Fisher Says NBA's Current Deal Isn't Good Enough; Stern Repeats Wednesday Deadline
by Ben Golliver on Nov 8, 2011 4:14 PM PST
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PrintNational Basketball Players Association president Derek Fisher addressed reporters in New York City following a meeting of the player representatives held Tuesday morning. Fisher said the NBA's current offer -- which came with a deadline of Wednesday at the close of business -- was not acceptable to the players and that the NBPA is willing to continue negotiations to arrive at a new deal.
"We have 43 players present today at our player rep meeting, and 29 of our 30 teams represented," Fisher said. We were able to get an extremely specific and focused gauge on where our players stand at this point. Our orders are clear right now: the current offer on the table right now from the NBA is not one we can accept. Our orders are also clear: we are willing to continue to negotiate and we are willing to continue discussions on a potential compromise on our numbers, the BRI, our economics, for some continued improvement on the system. Without those improvements in the system we don't see a way of getting a deal done between now and end of business tomorrow evening."
Here's video of Fisher's remarks.
Update: Tuesday afternoon, NBA commissioner David Stern replied to Fisher's statements in an NBA TV interview, making no indication that he would alter the league's current offer but expressing a willingness to communicate with NBPA executive director Billy Hunter prior to Wednesday's deadline.
"I take him at his word that they are not accepting it," Stern said. "Whether it's a bad deal or not, all I can tell you is that we sat in a room until three in the morning... on Saturday night, and the president's federal mediator suggested six ideas for accommodating the six issues that are separating us, and we adopted five of them as our own. The union, through its lawyer, Jeffrey Kessler, rejected them all, and I assume I hear Derek rejecting them all, although I'm not exactly sure. As of the close of business tomorrow there will be a new offer from the NBA labor relations committee."
Stern said he would answer his phone if NBPA executive director Billy Hunter contacted him prior to Wednesday evening's deadline.
"I always take Billy's calls as a sign of respect and courtesy," he said. "What my response will be, will be guided to some degree by the labor relations committee."
Stern also said he currently has no plans to cancel further NBA games.
Portland Trail Blazers forward Luke Babbitt attended the players' meeting. I couldn't make out any other Blazers in attendance. The NBPA lists center Marcus Camby and forward LaMarcus Aldridge as Portland's player representatives, but I did not see either in the wide shot or when the players were shown filing into the building in the video feed. More on that if/when a full list of players in attendance surfaces.
-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter
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Willing to keep losing paycheck after paycheck just so they can keep digging a deeper hole. Do they think the owners are going to budge? Just the opposite really.
by BRoyInThe4th on Nov 8, 2011 2:30 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
I bet they DO think the owners will budge
But will they? Hard to tell, but my guess is they won’t.
The Department of Redundancy Department is hiring, maybe I should apply myself.
I don't see any reason they would other than sheer goodwill, which I sure wouldn't bet on
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
this lockout is on for a reason...
some of the owners want their business ventures to get out of the red.
Treat people well because Karma can hit you at any second.
college ball was ruined by the nba accepting outgoing freshman.
Treat people well because Karma can hit you at any second.
Awesome.
The BRI split won’t ‘help’ the game, anyways. Making it low enough to keep crappy teams afloat is a hoax. Improve the entire game. Make it more competitive with a hard cap and incentives for stars like Dwight Howard to come to Portland. Then, and only then, will small market teams have the assets they need to ignite their fan bases. If they’re not interested in igniting their fan bases they shouldn’t be in the business of pro sports.
OR just admit that the NBA is trying to salvage it’s current system (soft cap, luxury tax, “max” deal that only serves to take away any incentive a star has to go to a small market) and let us decide if we want to be fans any more. It seems owners and players are paying lip service to “improving the system” and “competitive balance”, but all either seems interested in is making the most money possible. The NBA is an awesome sport, but a stupid league.
/s
by Hipster Olympic Team! on Nov 8, 2011 2:36 PM PST reply actions
basketball is an awesome sport, the NBA is a stupid league.
by Rudyciudad on Nov 8, 2011 2:49 PM PST up reply actions 3 recs
yup. and that statement gets stronger as the year go by
Treat people well because Karma can hit you at any second.
