NBA PLAYERS & FREE AGENCY - truth or bullshit

[grishnak boss]

This whole NBA scenario — from LeBron’s Decision to Melo’s Madness to Deron’s Escape — reminds me of the American housing bubble.

You don’t need to read Michael Lewis’ latest book to see the NBA is headed for collapse.

That is not a statement about the product. The product is strong. We’re in the middle of one of the best NBA seasons in quite some time. Every night, there seems to be at least one must-see matchup, and the television networks — ABC, ESPN and TNT — trumpet the record number of viewers.

There are six legitimate championship teams — the Celtics, Spurs, Heat, Lakers, Bulls and Mavericks. There is a seemingly endless list of compelling superstars worth paying to see — James, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Dwyane Wade, Amar’e Stoudemire, Derrick Rose, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony, Dirk Nowitzki, etc.

We’re at the height of the bubble. We’re at the brink of collapse.

For close to a decade, NBA players have walked the thin line between love and hate with their customers. The players crossed it when Ron Artest and several Indiana Pacers climbed into the stands to brawl with spectators. Commissioner David Stern instituted a string of new rules — dress code, tougher restrictions prohibiting fighting, 19-year-old age requirement for the draft — to push the players back on the other side of the line.

Those Band-Aid policies are starting to break. The players, many of whom have never grasped the need to understand and satisfy their customer base, are beginning to unwittingly push back.

Soaked in the arrogance of fame, wealth, immaturity and business ignorance, the players have dramatically reshaped the league with their free-agent and impending free-agent maneuvers.

In doing so — in destroying basketball in Cleveland, Utah and Denver — LeBron, Melo, Amar’e and Deron reinforced the perception among fans that teams don’t matter.

“As a player, you have to do what’s best for you,” Wade told reporters in reaction to the Carmelo trade to New York. “You can’t think about what someone’s going to feel or think on the outside. You have to do what’s best for you, and that’s what some players are doing. I’m happy for those players that felt that they wanted to be somewhere and they got their wish.”

That pretty much sums up the mentality of the modern-day American and modern-day pro athlete. Pleasing the individual takes precedence over everything else. It doesn’t matter that the collective strength of the NBA made Wade rich. Wade and other NBA players must be concerned only with themselves. That’s the American way.

The problem for basketball players is that they’re perceived differently than other pro athletes and Americans hold higher expectations for athletes than they do for themselves.

If NBA players were smart, they’d consider the health of the entire league.

They won’t. They can’t. They’re too young, too uneducated, too compromised by a society that intellectually cripples its physically gifted, beautiful and famous. You can’t see the big picture when you’re surrounded by male and female groupies.

It’s up to David Stern and the owners to protect the future of the league. They have to protect the players from themselves.

The problems facing the NBA are not unique. The problems are just more acute in the NBA as opposed to the NFL and major league baseball.

It’s easiest to see the break from traditional sports values in the NBA. The embrace of rebellious, hip-hop music culture, which is in direct opposition to the patriotism associated with sports, and the devastation of college basketball because of early entrants into the NBA put pro basketball players at odds with their fan base.

American sports fans love basketball. It is our most beautiful and graceful game. They don’t like or respect the participants. The fans don’t believe the players share their values. Fans care about the teams. The players don’t.

As the NBA heads for labor unrest in an attempt to negotiate a new collective-bargaining agreement, Stern and the owners should be super aggressive in addressing this fundamental problem.

A franchise tag for the league’s biggest stars won’t fix it.

Tying a significant percentage of player compensation to wins and losses is the solution, along with financial incentives for players to stay in college and pursue an actual education while there.

I’ve written in detail about these ideas in the past.

American basketball is in need of a major overhaul. Everything should be on the table. People should think outside the box. Money has changed pro sports. It’s long past time for the rules governing construction of teams and compensation of players to be fundamentally changed to reflect today’s reality.

The teams have to matter. Winning has to matter. It can’t simply be about players re-creating their AAU teams in their favorite NBA cities. That bubble is going to burst. The thin line between love and hate soon is going to be crossed irrevocably.


TRUTH, BULLSHIT, OVERDRAMATIZING?

WHAT YA THINK, NIGGAS?

