco is that it only added to the tensions between owners and players that formed during the lockout.
Los Angeles Clippers
THE GOOD:
This move by the Clippers has done something that has never been done in its' 30-plus year history and especially after moving to LA from San Diego in 1985.
The Clippers can honestly say that they're on equal footing with the more pedigreed Lakers...and it's believeable!
The Clippers now have Paul, forward (& human dunk machine) Blake Griffin, a young center in DeAndre Jordan, veteran forward Caron Butler, and (maybe?) guard Chauncey Billups in their starting lineup. That's a potent lineup. Of those guys Paul and Griffin are the biggest draws for the Clippers. The buzz around Paul is so powerful that Clipper season tickets have sold out for the first time in franchise history.
The best thing for the Clippers is that they are, for at least the next two years, no longer a laughingstock of a franchise. They made a move to take the crown for LA & if the Lakers don't do something soon...the Clippers might just take it.
THE BAD:
While getting Paul is a game changer for the Clippers, he only agreed to opt in for the 2012-13 season. If Paul becomes unhappy with his situation there he could walk away. Griffin also ties into this, if Paul leaves what's to stop from doing the same? That gambit (while worth taking) may destroy whatever momentum they build up.
Then there is the fact that the Clippers are still owned by Donald Sterling. When it comes to spending Sterling makes Ebenezer Scrooge look like the 2001-2006 GOP Congress under George W. Bush. That alone might derail the good vibes flowing from Clipperland.
If Paul & Griffin leave the Clippers would go back to being a joke.
THE UGLY:
The ugly factor for the Clippers is how they have used Billups like a poker chip to get Paul. When talks between the Clippers and Hornets first died down Billup was on waivers thanks to being anmestied by the New York Knicks. Billups told teams not to pick him up on waivers and to let him pick his destination, the Clippers didn't listen.
Now that Gordon is gone the Clippers have to convince Billups to play the 2 alongside Paul and hope his 'good guy' personality takes over.
Every man has a breaking point, & I honestly think that Billups has reached his.
Los Angeles Lakers
THE GOOD:
The only good thing coming from the fallout of this for the Lakers is that they still have center Andrew Bynum, and forward Pau Gasol to use as pieces in a possible trade for center Dwight Howard.
THE BAD:
The bad part for the Lakers is that they shot themselves in the foot in trading Odom. When it looked like they were going to get Paul, Odom almost cried during a radio interview. Feeling disrespected after the trade veto, Odom asked the team for a trade & they obliged.
He was sent to the Dallas Mavericks...for essentially a bag of magic beans.
Odom (last season's Sixth Man of The Year) and his contract was a very attractive trade commodity for the Lakers and they pretty much gave him away to a conference rival for nothing. Losing Odom greatly limits what the Lakers can do in the trade market.
THE UGLY:
The ugly part for the Lakers on this can be summed up in one sentence.
Kobe Bryant is PISSED OFF!!
Bryant may sound diplomatic in front of the cameras, but no one denies that he must be fuming behind the scenes.
A similar scenario enveloped the Lakers with Bryant in 2007 and amazingly the guy in charge now, Jim Buss, was in charge then. During that time Bryant had players like Smush Parker and Kwame Brown as teammates and Rudy Tomjonovich as head coach. Bryant was so pissed about the situation that he demanded to be traded to the Chicago Bulls.
The situation was resolved luckily for the Lakers when they pulled off the Gasol trade.
The only way this gets fixed for the Lakers right now to get Howard, nothing else will do. Unfortunately according to ESPN's Ric Bucher has said that LA is a distant third beding the New Jersey Nets and the Mavericks for Howard's services.
The Nets...yea...
Well there you have it folks! The good, bad, and ugly form this trade. It all might change before the season starts, but that's where it stands right now.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Welcome to the madness that is the NBA!
Imagine yourself driving down a highway when you spot a few cop cars on the other side of the road.
Then imagine right behind those cop cars a multi-car wreck unlike one you've ever seen. It keeps getting worse as you drive along. Even as you think it ended suddenly more wreckage appears. It's so horrifying that you want to turn away, yet you can't. The carnage has your eyes glued to the wreck even as your mind is begging you to stop.
That very feeling is what journalists, bloggers, and fans are experiencing when looking at the current state of the NBA. It almost has some wondering if the lockout that endangered the entire 2011-12 season was actually a better situation.
Now granted, having stadium workers lose at least 41 days worth of paychecks in this current economy is a terrible act under any circumstance. That being said, the way the leauge has behaved in recent days is making the alternative look slightly more peaceful.
The highlight for this thinking has been the ongoing debacle involving New Orleans Hornets (for the time being) point guard Chris Paul.
A couple of weeks after the NBA owners and the players' union declared a tense detente in settling on a new collective bargaining agreement it was evident that it didn't change anything that caused the tensions between the two sides. As teams allowed players to practice in their facilities and were able to talk to free agents 'without making concrete progress' (wink, wink) the prospect of Paul landing in Madison Square Garden was becoming more distant.
