AP Source: NBA Won't Talk Without 50-50 Deal

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By BRIAN MAHONEY

NEW YORK (AP) - The NBA players' association wanted a meeting and said the league would grant one - under one condition.

Just agree first to a 50-50 split of revenues.

Players already rejected that offer once. The league confirmed it wasn't moving beyond that number but wanted to meet about other issues, and it said the union wasn't interested.

All that matters: An on-time start to the NBA season now seems even less likely.

Read more: http://sports.excite.com/news/10072011/v5184.html

[Johnyawl]

1. Since the NBA saw fit to move my team to Oklahoma...

...I really don't give a shit if the season ever starts. Ever again.

[brewens]

2. I haven't watched NBA basketball since the late 80's. A couple

years ago I was listening to The Heard on ESPN radio and Colin named the NBA Hall Of Fame inductees. There was a guy inducted that I had never heard of.

I still love high school and college hoops but not interested in the NBA at all. I'm not as crazy about the NFL like I used to be either.

I watched a little bit of a game a year or so ago and had to ask what the new curved line under the hoop was? I'd like to say I couldn't believe it but I just laughed! Seriously? You can't play defense under the hoop anymore? If they played the NBA championship in my back yard I wouldn't bother to watch!

[AtheistCrusader]

3. "Go Sonics!" (And take the Mariners with you)

50% ain't bad for a wish.

[Mr Deltoid]

9. Supposedly Steve Balmer is trying to get a new franchise for Seattle

...the city kept the rights to the name. So a new team would be the Sonics.

[Tempest]

12. There is a silver lining

First, you're no longer paying to keep the Sonics in town. Seattle residents were getting hosed by the Sonic owners.

Second, Oklahoma City hasn't seen any net benefit from the move. Revenues haven't met expectations and the contract with the city has residents paying to keep the Thunder in town.

[Cali_Democrat]

25. LOL

[IamK]

4. If they miss half the season it will still be too long... who cares

[ellisonz]

5. Players just need to take the deal at this point.

[democracy1st]

6. why would you take 50% deal rather than negotiate a deal?

[ellisonz]

8. Because they're going to loose out even bigger when...

...all anyone pays attention to is that the season either didn't happen or started way late. Their not going to win this one. It's not a big enough shift to loose the season too and will undoubtedly affect the endorsements of the superstars and the long-term salary of the role players and reserves. It's lose-big lose.

I've read numerous times in the sports pages that no one pays attention to basketball and that only the postseason matters and frankly I find it racist and not-sportsmanlike. Tens of millions of young men and boys follow basketball intensely and the basic dispute of the negotiation at this point is 7% - slightly more than 1/10 of the total involved. A rising tide lifts all boats. The NBA will only suffer severely from a lockout like the 1994-1995 MLB lockout: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994-95_Major_League_Baseball_strike#Post-strike

[blueclown]

11. The NBA players received 57% of BRI in the last labor agreement.

In this labor agreement, the owners are demanding they take 50%, which is a significant cutback. This doesn't factor in other issues, such as the elimination of the MLE (Mid Level Exception), which adversely affects the role-players of the league, not the stars or starters.

And I'm in agreement with you about the sentiment here - it is pure racism. I have had it with a few members of DU. That Thugaball comment was the last straw. I'm white, and this type of double standard against the NBAPA is just shameful.

[ellisonz]

19. The Mid-level exception is not being eliminated.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7037865/start-nba-season-jeopardy-owners-players-set-meet

[Tempest]

13. It's not lose-lose

Many U.S. players are going overseas to play and as that market increases it will hurt the NBA owners more.

Nor has there been a drop off in endorsement contracts for NBA players.

[ellisonz]

18. That's not too say there won't be when...

...they cancel the season.

The overseas market is not and will not be as lucrative as the NBA.

[sarcasmo]

7. Thugaball is finished.

[blueclown]

10. This racist garbage should lead to a tombstone immediately.

Time and time again, certain factions of DU show they have very little regard for labor unions if they are predominately black. Would this type of garbage vitrol be accepted if we were talking about the SEIU?

We have NBA ownership who is demanding there won't be a season unless the players agree to massive cutbacks in their new labor agreement. I'm guessing if this were the UAW, we'd have hundred of comments, the vast majority of them in support of the UAW. But for whatever reason, and I think I know why, that same support isn't there for the NBA Player's Union.

[sarcasmo]

14. Taking guns into locker rooms are they not thugs?

Millionaires Vs Billionaires.

[totodeinhere]

16. You are speaking of Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton.

Yes, you might call them thugs. But those are just two players and they paid the price for that stupidity. But to generalize and call all NBA players thugs is wrong. Many are fine people who do a lot of public service work in their communities and contribute a lot to charity and serve as good role models. There are a lot more thugs working on Wall Street than in the NBA.

[blueclown]

17. Stereotyping an entire group of players over two bad apples

Is very progressive of you.

You should be ashamed of your racist filth.

[totodeinhere]

20. Stereotyping an entire group of players is indeed wrong. But unless we can read the poster's mind we

can't know for sure if it's racist or not. How do we know that the poster wouldn't have also called Arenas and Crittenton thugs if they were white? If you look up the term "thugs" you will find that it is a racially neutral term. Yes, it is often used in a racist context but not always. Unless I have more evidence than this I am willing to give the poster the benefit of the doubt and entertain the possibility that it is not racist.

[Tempest]

21. He didn't say "thug", he said "thuga"

It was blatantly racial.

[totodeinhere]

23. Sorry, I haven't heard the term "thuga" before and when I Googled it nothing came up. n/t

[Tempest]

26. Gangsta isn't used to describe white criminals

Thuga is blatantly racist.

[totodeinhere]

28. You are over my head with this terminology. So maybe I shouldn't weigh in on it. n/t

[blueclown]

24. I'm sure he doesn't think that he is racist.

Nobody thinks that they are. But I think his words speak louder than his own assumptions about himself.

[totodeinhere]

15. I don't think it racial. At least I hope it isn't. What it is really about in my opinion

is the perception that NBA players regardless of their race are millionaires. And right now there is a lot of hatred and resentment directed at rich people. Of course the truth is that not all NBA players are millionaires. Some high profile stars are but the minimum salary last season in the NBA was $473,604 for a rookie and $992,680 for a five year veteran. To be guaranteed one million you need to be a six year veteran and many players never even make it that far. In fact, the average length of an NBA player's career is only 4.82 years.

Of course, even $473,604 is a nice comfortable salary, but remember that with short careers most NBA players won't ever make that much again after they retire so they need to make as much as they can while they can. Only a few ex players can move on to lucrative careers in broadcasting and coaching.

Most of us probably remember the recent story about 10 year NBA veteran Ray Williams who is down on his luck and homeless. Yes he probably made some bad financial decisions after his career ended, but the point is that an NBA career isn't always what it's made out to be.

I support the NBA players union and I hope that they aren't forced to give in to the greedy owners. And speaking of millionaires, most of them are multi millionaires if not billionaires.

[U4ikLefty]

22. You don't think "thug-a" is racial?

If you are for perceptions, then maybe you could get a thinly-veiled niggger-thug reference that's right before your eyes.

[Tempest]

27. He probably doesn't think "gangsta" is racial either

You can give them eyes but they cannot see.

[boppers]

29. Aw, the poor top 1%.

Can't have them suffering, after all, they're "job creators"!

(That goes for the players *and* the owners).