2011 CBA Negotiations Thread

It seemed hopeless for the NFL too. But a couple of "heroes" stepped up (the Patriots owner and I think the Giants owner and the players were reasonable) and the season was saved. It could happen in the NBA too but who are the possible "heroes" on the owner's side? Will the players accept a "reasonable" offer instead of cutting off their noses to spite their faces? The NFL players and owners camps were filled with dissension at one time too. Their is hope, but I don't think the NBA will get it together even though they could if they really wanted to do so.

Many are counting on exactly that....well, mostly us fans anyways.

Players need to cave and get back on the court.

Sounds about right. The question that remains is....How much leverage do the top 50 salaried players have over the plebians of the league?

In my mind the players are not looking at all the facts. They are arguing over revenue sharing percentages over the life of the contract. Getting 50% is alot better than getting nothing in a lost season and likely taking less if the season is lost. The average player would lose more money in salary in one season than they would gain with the extra 3% in revenue sharing they are demanding they must have. I think at the end of the day the Union has been posturing so much that ifthey take the deal the owners have on the table as-is they feel they will be labeled losers in the eye of the public.

I personal was hoping for a hard salary cap. The NBA needs to level the playing field and if they truely want to grow they need a business model like the NFL. You can't have a league where 25 out of 32 teams when the season starts don't have a chance to win a championship or even compete for one.

This isn't conclusive. Look at the English Premier League which is one of the absolutely most successful leagues in the world and they only have 4/20 teams (more like 3 nowadays) with a realistic shot at the championship.

It is not the best example: soccer in Europe and especially in England is more than a holy cow. There are avid, generation from generation followers even for lower soccer leagues.

....and the gap between title contenders and "we're eying champions league spot" is widening. Very quickly.

It seems like the NBA's real competition is NCAA BB. The NHL and MLB don't really have to worry about losing fans to the college game.

The EPL isn't hugely successful because of the domestic fans who roots for Wrexham, Doncaster and Halifax Town, it's hugely successful because of all the international fans who roots for teams like Man United and Liverpool.

Well, it looks like the NBA will be on hold for at least a year.. I truly believe the players made a HUGE mistake and will lose a ton of money they will never get back. I am specifically talking about the average bench player (who only lasts 3-5 years) and the veterans (i.e. Billups, who just lost about $16mm).

There was never any doubt that the owners would get what they want or the season would be lost, let's face it, he who controls the purse strings controls the power.. On a side note, would it really bother anybody if they just brought up the development league players? Outside of the superstars, I don't see a lot of difference between the skill difference

To those of you who watched basketball during the Bird, Magic, Bad Boy and Jordan era, do you remember when a player would miss a jump shot (even with 5 players hanging on them) you would look around to the people watching with you like "how did they miss that?". Now a days, when a player hits a wide open jump shot you look at the people watching with you, high 5ing and saying "wow what a great shot". My point, the league has become unwatchable. There is no doubt in my mind, none of the current NBA teams could compete in the 80s and early/mid 90s. I bet Scott Hastings, in his prime, could start on half the teams in the league right now.

For the last 15 years the NBA had a talent problem, now they have a labor issue to deal with. To David Stern, the owners and players.. Good luck!! When it is all said and done all of you will lose $$$$ and most of it will be a result of disinterested fans finding different ways to spend their money on a form of entertainment that doesn't include the initials N.B.A.

Tom Gores bought this tem for...what?