Even though the New York Knicks were his preffered destination, the looming signing of free agent center Tyson Chandler effectively took them out of the running for Paul due to the salary cap. That left the door open for the Los Angeles Lakers to make a move. They, the Hornets, and the Houston Rockets began working on a trade that would send Paul to LA, Lakers forward/center Pau Gasol to Houston, and Lakers forward Lamar Odom, Rockets forward.center Luis Scola, along with Rockets guard Kevin Martin to New Orleans. The Hornets would also receive draft picks as part of the deal.
Then as the parties agreed on the trade and both the players and owners were ratifying the new CBA on December 8th NBA Commisioner David Stern did something that no one saw coming.
Stern, both out of his ego and a need to have the owners save face as to why they went into a lockout, vetoed the trade citing 'basketball reasons' for doing so. To say that no one bought that line would be an understatement.
This move by Stern was unprecedented in the NBA. The fact that he was able to make this move as the Hornets are owned by the league, made the move ever more shocking. Then as details of why Stern really did this started to come out (like this Bloomberg interview) it only pissed off everyone more, & I mean EVERYONE.
Players were pissed because it showed that owners were still Hell bent of limiting where they could go to. Agents were pissed because the shockwave of this move essentially froze the market just as free agency was set to begin. NBA team executives were pissed because one of their own, Hornets GM Dell Demps, pulled off a decent trade under the circumstances and was basically knee-capped by Stern for it.
This move has pissed off the players so much that rumblings of a possible strike started popping up on Twitter within minutes of the veto being announced. Those rumblings haven't gone away at all even as days have passed by since this happened.
One would think that after being told by everyone how stupidly their move was that the NBA would, I don't know, try to act sane. We're not so fortunate though.
In the days following this move an unbelieveable chain of events has unfolded.
Odom, who felt disrespected by the Lakers, asked to be traded & was dealt to the Dallas Mavericks for essentially a bag of magic beans.
The NBA almost allowed a horrible trade involving free agent forward David West being sent to the Boston Celtics go through before being saved by the Indiana Pacers who signed West to a two-year $20 million contract.
Chaucey Billups, a model player throughout his career, became collateral damage of the Chandler signing when the Knicks waived him via the amnesty clause.
The NBA, after it emasculated Demps & now have relegated him to a mere spectator, are trying to deal Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers only to find ways to mess it up.
Meanwhile the Hornets only have six people in training camp right now.
& now CBS Sports's Ken Berger is reporting that Billups, who was picked up on waivers by the Clippers even as he threatened any team that did, is merely being used as a pawn by them to complete the Paul trade. This of course has pissed off more people.
Now let's leave aside a couple of things.
Leave aside the fact that Paul, along with Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard (who's in a completely different mess) are forcing their way out of their team ala Carmelo Anthony last season.
Leave aside that the real reason for the lockout was over how the Miami Heat's Big 3 of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh was formed.
Forget those two things for a minute, now ask yourself this: Have you ever pictured the NBA being so dysfunctional near the start of the season?
Then imagine right behind those cop cars a multi-car wreck unlike one you've ever seen. It keeps getting worse as you drive along. Even as you think it ended suddenly more wreckage appears. It's so horrifying that you want to turn away, yet you can't. The carnage has your eyes glued to the wreck even as your mind is begging you to stop.
That very feeling is what journalists, bloggers, and fans are experiencing when looking at the current state of the NBA. It almost has some wondering if the lockout that endangered the entire 2011-12 season was actually a better situation.
Now granted, having stadium workers lose at least 41 days worth of paychecks in this current economy is a terrible act under any circumstance. That being said, the way the leauge has behaved in recent days is making the alternative look slightly more peaceful.
The highlight for this thinking has been the ongoing debacle involving New Orleans Hornets (for the time being) point guard Chris Paul.
A couple of weeks after the NBA owners and the players' union declared a tense detente in settling on a new collective bargaining agreement it was evident that it didn't change anything that caused the tensions between the two sides. As teams allowed players to practice in their facilities and were able to talk to free agents 'without making concrete progress' (wink, wink) the prospect of Paul landing in Madison Square Garden was becoming more distant.
Even though the New York Knicks were his preffered destination, the looming signing of free agent center Tyson Chandler effectively took them out of the running for Paul due to the salary cap. That left the door open for the Los Angeles Lakers to make a move. They, the Hornets, and the Houston Rockets began working on a trade that would send Paul to LA, Lakers forward/center Pau Gasol to Houston, and Lakers forward Lamar Odom, Rockets forward.center Luis Scola, along with Rockets guard Kevin Martin to New Orleans. The Hornets would also receive draft picks as part of the deal.
Then as the parties agreed on the trade and both the players and owners were ratifying the new CBA on December 8th NBA Commisioner David Stern did something that no one saw coming.
Stern, both out of his ego and a need to have the owners save face as to why they went into a lockout, vetoed the trade citing 'basketball reasons' for doing so. To say that no one bought that line would be an understatement.