The NBA lockout is not, was not, nor ever will be about competitive balance.
It shouldn’t be about that, either.
It’s about the two sides negotiating for their slice of the monetary pie. If you or anyone else doesn’t like that, then maybe it’s time to go find another sport and/or another league to focus your rooting interests on going forward. Enough babbling and blathering about walking away from the NBA, for now is the time to either go through with it or quit yapping altogether.
Maybe the WHL will suit you. A league where Portland is a large-market team, while Everett, WA is a small-market team. Nothing wrong with being a small-market team, so long as you realize it. Being from Everett, I know my place. It’s just like how folks from Portland ought to know their place in the NBA, which is a league featuring — yes, “featuring” — cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, et cetera.
“The NBA is an awesome sport, but a stupid league.”
You mean basketball is an awesome sport. The game of basketball.
And no, the NBA can’t be MLB or the NFL. Basketball isn’t baseball, nor is it football. Parity doesn’t come as easily in this sport as those, for they’re structured differently. A superstar in basketball is similar to a pitcher in softball or a goalie in hockey. Not even a quarterback in football — aside from maybe Peyton Manning — has the same kind of value. Likewise, no one in baseball — including the likes of power hitter Jose Bautista and power pitcher Justin Verlander, as well as the dynamic Dodger duo of Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw — comes close to having the same individual impact as a LeBron James, Dwight Howard, or Dirk Nowitzki.
"I Am Mine"
I agree with you, actually.
The NBA owners have payed plenty of lip service to “competitive balance” though. So have the players. Whether it ‘should’ or ’shouldn’t’ is a debate though. I know what side of said debate you would be on, but I actually think the sport would attract more fans in the long run by focusing on this as a primary issue rather than simply stating it as a goal to get fans to blame player salary for the league’s many shortcomings.
I also realize the NBA is not the NFL. Of course it isn’t. However, the NFL shows that small markets can be incredibly profitable when the sport has solid amounts of competitive balance and an excellent TV deal with revenue sharing. Who wants to watch the NBA though? Well, you and I, I’m guessing, but the average sports fan understands that the league is fairly unremarkable in the regular season: too many games, too little competition on most nights due to stars being spread unevenly, and little emphasis on division races as every team gets into the playoffs. Also, the crowds in half of the arena just plain stink, if they are there at all.
/s
by Hipster Olympic Team! on Nov 8, 2011 5:30 PM PST up reply actions
im probably biased (akin to you but on the other side of the spectrum)
but basketball, no….the nba, whether you like it or not, is made from its dynastys. The reason superstars want to come to chicago, or new york, or LA really has nothing to do with the nba but the perks that come from outside of the nba, the fact that you can market yourself better in such cities. The idea of a hardcap is bothersome because just look at the nhl. The blackhawks jsut won the championship, and the very next year they barely make the playoffs. And the reason isnt because the league got better, or that they got lazy…they WERE FORCED to discard key players due to a stupid hardcap. Forget dynasties, forget being DEFENDING champions.
The nba might be set up to make it difficult for a team like portland to aquire the superstars, but its not set up to TAKE AWAY those superstars, as some small market teams like to claim. Brandon Roy and Odens knees cant be blamed on parity or because they are in a small market. It was just bad luck. Had it not been for that, right now portland might have been not just in the finals, but winning it. And had portland won it, then right now it would be getting ready to DEFEND it, and probably win it again. Thats what the nba is about, more than baseball, more than football, the nba is about those Repeats and Threepeats. The nba draw is teams emerging like the hated Heat, or the Celtics Big 3, or Kobe and Shaq, or the Jordan Bulls, or the duncan Spurs. A team that you revere for years because any year could be theres.
The old system wasnt broken from a competetive stand point, not really. Sure maybe a team like portland wont attract a lebron james, but neither did New York, neither did Chicago. And what happened after the big 3 with lebron and wade were reunited. They didnt win any championship, they were villainfied and celebrated as such, it became a huge pull in the nba, a great story people who did not watch basketball cared about. So really the system wasnt broken. It was always meant to be like this, it was always supposed to be about owners who at some point said “I DONT GIVE A DAMN” and throw wads of cash to try to create a team for almost a decade to finally have all those lucky moves come through.