[yeahbuddy]

Cleveland was the only team/city that was destroyed. I read an article somewhere that this season ticket sales are not a problem because those were sold before LeBron left. It will be next season & thereafter that will show the ramifications of LeBron's "decesion".
Utah & Denver will be alright.
Utah made the right move by basically telling D Williams and the rest
of the league that they will not be held hostage by a player.
Look for C Paul & D Howard moved if they do not sign extensions.
Carmello on the Knicks does not make them automatic contenders.
They are still a player or two away from being considered one of the
elites. The problem with Amare & Carmello is that they are both selfish players that want to be "the man".
Why would Dwight Howard want to go to the Nets? He wont go to the Knicks because there are not enough balls on the court. In my opinion, he will either resign with the Magic, or (not saying this because I am a huge Laker fan) the Lakers. It will depend on who the Lakers head coach is, and if he is done being coached by Van Gundy.

[johnk5150]

His column today is dead nuts on too.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/nba- ... lan-030111

"Also, because the NBA is composed primarily of African-American players, many of whom have embraced the style, demeanor and flamboyant lifestyle of hip-hop artists, the league is most vulnerable to an unforeseen, rapid decline in popularity among its primarily middle-aged, white paying-customer base."

Stern needs to bridge the gap between perception and reality with his league sooner than later. The reality is the league hasn't been this good or diverse ever. Period. The perception of their main source of income, white middle aged guys, is that the league is full of spoiled, uneducated black guys. The league has a problem. A serious one.

[Subhuman Yeti]

An NBA player now consciously deciding whether he should be practicing his game, improving his game, expanding his game, or recruiting a supporting cast is fucking bullshit.


I have a fucking dare for ya mostly benched whiny bastards --- improve (GREATLY) as players you fucking mostly overpaid mostly incoherent mostly idiots.


Let the organizations who own the teams you 'play' on do the recruiting and trades talks and repeatedly babble about overall team improvement.


A very small number of you fuckers in the NBA will ever win a ring --- and an even fewer number of you now that so many of you halfwits (mostly the over-coddled 'stars' who aren't STARS) --- would rather spend more time concentrating on surrounding yourselves with better players to make it easier to make yourselves look like actual stars and potential legends than actually improve your own basketball skills.


None of you are doing your best possible efforts on the fucking court, if you are spending any serious time doing any number of the jobs of your front offices are already overpaid for.


The more that fucking piece of shit LeBronze while licking his own loser ass does the jobs of all those greasy pukes in the Heat front office I can't fucking wait to laugh until my balls hopefully crack in half when the Heat don't win this year or next or the next or until LeBronze finally hangs himself on ESPN.



Now all that wanna-be/follower/sheep/fucking stooge/loser dumb as shit Deron Williams talks about in his recent babble from the uk is how he now needs to spend more time recruiting a better supporting cast.


You were just brutally sent from the Jazz to the Nets because you can't SHUT THE FUCKING FUCK UP and now you still can't SHUT THE FUCKING FUCK UP and just play hoops.

Play basketball loser.


If your front office can't build you a fucking great team on paper, how about trying to make one on the court?
Like 10,000s of NBA players have tried their best before you?


I fucking hate the Celtics, but I gotta admit Red built some teams (filled with assholes), but... teams that did a lot of shit... a long time ago.


Mostly due to Bill Russell.

Yes, FUCK YOU MJ BALL CHEWERS, BILL FUCKING RUSSELL...
MR RINGS.

But do ya think TRUE LEGEND BILL RUSSELL ever thought for a second (or over a several hour plane flight to England) ---

"Ya know, I AM a multiply proven WINNER at my career but as I age, wouldn't it be better for my career and self-important self-legacy if the Celtics traded a starter or two, and some benchies and/or draft picks for Wilt or Kareem or Jerry West and then we win 72 or more a year and another guaranteed banner every single year?"


Bill WANTED to do that, you fucking stupid assholes and he nearly did, with what the Celtics gave him to work with.
He was a basketball player, just like you fucking spoiled faux superstar cunts.

Except Bill was a winner and he is a legend ON AND OFF the court.

Because Bill really has class. Always has.

Even as a fucking make me fucking puke blood Celtic, I give the guy praise and appreciation.


Fuck you overpaid self-admitted part-time recruiter total loser pieces of shit. You only get any of my money when the LAKERS are playing you.


I know odds are fate works out totally fucked up more times than it does good... but fate would fucking kick ass if more NBA whiny fucking bitches ended their careers FUCKING RINGLESS!!


The only fucking prize Williams may get is the 2011 MVP.

Another fucking popularity contest winner who can't really WIN shit?


He was cheaply as fuck shipped to NJ because he absolutely couldn't shut his fucking loser bitch (bitch loser) fucking mouth --- and that is really the NBAs MOST VALUABLE PLAYER?!?!



He better step up his 'game' though, because when LeBronze gets to work on his MVP prize, he really sucks insanely wicked dick.

But I wouldn't ever vote for him, I'd lie to his dripping face