This move by Stern was unprecedented in the NBA. The fact that he was able to make this move as the Hornets are owned by the league, made the move ever more shocking. Then as details of why Stern really did this started to come out (like this Bloomberg interview) it only pissed off everyone more, & I mean EVERYONE.
Players were pissed because it showed that owners were still Hell bent of limiting where they could go to. Agents were pissed because the shockwave of this move essentially froze the market just as free agency was set to begin. NBA team executives were pissed because one of their own, Hornets GM Dell Demps, pulled off a decent trade under the circumstances and was basically knee-capped by Stern for it.
This move has pissed off the players so much that rumblings of a possible strike started popping up on Twitter within minutes of the veto being announced. Those rumblings haven't gone away at all even as days have passed by since this happened.
One would think that after being told by everyone how stupidly their move was that the NBA would, I don't know, try to act sane. We're not so fortunate though.
In the days following this move an unbelieveable chain of events has unfolded.
Odom, who felt disrespected by the Lakers, asked to be traded & was dealt to the Dallas Mavericks for essentially a bag of magic beans.
The NBA almost allowed a horrible trade involving free agent forward David West being sent to the Boston Celtics go through before being saved by the Indiana Pacers who signed West to a two-year $20 million contract.
Chaucey Billups, a model player throughout his career, became collateral damage of the Chandler signing when the Knicks waived him via the amnesty clause.
The NBA, after it emasculated Demps & now have relegated him to a mere spectator, are trying to deal Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers only to find ways to mess it up.
Meanwhile the Hornets only have six people in training camp right now.
& now CBS Sports's Ken Berger is reporting that Billups, who was picked up on waivers by the Clippers even as he threatened any team that did, is merely being used as a pawn by them to complete the Paul trade. This of course has pissed off more people.
Now let's leave aside a couple of things.
Leave aside the fact that Paul, along with Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard (who's in a completely different mess) are forcing their way out of their team ala Carmelo Anthony last season.
Leave aside that the real reason for the lockout was over how the Miami Heat's Big 3 of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh was formed.
Forget those two things for a minute, now ask yourself this: Have you ever pictured the NBA being so dysfunctional near the start of the season?
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Goodbye NBA...We Hardly Knew Ye...
Most foks thought it would come to this, no one really wanted it to though.
Yesterday at around 2 P.M. The NBA Players Association announced via press conference that they have rejected that latest collective bargaining proposal from the NBA owners. They also announced that all 30 team representatives voted unanimously to send a 'disclaimer letter' to the NBA saying that the union is dissolved immmediately and they are now the NBA Trade Association. The NBATA plans to file an anti-trust lawsuit against the NBA within the next 48 hours.
In other words, the nuclear button has been pressed & the warhead is cruising towards the remainder of the 2011-12 season.
Now while a disclaimer letter is a more immediate version of what union decertification is, it isn't as definitive. Disclaimers allow a union not only to dissolve, but to return quickly with a vote. This may prove useful for folks hanging on to the sliver of hope that a season is still feasible.
However, this situation can get completely out of control in a hurry. Here's a few examples:
1.) Various reports are already stating that many team representatives voted for the nuclear option without consulting rank & file members. A countersuit is possible.
2.) One of the biggest assets that David Stern has for the owners is his ability to extort cities into taking the brunt of the costs of building new arenas with threatening relocation. This development can destroy that for Stern. He may not only face lawyers from the NBATA, but also the cities of Charlotte, Sacramento, Orlando, and New Orleans among others. Hell, Seattle might join in for old time's sake.
3.) The owners will be forced to open their books, something their NFL counterparts tried to avoid at all cost. This might expose a good amount of owners that are crying poor.
4.) The NBA might lose the casual fan for a generation.
Reason #4 is the most important for both sides. Basketball more than most major sports in the US relies on casual fans. Losing them would cripple the league to possible extinction.
No side is clean in this debacle. All share some amount of blame.
The owners are at fault for letting their greed overtake the fact that they won this round. Around $3 billion in revenue shifted from players to owners during negotiations. That is a win in any industry. The owners let it come to this however.
The players are at fault for lack of unity and cohesion. Throughout this ordeal it was clear that they were fractured. That gave hard line owners enough leverage to stick to their guns. The union also did a terrible job on the PR front. They could have let players like Steve Nash be their mouthpiece, but they didn't.
Stern is at fault for making too many promises. It is widely known that Stern woowed potential owners with the promise that the next CBA would favor them. Now those owners are pushing for their deal. He had lost much influence to people like Dan Gilbert & Michael Jordan.
Now that this is moving from the negotiating table to the courtroom it can end one of two ways.
Either, like in the NFL lockout, both sides keep meeting via lawyers & come to a deal...or both sides dig in & possibly kill the league using the court as execution grounds.
Only the parties involved will decide which road they will take.
Lord have mercy.