People look at the mavs and say “highest paid roster” but look at them. Its not the best team on paper. Its not filled witht eh best players. Its a bunch of overpaid players that got paid by cuban or picked up by cuban just to fit some coaches image and create a championship team. And its not like this is the first year cuban spent so much, hes been spending like crazy to achieve this goal, and finally it all came together for him. So what if they were the highest paid, most of them didnt deserve the money they were paid, they one because they were fated too, because they had a magical season where everything went right.
Like i said im probably biased, im a chicago based chicago fan, but i do dislike that recently small market fans have been clamoring together suggesting that the owners cheapness was actually waht was needed for the sport to have parity. As if hardcaps and limited spending would make the game better, As if the best superstars still wouldnt find a way to play in a big market where they could sell there brand long after they leave the game, as if they didnt care about winning multiple championships and claming a dynasty of their own.
I also dont think the nba is perfect, theres always room for change and new things to try, but hardcaps and cutting down the spending on nba players was never really the solution.
I dont care what the D.N.A. Says, the Guy wearing number 12 Cannot be Kirk Hinrich, he is definetly Kurt. Kirk can actually play basketball!
I agree completely with this
Since you brought up junior hockey, I know exactly where your coming from. I’m a partial STH with a small market team in the OHL (Erie Otters) and I know my place with in the league competing with big market teams such as London and Windsor. Even though my team will never churn out NHLers year after year like those clubs do, it’s still fun hockey to watch.
Plus even though the NHL isn’t structured like the NFL, the Pittsburgh Penguins find ways to compete.
Pittsburgh Sports: Creating sports history and legends since 1887.
by Bradley James McEachern on Nov 8, 2011 5:38 PM PST up reply actions
The "NBA" isn't trying to salvage it's current system.
It’s the players, the NBPA that are trying to salvage the current system. Mind you, on the owner’s side, the large-market teams that have really deep pockets don’t care about system reform. It’s the small-market hardliners that are pushing for the most severe reforms.
You’re right that BRI split doesn’t improve competitive balance. What it DOES do is make it easier for small market teams to stay in their small markets. Given what almost happened to us, and what might still happen to Sactown, this is nothing to sneeze at.
That being said, I would like to see more system reform. I think contract guarantees need to have shorter limits, but I’m okay with the single-year shortening the players have basically conceded at this point. It’s a step in the right direction. I’m also fully on board with the idea that taxpayers lose the MLE. I guess this is my own capitulation. I’m willing to take some incremental improvements if that will get this lockout finished and behind us. I’m guessing that Allen, Gilbert, and Jordan don’t share my flexibility… but we’ll have to see.
Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
It’s the players, the NBPA that are trying to salvage the current system.
exactly. because that is the main purpose and/or objective of any union… to hold ground or gain it – regardless of any situation (such as a poor economy or owners trying to right the wrongs of creating ridiculous player contracts in the past).
Treat people well because Karma can hit you at any second.
I can't imagine a situtation where this ends well.
Pittsburgh Sports: Creating sports history and legends since 1887.
by Bradley James McEachern on Nov 8, 2011 2:38 PM PST reply actions
Sounds like they are asking the NBA for another day of negotiating tomorrow.
It seems like they are looking for a couple of face-saving system concessions to take the 50-50 deal. Now it’s up to Stern to see if he can get his hardliner owners to give on a couple system points and get this done tomorrow.
"You're not too smart, are you? I like that in a man." - Matty Walker in Body Heat (1981)
by BlazerFanSince1970 on Nov 8, 2011 2:50 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
It's a sad day for the workers and fans of the game
The Department of Redundancy Department is hiring, maybe I should apply myself.
Yeah, like an adjustment that'll allow tax paying teams to keep having no restrictions for using the MLE.
I hope the 13 owners who are reportedly hardliners will concede to such a small, insignificant concession.
"I Am Mine"
Right. I just don't know if Stern can get any more rope from the hardliners.