Yesterday at around 2 P.M. The NBA Players Association announced via press conference that they have rejected that latest collective bargaining proposal from the NBA owners. They also announced that all 30 team representatives voted unanimously to send a 'disclaimer letter' to the NBA saying that the union is dissolved immmediately and they are now the NBA Trade Association. The NBATA plans to file an anti-trust lawsuit against the NBA within the next 48 hours.
In other words, the nuclear button has been pressed & the warhead is cruising towards the remainder of the 2011-12 season.
Now while a disclaimer letter is a more immediate version of what union decertification is, it isn't as definitive. Disclaimers allow a union not only to dissolve, but to return quickly with a vote. This may prove useful for folks hanging on to the sliver of hope that a season is still feasible.
However, this situation can get completely out of control in a hurry. Here's a few examples:
1.) Various reports are already stating that many team representatives voted for the nuclear option without consulting rank & file members. A countersuit is possible.
2.) One of the biggest assets that David Stern has for the owners is his ability to extort cities into taking the brunt of the costs of building new arenas with threatening relocation. This development can destroy that for Stern. He may not only face lawyers from the NBATA, but also the cities of Charlotte, Sacramento, Orlando, and New Orleans among others. Hell, Seattle might join in for old time's sake.
3.) The owners will be forced to open their books, something their NFL counterparts tried to avoid at all cost. This might expose a good amount of owners that are crying poor.
4.) The NBA might lose the casual fan for a generation.
Reason #4 is the most important for both sides. Basketball more than most major sports in the US relies on casual fans. Losing them would cripple the league to possible extinction.
No side is clean in this debacle. All share some amount of blame.
The owners are at fault for letting their greed overtake the fact that they won this round. Around $3 billion in revenue shifted from players to owners during negotiations. That is a win in any industry. The owners let it come to this however.
The players are at fault for lack of unity and cohesion. Throughout this ordeal it was clear that they were fractured. That gave hard line owners enough leverage to stick to their guns. The union also did a terrible job on the PR front. They could have let players like Steve Nash be their mouthpiece, but they didn't.
Stern is at fault for making too many promises. It is widely known that Stern woowed potential owners with the promise that the next CBA would favor them. Now those owners are pushing for their deal. He had lost much influence to people like Dan Gilbert & Michael Jordan.
Now that this is moving from the negotiating table to the courtroom it can end one of two ways.
Either, like in the NFL lockout, both sides keep meeting via lawyers & come to a deal...or both sides dig in & possibly kill the league using the court as execution grounds.
Only the parties involved will decide which road they will take.
Lord have mercy.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Guess Whos Behind The Curtain!
It isn't Dan Gilbert.
It isn't Robert Sarver
It isn't even Paul Allen.
No ladies & gentlemen, the man that is standing between the fans and having NBA basketball this year is Michael Jordan.
...motherbleeping Michael Jordan!?
In case you missed it, Howard Beck of the New York Times reported today that there are factions of hard-liners on both sides of the NBA labor negotiations meeting on Saturday that could threaten the entire 2011-12 season. It looked like a typical article covering the Greek tragedy that the NBA lockout has become at first. Then that little Jordan nugget hit me.
Jordan wasn't just voicing an opinion, he isn't just one of the hard-line owners...he's their leader!
Let's think about that for a moment.
Michael Lee, who covers the Washington Wizards for the Washington Post, reminded folks on Twitter how during the last major NBA lockout in 1999 Jordan told the late Wizards owner Abe Pollin "If you can't make it work economically, you should sell the team." Pollin would later become Jordan's boss after he retired for the second time.
Now 12 years later with Jordan being on the other side of the table as owner of the Charlotte Bobcats he is leading a group of owners in seeking a Wall Street TARP-style bailout (thanks Jason Whitlock) on the backs of the players.
No one should really be surprised though, this is Michael Jordan.
The same Michael Jordan who purposely kept Isiah Thomas off the 1992 Olympic Dream Team.
The same Michael Jordan who gave one of the most, if not the most egotistical induction speeches in the history of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
The same Michael Jordan who didn't stand against Jesse Helms, one of the most despicable human beings to ever serve in the U.S. Senate.
Jordan only looks out for Jordan. This time though, it may be at the expense of everyone else.
It isn't Robert Sarver
It isn't even Paul Allen.
No ladies & gentlemen, the man that is standing between the fans and having NBA basketball this year is Michael Jordan.
...motherbleeping Michael Jordan!?
In case you missed it, Howard Beck of the New York Times reported today that there are factions of hard-liners on both sides of the NBA labor negotiations meeting on Saturday that could threaten the entire 2011-12 season. It looked like a typical article covering the Greek tragedy that the NBA lockout has become at first. Then that little Jordan nugget hit me.
Jordan wasn't just voicing an opinion, he isn't just one of the hard-line owners...he's their leader!
Let's think about that for a moment.
Michael Lee, who covers the Washington Wizards for the Washington Post, reminded folks on Twitter how during the last major NBA lockout in 1999 Jordan told the late Wizards owner Abe Pollin "If you can't make it work economically, you should sell the team." Pollin would later become Jordan's boss after he retired for the second time.