As I posted a couple days ago, I think the hardliners picked up a majority on Saturday by agreeing to give Stern until Wed to get a 50-50 deal without more system concessions. After that I think swing voters have committed to the hardliners position and this thing could be headed to the courts (legal courts that is) when the players decertify (because they have nothing else left to do if they won’t take this 50-50 deal).
I think the players greatly over-estimate the power of their decertification threat. The owners will instantly write-off this year, and prepare to start over without the players union next season. The anti-trust suits will drag on for years before they are resolved.
"You're not too smart, are you? I like that in a man." - Matty Walker in Body Heat (1981)
by BlazerFanSince1970 on Nov 8, 2011 6:25 PM PST up reply actions
what does this mean?
prepare to start over without the players union next season.
Any system where the owners open the league’s doors without a CBA in place will be dramatically more favorable to the players, since owners will not be allowed to work together in limiting players salaries at all.
i keep dancing on my own.
I actually suspect something different will happen.
Superstars will make a ton of money, and players under the median (in terms of talent) will see their current earnings plummet. And those awesome travel amenities? Gone.
A real-life example is in pro-wrestling, where the stars make a fortune (and get merchandising profits) while the mid-range and low-level employees make enough to save a little bit, while paying for their own travel expenses and sometimes just live in a trailer to save money. (I’m amazed I know as much about this as I do).
I suspect the owners would police themselves better than you’d expect. And without a BRI percentage requirement, they could intentionally tank for a few years with very low salary, get a draft pick, and rebuilt.
An NBA without a CBA is quite the fascinating concept. Not that it would ever happen.
There would be massive “tiering” between the high revenue teams and the low revenue ones obviously as well. I think the bidding wars between big-market teams over superstars would keep players’ overall share around the same or a bit higher, but you’re right that a huge number of players would make very, very little money as well.
i keep dancing on my own.
The draft is a part of the CBA and it would be an antitrust violation to have one in a CBA free league. All pro prospects would basically go to the highest bidder.
i keep dancing on my own.
As you noted, tiering would happen
Without a league minimum, the league’s have-nots would reach a new definition. All a GM needs to say is “There are 5 guys who are pretty similar to you who will take this offer.” They definitely get a heavy benefit of the CBA.
I do think bidding for stars would reach Alex Rodriguez levels, as I suspect you think also.
Overall, I’m not sure teams would spend more for the players than they play now. I don’t think markets will get more efficient and increase offers across the board.
But this is a very intriguing concept indeed.
Yeah, the WWE is a good example of non-union sports entertainment.
While that’s obviously a loose use of the word “sports” there, it still applies.
"I Am Mine"
It seems you are making assumptions about how the owners (NBA) would conduct business
and therefore the legal outcomes. I’m not suggesting anything you say is wrong, but I suspect there are more branches to the tree than anyone can guess right now. I’m no lawyer, but I have spent quite a few years in business and I never bet against the money.
There are lots of ways to structure business practices, and 29 billionaires have a lot of money and a lot of lawyers to help them do it. Ultimately anything and everything they do would be subject to legal challenge but that will take years. I wonder if the rank and file players have that kind of time?
The question I would ask is that if decertification was such a slam dunk solution for the players why didn’t they exercise that option long ago since they have said all along that they have foreseen the course of these “negotiations” for several years? Something tells me outcome is far from a sure thing for the players.
"You're not too smart, are you? I like that in a man." - Matty Walker in Body Heat (1981)
by BlazerFanSince1970 on Nov 8, 2011 7:22 PM PST up reply actions
It’s not a sure thing, but the greater reason players don’t want to decertify is because they would miss 2-3 years of paychecks trying to get the result they want. The owners would keep the players locked out through the litigation process I believe.
i keep dancing on my own.
So I take it we're all in agreement...
…that this attempt to decertify is more tactical than realistic?
Yeah, obviously I think the players are trying to inject some uncertainty into the bargaining process. If that uncertainty is worth any BRI points is up in the air.
i keep dancing on my own.