Now 12 years later with Jordan being on the other side of the table as owner of the Charlotte Bobcats he is leading a group of owners in seeking a Wall Street TARP-style bailout (thanks Jason Whitlock) on the backs of the players.
No one should really be surprised though, this is Michael Jordan.
The same Michael Jordan who purposely kept Isiah Thomas off the 1992 Olympic Dream Team.
The same Michael Jordan who gave one of the most, if not the most egotistical induction speeches in the history of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
The same Michael Jordan who didn't stand against Jesse Helms, one of the most despicable human beings to ever serve in the U.S. Senate.
Jordan only looks out for Jordan. This time though, it may be at the expense of everyone else.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Left at The NBA Altar...Again.
You have to admit, this is getting old now.
For the third or fourth time (I honestly lost count) talks between the NBA Players Union and team owners, after showing progress the day before, fell apart.
As CBS's Matt Moore nicely put it : And momentum boat sinks back to the ocean floor. Idiots
This lockout has reached the point where everyone is pissed at everyone, I'm included in this group. However the only thing that stops me from going off completely on the players is that the hard-line owners have basically lied to fans this entire time.
Now not all owners are in the 'take it or leave it' cluster. Miami Heat owner Micky Arison (who apparently had a interesting time tonight on Twitter), Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, New York Knicks owner James Dolan, and a few others want to get a deal done. It makes sense for them to do so from an economic standpoint.
Too bad for them since a group of hard-line owners have taken control of their side of negotiations and are preventing any concrete progress. The worst part about this is that these owners are punishing the fans for them not being able to run their franchise well.
Take the most batant example of this group: Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert.
This man owns a franchise that solely benefitted from drafting a young LeBron James in 2003. Since then the Cavaliers have tried to find the right superstar to compliment their phenom. Their quest has led them to Larry Hughes, Mo Williams, and an old Shaquille O'Neal...not exactly the brightest choices.
In the 2009-2010 season however they were very close to landing Amar'e Stoudemire from the Phoenix Suns via trade. They were so close that Amar'e was practically wearing a Cavs jersey, but talks fell through when the Cavs refused to include JJ Hickson in the trade. The Cavs after that aquired Antawn Jamison from the Washington Wizards (A move that would've been great if it happened three years earlier) & y'all know the rest.
Oh, & that coveted JJ Hickson? He was traded to the Sacramento Kings before the lockout started.
That's just one example of these hard-line owner group's imcompetence.
Yet somehow they have taken the wheel in these negotiations and are Hell bent of crashing the league until they get all they want.
With their mouthpiece in NBA commisioner David Stern these owners have conned us again & again. They pretended to back their desire for a hard salary cap & then propse a salary system that is essentially a hard cap without the title. They pretended to back off their desire for the players to take 10 points less in basketball related income form 57% to 47% & then proposed a '50-50' split which appears to the union as a Trojan Horse for them to really take 47%.
Now not to let the players off the hook, they have been fragmented from the start of this. This has ranged from leaks about possible union decertification, to talks of certain agents (who only care about their commisions) usurping the union, and to them not battling long held public perception about athletes. These factors have prevented the players from taking advantage of a slow shift in public support from management back to labor.
Even if those things were fixed it's not an even battlefield. The owners, through the league, have their own cable TV channel and thus can set the narrative for the media. Thathopefully will change as a growing group within the media are gretting tired of Stern's crap.
To me though, the worst part of all this, the part has really pissed me off this time, was that these owners lied about the prospect of a full 82-game season actually being played.
Players wanted it, arena vendors and employees sure as hell wanted it, but these hard-line owners never intended it to happen. It's all psychological warfare with them. Even as some have realized when Stern announced that games were cancelled through November 30th that it was only a semantic move, the mental scarring to fans was already done. All fans really heard was more lost games. Then Stern announced that an 82-game season was impossible, 24 hours after giving people hope of a full season.
It's enough to make one not care about this anymore.
For the third or fourth time (I honestly lost count) talks between the NBA Players Union and team owners, after showing progress the day before, fell apart.
As CBS's Matt Moore nicely put it : And momentum boat sinks back to the ocean floor. Idiots
This lockout has reached the point where everyone is pissed at everyone, I'm included in this group. However the only thing that stops me from going off completely on the players is that the hard-line owners have basically lied to fans this entire time.
Now not all owners are in the 'take it or leave it' cluster. Miami Heat owner Micky Arison (who apparently had a interesting time tonight on Twitter), Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, New York Knicks owner James Dolan, and a few others want to get a deal done. It makes sense for them to do so from an economic standpoint.
Too bad for them since a group of hard-line owners have taken control of their side of negotiations and are preventing any concrete progress. The worst part about this is that these owners are punishing the fans for them not being able to run their franchise well.
Take the most batant example of this group: Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert.
This man owns a franchise that solely benefitted from drafting a young LeBron James in 2003. Since then the Cavaliers have tried to find the right superstar to compliment their phenom. Their quest has led them to Larry Hughes, Mo Williams, and an old Shaquille O'Neal...not exactly the brightest choices.