Agreed
"You're not too smart, are you? I like that in a man." - Matty Walker in Body Heat (1981)
by BlazerFanSince1970 on Nov 8, 2011 7:48 PM PST up reply actions
It’s not a sure thing, but the greater reason players don’t want to decertify is because they would miss 2-3 years of paychecks trying to get the result they want.
Yeah, that was my original point:
“and prepare to start over without the players union next season. The anti-trust suits will drag on for years before they are resolved.”
The owners would keep the players locked out through the litigation process I believe.
Once the players decertify there is no players union to lock out. If the owners then open up the league the following year they will set up some system (which may be legally challenged) and start hiring players (old and new) under a completely different set of rules. How many players will not sign new contracts and instead sit out a few years hoping they eventually win damages in anti-trust suits? (BTW, eventually the league is going to claim that those players had options to go anywhere in the world and play – because basketball, unlike American football or even baseball, is now a world-wide professional sport – and hence they are not a monopoly. I think that would be an issue in all the anti-trust lawsuits.)
"You're not too smart, are you? I like that in a man." - Matty Walker in Body Heat (1981)
by BlazerFanSince1970 on Nov 8, 2011 7:48 PM PST up reply actions
The NBA also has filed a suit to maintain their antitrust exemption in the event of decertification
…and there is precedent for such an exemption for the major sports (baseball?)
Law of Logical Argument
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
by blacknoiseNW on Nov 8, 2011 11:04 PM PST up reply actions
The Deal Train is leaving the station...
Players will be on board with the owners come this weekend. Momentum cannot be stopped now unless everybody acts irrationally (which isn’t beyond the realm of possibility). Players will get a couple wins in their column today/tomorrow to feel good and the owners get their victory. Parameters of the deal will be mostly there by tomorrow evening. Final tweaks over the next few days and the beginning of season details will be sorted out by the weekend and the NBA will be back in business.
I find that incredibly optimistic
It’s possible that Stern was bluffing with his “this is our last deal” pledge, but it’s equally posible that he was serious. I don’t think the owners are open to ANY tweaks at all, even face-saving minor give-aways on system issues, etc. In fact, about a third of them appear to be pissed off that this deal was even offered.
Were you being sarcastic?
Nope...
Based on my experience in negotiations, the general statements by NBA and the players union and the players, and the repercussions of not getting a deal done, I believe a deal will be done by this weekend. I have been saying since November 1 to my friends that there will be a deal by mid-November. Keep in mind that the statement was the deal was on the table until 5 pm ET Wednesday and a new more owner friendly offer will be on the table thereafter and NOT that the NBA would not listen to any counteroffers.
Possibly
Perhaps the owners will consider counter-offers that are purely window-dressing. I certainly don’t have any insider knowledge – just seemed like they were at the end of their line (assuming the “hard-liners” talk wasn’t just bluster).
Interesting day to come, no doubt.
Time for another story from Storyteller
One Saturday when I was in college, I drove my friend, Jim, to several dealerships in town. He was trying to buy a used Toyota Tercel and had researched enough that he felt very comfortable knowing what to offer. We first went to Gladstone where he saw a car he liked, but not enough to make an offer. Next we went to a dealership on 82nd where he test-drove a car that he liked and made an offer. The salesman brought in his manager who gave us a prepared speech on “How We Make A Living Selling Cars”, telling us that Jim’s offer just wasn’t good enough. On and on for 10 minutes he rambled. When the speech was over, w simply said goodbye and left.
We then went to a dealership on Broadway, where Jim found another Tercel he liked. After test-driving, he made the same offer which was accepted. Jim had his car.
Two weeks later, Jim came into the cafeteria and told me that the dealership on 82nd had just called him to say that they wanted to accept his offer for the Tercel. After apologizing for laughing, Jim told them that they were too late and there would be no deal.
The moral of the story is: When you call someones bluff, be prepared to lose the entire pot.
by Storyteller on Nov 8, 2011 2:57 PM PST reply actions 7 recs
So wait...
What side is the meth-head sleazy 82nd salesman? Haha
The Department of Redundancy Department is hiring, maybe I should apply myself.
That's why the players are hedging...
and asking for another meeting. Deal will get done at that meeting. David Stern won’t let it get away and neither will Billy Hunter. It’s the deal that has to get done in order to not create an intractable situation.
We can hope.
I think we are on the turn card now and the players have to decide if they need to go all in before the river card is shown.
What SHOULD happen
is that the sides meet tomorrow for 15 hours, the players officially offer to take 50% of BRI and the owners make concessions on the system issues so that an announcement can be made on Thursday that the season will start on Dec. 8th (my birthday).
But I don’t have a clue what will happen….the so-called ‘hardliners’ among the owners could pull the swing votes amongst ownership to their side if the players don’t give in on both BRI and the system issues tomorrow, moving to the alternate proposal of 47% BRI and a hard/flex cap as has been threatened. Or those swing vote owners could see the concession by the players to take 50/50 as their last chance for a 2011-12 season (which it probably is) and agree to at least one more long negotiating session to deal with system issues.
As with most votes, it’s in the hands of the guys in the middle. The hardliners don’t have a majority. The owners who desperately want a season now don’t have a majority. It’s those 8-10 owners in the middle that will swing things one way or another tomorrow. I’m hoping they give negotiations more time and suspend the artificial ‘deadline’.
I agree....
we are willing to continue discussions on a potential compromise on our numbers, the BRI, our economics, for some continued improvement on the system. Without those improvements in the system we don’t see a way of getting a deal done between now and end of business tomorrow evening."
Fischer is practically negotiating through the media here. I think a deal will get done with a couple of added changes to save the player’s faces….
That assumes the owners will move on those system issues, though
David Aldridge just asked Stern if there was any wiggle room on those issues. Stern’s reply: “As of Saturday – or Sunday morning at 3 in the morning, there was none left.”
Click on “Stern: Offer Still Stands” and go to the 1:52 mark to hear the question and the answer
If the hardliners have forced the NBA to make their best offer now, then the union’s move today of trying to call a bluff might not result in any movement on the system issues.
You just have to put the offer on the table to see if there is any wiggle room.
If not, then at least you know where you stand.
Owners are not going to cut off their nose to spite their face on a couple tweaks to the system issues.
Moral of the story...
always go to Broadway Toyota. I’ve also had a great experience there vs other dealerships.
I have a similar story with a really funny twist which I'll share sometime
don’t know if now is the time though, I’m in mourning…
I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.
Mark Twain
Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/mark_twain_4.html#ixzz1IE4sPu16
by Tyler Durrden on Nov 8, 2011 6:10 PM PST up reply actions
All aboard the NBA train of DooooOOooOm
To see the bright side in this requires extinguishing all hope. Time to spend a few hundred on a plasma screen, game console and NBA2k12. This fan is willing to compromise by getting my NBA fix out of video games if need be. Might as well spring for a nice setup.
Sadly, the spending spree will burn through cash I had planned to use on excursions to the Rose Garden. Dramatic enough? lol
Two likely paths now (correct me if I'm wrong)
Both sides meet tomorrow and make a deal that allows everyone to save face. Stern makes small system concessions and players go down to 50-50. The players take a hit, but probably end up with a better deal than whatever else they could get in the long run. The hardline owners are unsatisfied, but probably not enough to derail a done deal. Every party can say they’ve won something, we get a short season, and life goes on. Or…
Owners finally follow through on their strong arm tactic and drop to 47%. Decertification petition gains momentum, so there’s a couple of months in between where negotiations may still happen before the decertification vote. If the players vote for decertification or the season is cancelled first (encouraging the players to decertify anyway), there is a long legal battle ahead with no certain outcomes.
The second option seems a lot more likely to me…
by Jonathan Wright on Nov 8, 2011 3:50 PM PST up reply actions
Babbitt should be working on his game, not attending meetings.
The rate he is going, if he doesn’t improve, he likely will not be in the NBA beyond the length of his rookie contract, so I don’t have any idea why he is so worried about the CBA.
He probably has more at stake int he continuation of this CBA than any NBA player.
i keep dancing on my own.
if the league decertifies, he might not have a job after all the contracts are voided
if that’s an actual risk NBA players would be taking by decertifying, I don’t understand why any middle or lower class player could support it
If the entire season
Were to be cancelled how would it effect the next draft I wonder…
by Ansible on Nov 8, 2011 4:21 PM PST via mobile reply actions
There are a few posts about that, here and elsewhere...