In the 2009-2010 season however they were very close to landing Amar'e Stoudemire from the Phoenix Suns via trade. They were so close that Amar'e was practically wearing a Cavs jersey, but talks fell through when the Cavs refused to include JJ Hickson in the trade. The Cavs after that aquired Antawn Jamison from the Washington Wizards (A move that would've been great if it happened three years earlier) & y'all know the rest.
Oh, & that coveted JJ Hickson? He was traded to the Sacramento Kings before the lockout started.
That's just one example of these hard-line owner group's imcompetence.
Yet somehow they have taken the wheel in these negotiations and are Hell bent of crashing the league until they get all they want.
With their mouthpiece in NBA commisioner David Stern these owners have conned us again & again. They pretended to back their desire for a hard salary cap & then propse a salary system that is essentially a hard cap without the title. They pretended to back off their desire for the players to take 10 points less in basketball related income form 57% to 47% & then proposed a '50-50' split which appears to the union as a Trojan Horse for them to really take 47%.
Now not to let the players off the hook, they have been fragmented from the start of this. This has ranged from leaks about possible union decertification, to talks of certain agents (who only care about their commisions) usurping the union, and to them not battling long held public perception about athletes. These factors have prevented the players from taking advantage of a slow shift in public support from management back to labor.
Even if those things were fixed it's not an even battlefield. The owners, through the league, have their own cable TV channel and thus can set the narrative for the media. Thathopefully will change as a growing group within the media are gretting tired of Stern's crap.
To me though, the worst part of all this, the part has really pissed me off this time, was that these owners lied about the prospect of a full 82-game season actually being played.
Players wanted it, arena vendors and employees sure as hell wanted it, but these hard-line owners never intended it to happen. It's all psychological warfare with them. Even as some have realized when Stern announced that games were cancelled through November 30th that it was only a semantic move, the mental scarring to fans was already done. All fans really heard was more lost games. Then Stern announced that an 82-game season was impossible, 24 hours after giving people hope of a full season.
It's enough to make one not care about this anymore.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
NBA Lockout Zero Hour
To say that the NBA lockout has driven me mad is an understatement.
You see, I'n a rarity in Miami. I'm a basketball first fan in a football town.
The Miami Heat were the first local team I saw & I fell in love very quickly. That passion only grew in the Heat-Knicks playoff wars in the late 90s. That also explains my unnatural hatred for the Knicks.
As a Heat fan I also developed appreciation for the rest of the NBA. There's the Bulls dynasty, Stockton and Malone in Utah, the Lakers-Kings wars. Those are just a few...& then came the 1999 lockout.
This decade has brought in success that has healed the wounds of 1999 for the NBA. The biggest success has come from the draft class of 2003 featuring LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Bosh among others. Last season we saw this group command power and respect unheard of in recent league history during free agency. The playoffs that ended with the Dallas Mavericks beating the Heat were arguably the most exciting in NBA history.
You had the Memphis Grizzlies become the third 8th seed in history to beat a 1st seed when they took down the San Antonio Spurs. The Oklahoma City Thunder made their young presence felt. The Heat semifinals against the Boston Celtics was the most anctipated matchup of the playoffs. I can go on...
But then, when the NBA finally regained Jordan level popularity once more...they decide to lockout again.
It wasn't like no one saw this coming. The signs were there for years. However, for owners to pull all the stunts they have pulled so far and then bitch about losing money has taken this to sad, sad lows.
Now, as I type this and you read it the players and the owners are meeting once more after a 15 hour session last night that had the media there at one time fearing to eat a pizza and have a faceoff with hookers at the lobby of the hotel where the meeting is being held.
Last night was said to have been a night of decent progress in negotiations. Unfortunately we've seen this rope-a-dope happen at least twice since the lockout began.
The NBA, for their economic sake, better get a deal done soon. The media & the fans are getting tired of watching this bad soap opera.
The prospect that an 82 game season can still happen was raised by oth sides last night. That's after David Stern already cancelled the first two weeks of the season earlier. You can't go from giving that much hope to having things break apart (again) and raise the specter of losing the entire season (again.)
Who knows, maybe Newsday's Alan Hahn will be able to have his Stanley Cup celebration tonight.
I sure hope so.
You see, I'n a rarity in Miami. I'm a basketball first fan in a football town.
The Miami Heat were the first local team I saw & I fell in love very quickly. That passion only grew in the Heat-Knicks playoff wars in the late 90s. That also explains my unnatural hatred for the Knicks.
As a Heat fan I also developed appreciation for the rest of the NBA. There's the Bulls dynasty, Stockton and Malone in Utah, the Lakers-Kings wars. Those are just a few...& then came the 1999 lockout.
This decade has brought in success that has healed the wounds of 1999 for the NBA. The biggest success has come from the draft class of 2003 featuring LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Bosh among others. Last season we saw this group command power and respect unheard of in recent league history during free agency. The playoffs that ended with the Dallas Mavericks beating the Heat were arguably the most exciting in NBA history.