Most people expect what the NHL did, which would be a weighted draft across all teams, where surprises are much more likely, and stinking isn’t as big an advantage.
Resentment
I have a growing resentment against the players as this continues. Not sure if it is right or not but the players union is bothering me to the millionth degree!
by dfrenz on Nov 8, 2011 4:28 PM PST via mobile reply actions
agree with you totally
Not that I think the owners are “all right” or anything…it just seems obvious that the owners are going to get what they want regardless and the players are too ego based to realize this.
Oh man.
those old pix of Stern with the mustache crack me up.
dinasour type of guys choir boys
by mittsabishy on Nov 8, 2011 5:37 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs
That's Garnett's fault.
KG said if he’s not the guy to go, nobody was gonna go. So they locked KG in the trunk of his Bently and the rest of them just stayed home. :/
Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
Jeffery Kessler rejects the owners offers because??
Because as soon as the union agrees to terms with the owners, and both the players and owners start to make money. Jeffery Kessler stops making money from the union players. Or at least his hourly fees are drastically reduced. The longer the lockout drags on, the more money Jeffery Kessler makes.
Jeffery Kessler is looking after Jeffery Kessler, not the players.
Well, there are lawyers on all sides.
They’re a necessary evil.
The agents, however, should butt out.
"I Am Mine"
highly contentious
stern is clearly trying his best to appeal to the owners while also representing them (many who are awkward and head strong) in a mostly respectful manner.
saying something like that, NOW, is a seriously stupid move.
PHILLY!
"Don't call me BOY!"
The though has occurred to me (and others) that there could be a racial undercurrent to these negotiations which contributes to the resentment. Of course it is only some (minority) who might be fighting a personal ‘race war’. Getting total involvement with all players should ‘wash out’ the effect.
Wake me when the game is on.
When the union lawyer starts talking like he's Bryant Gumbel or Jason Whitlock, we've got problems.
That kind of rhetoric doesn’t do any good and could provoke someone. Hopefully NBA Commissioner David Stern and the owners are rational enough to not lot let their buttons be pushed like this. The owners need to sit back, relax, and chalk this up to Jeffrey Kessler talking a big game by poking Stern with a proverbial stick.
No harm, no foul.
"I Am Mine"
Kessler's always been a contentious jerk, to put it in BE-friendly terms
I’ve done some reading up on the guy, and of all of the guys involved in this drama, he’s the one I’d be most likely to call evil. But Stern, the owners, et al are pretty used to his inflammatory crap, so I’m assuming he hasn’t caused any long-lasting damage. But that’s pretty bad, even for him — he’s certainly not doing his clients a favor.
#letthemvote
That is so stupid, both on an intellectual level and more importantly from my perspective as a fan
who wants the season to start sooner than later, a negotiation level it’s baffling. That is the type of invective that in my line of work will cause a heated negotiation analogous to this one to fracture and either break or require a significant cooling period when a deal could have been had. I know Kessler has a part to play (the player’s “nuclear” option), but something like that will hurt his clients way more than it helps them.
Kevin Durant won me over when he went Rocky IV on Russia this summer.
That is just ridiculous
If I could make 500k a year minimum working on a plantation sign me up.
I must have missed the day in class where we discussed the plantation workers forming a union and negotiating with the owners if they should get 52% or more or less of all cotton-related income. I don’t even want to get into what that comparison by Kessler would make Jordan.
Invoking slavery to discuss this situation really should be a no-go, but it happens again and again. Like Godwin’s law. Gumbel’s law? Kessler’s law? Jesse Jackson’s law (the LeBron – Gilbert issue)?
The players don't want to be told where to go to work? WTH?
They should be owners then….
I'm typing this here because I became jealous of everyone else with signatures in their posts.
I guess I didn't really need to see NBA basketball this year.
Now what am I suppose to do on Thursday nights?? Watch Grey’s Anatomy??? No way Jose.
Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.
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