You had the Memphis Grizzlies become the third 8th seed in history to beat a 1st seed when they took down the San Antonio Spurs. The Oklahoma City Thunder made their young presence felt. The Heat semifinals against the Boston Celtics was the most anctipated matchup of the playoffs. I can go on...
But then, when the NBA finally regained Jordan level popularity once more...they decide to lockout again.
It wasn't like no one saw this coming. The signs were there for years. However, for owners to pull all the stunts they have pulled so far and then bitch about losing money has taken this to sad, sad lows.
Now, as I type this and you read it the players and the owners are meeting once more after a 15 hour session last night that had the media there at one time fearing to eat a pizza and have a faceoff with hookers at the lobby of the hotel where the meeting is being held.
Last night was said to have been a night of decent progress in negotiations. Unfortunately we've seen this rope-a-dope happen at least twice since the lockout began.
The NBA, for their economic sake, better get a deal done soon. The media & the fans are getting tired of watching this bad soap opera.
The prospect that an 82 game season can still happen was raised by oth sides last night. That's after David Stern already cancelled the first two weeks of the season earlier. You can't go from giving that much hope to having things break apart (again) and raise the specter of losing the entire season (again.)
Who knows, maybe Newsday's Alan Hahn will be able to have his Stanley Cup celebration tonight.
I sure hope so.
Really Dolphins...JP Losman!?
It's tough to be a Dolphins fan these days.
The Dolphins defense was supposed to be one of the elite in the NFL this season...& it stinks.
Brandon Marshall was supposed to be our #1 threat...& he drops passes like he has butter in his hands.
Reggie Bush was supposed to be the X factor we can exploit...& he's been used like he's Earl Campbell
Overall this season has been one for ages in Dolphins history for all the wrong reasons. It's gotten so bad that some fans have jumped on the 'Suck for Luck' campaign seeking to draft Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck that currently also includes the Indianapolis Colts. The Dolphins don't make thing better when they pull stunts like honoring the Florida Gators and not the Miami Hurricanes.
You would think that with all that crap happening this year the Dolphins front office would at least pretend to be trying to improve. Alas...NO!
The Dolphins, in their quest to piss off everyone in Miami-Dade County, have signed quarterback JP Losman and put Sage Rosenfels on the reserved non injury list on Tuesday. The team cited rib injuries to Matt Moore as reasoning for this move.
Think about that Dolphins fans...JP motherbleeping Losman...
This is the same guy who lost his staritng job in Buffalo to Trent Edwards...who wanted nothing to do with the Dolphins after Chad Henne was lost for the season.
I don't know if Jeff Ireland has just given up or if this is just a tortureous plot to land Luck at the expense of fans. Either way it makes all of Miami want to do this every Sunday.
The Dolphins defense was supposed to be one of the elite in the NFL this season...& it stinks.
Brandon Marshall was supposed to be our #1 threat...& he drops passes like he has butter in his hands.
Reggie Bush was supposed to be the X factor we can exploit...& he's been used like he's Earl Campbell
Overall this season has been one for ages in Dolphins history for all the wrong reasons. It's gotten so bad that some fans have jumped on the 'Suck for Luck' campaign seeking to draft Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck that currently also includes the Indianapolis Colts. The Dolphins don't make thing better when they pull stunts like honoring the Florida Gators and not the Miami Hurricanes.
You would think that with all that crap happening this year the Dolphins front office would at least pretend to be trying to improve. Alas...NO!
The Dolphins, in their quest to piss off everyone in Miami-Dade County, have signed quarterback JP Losman and put Sage Rosenfels on the reserved non injury list on Tuesday. The team cited rib injuries to Matt Moore as reasoning for this move.
Think about that Dolphins fans...JP motherbleeping Losman...
This is the same guy who lost his staritng job in Buffalo to Trent Edwards...who wanted nothing to do with the Dolphins after Chad Henne was lost for the season.
I don't know if Jeff Ireland has just given up or if this is just a tortureous plot to land Luck at the expense of fans. Either way it makes all of Miami want to do this every Sunday.
Bittersweet times at Nassau Coleseum
On Tuesday my sportswriting class got to experience what it felt like to cover a live sporting event.
We wen t to go see the New York Islanders take on the Pittsburg Penguins. An hour before the game we were given a tour of Nassau Coleseum by Islanders staff. We saw how the team is trying to generate more revenue since they took over arena operations from Nassau County. They also showed us how the team is making a major push to gain young fans through social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter.
Even though it was an overall great experience for myself & my classmates, it also felt strangely sad for me. It wasn't because of anything involving the tour, it was because of the situation the Islanders find themselves in.
The Islanders, who lost the game to the Penguins 3-0, are stuck in a long standing guagmire with Nassau County over the possibility of a new arena to call home. The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coleseum as its formally known, will turn 40 next year. That's pretty old for an indoor sporting venue. As such the current owner of the Islanders, Charles Wang, has pushed for a new arena to be built as part of his Lighhouse Project to develop land Nassau County. Wang was been denied his wishes twice, once by the town of Hempstead and recently in a referendum vote on August 2nd.
This has put the Islanders in a tough spot. Their lease with Nassau County ends in 2015 and Wang has made it very well known that a team move to Kansas City, MO is in the cards. While it would make sense for Wang to move since it looks like he can't build an arena with his own money on Long Island, it doesn't feel right.
The Islanders are Long Island's only major pro sports claim. The community has grown tight with the team thanks to their Stanley Cup fourpeat from 1979-1983. Even as the tean hasn't been able to recapture that success since there are many diehard Isles fans. Losing the team would be a huge blow to the island, both fiscally and emotionally.
Unfortunately for both the team and the fans there is almost a perfect storm against them. The bad economy and lackluster performances all seemed to have charted a course leading to the Midwest.
We wen t to go see the New York Islanders take on the Pittsburg Penguins. An hour before the game we were given a tour of Nassau Coleseum by Islanders staff. We saw how the team is trying to generate more revenue since they took over arena operations from Nassau County. They also showed us how the team is making a major push to gain young fans through social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter.
Even though it was an overall great experience for myself & my classmates, it also felt strangely sad for me. It wasn't because of anything involving the tour, it was because of the situation the Islanders find themselves in.
The Islanders, who lost the game to the Penguins 3-0, are stuck in a long standing guagmire with Nassau County over the possibility of a new arena to call home. The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coleseum as its formally known, will turn 40 next year. That's pretty old for an indoor sporting venue. As such the current owner of the Islanders, Charles Wang, has pushed for a new arena to be built as part of his Lighhouse Project to develop land Nassau County. Wang was been denied his wishes twice, once by the town of Hempstead and recently in a referendum vote on August 2nd.
This has put the Islanders in a tough spot. Their lease with Nassau County ends in 2015 and Wang has made it very well known that a team move to Kansas City, MO is in the cards. While it would make sense for Wang to move since it looks like he can't build an arena with his own money on Long Island, it doesn't feel right.
The Islanders are Long Island's only major pro sports claim. The community has grown tight with the team thanks to their Stanley Cup fourpeat from 1979-1983. Even as the tean hasn't been able to recapture that success since there are many diehard Isles fans. Losing the team would be a huge blow to the island, both fiscally and emotionally.
Unfortunately for both the team and the fans there is almost a perfect storm against them. The bad economy and lackluster performances all seemed to have charted a course leading to the Midwest.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
This is The Jump Off!
At times you have to say...enough waiting around.
I'm a journalist by trade but right now it's tough to be one. Trying to get a job in my chosen field is basically a mission now with the current economy. Being that as it may I fought against reality in trying to go the traditoinal route in making my bones in journalism. I've had enough though.
It's time to step my game up.
I've tried to avoid blogging mainly out of my disgust for people like Bill Simmons who I consider not to be a journalist but as a professional fan. Then I started thinking, Jorge Sedano (@SedanoShow) is a respected bl;ogger, Matt Moore (@HPBasketball) is a respected blogger, why not me?
So here it is ladies & gentlemen, I'm opening my own place: The Sports Bars
I'm a passionate sports fan, but I'm also fair about things. So expect a lot of pragmatism in my spot. I'll try to cover the most from the sporting world, but with main focus on the NBA (this lockout is killing me at the same time as the Dolphins are.) I'm going to try to bring in some collaborators but It will be mostly me starting off.
Who knows where this will lead up to, a radio spot, a YouTube show? It all depends my friends.
Expect the first real post up tonight focusing of...a New York Islanders game vs the Pittsburg Penguins. Don't start hockey haters.
That's it for now, if you want to drop me line hit me up on Twitter at @Rawkuz99!
Peace out for now!
I'm a journalist by trade but right now it's tough to be one. Trying to get a job in my chosen field is basically a mission now with the current economy. Being that as it may I fought against reality in trying to go the traditoinal route in making my bones in journalism. I've had enough though.
It's time to step my game up.
I've tried to avoid blogging mainly out of my disgust for people like Bill Simmons who I consider not to be a journalist but as a professional fan. Then I started thinking, Jorge Sedano (@SedanoShow) is a respected bl;ogger, Matt Moore (@HPBasketball) is a respected blogger, why not me?
So here it is ladies & gentlemen, I'm opening my own place: The Sports Bars
I'm a passionate sports fan, but I'm also fair about things. So expect a lot of pragmatism in my spot. I'll try to cover the most from the sporting world, but with main focus on the NBA (this lockout is killing me at the same time as the Dolphins are.) I'm going to try to bring in some collaborators but It will be mostly me starting off.
Who knows where this will lead up to, a radio spot, a YouTube show? It all depends my friends.
Expect the first real post up tonight focusing of...a New York Islanders game vs the Pittsburg Penguins. Don't start hockey haters.
That's it for now, if you want to drop me line hit me up on Twitter at @Rawkuz99!
Peace out for now!
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