Then you have your fat asses like Eddy Curry who would rather go to McDonald's than make money
NBA owners to seek big salary rollback
- Thread starter Maxxam
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They are producing the equivalent of page views for advertisers.
this could work in the nba.
if the nba's money situation is really fucked up then i guess they gotta do what they gotta do to stay in business
this is also true
probably why i dont watch much basketball anymore
jordan came into the league a s a slasher/dunker with an avg jimmy. through hard work... and practice.... he developed one of the deadliest midrange jumpers ever.
yea,but those leagues cant pay ALOT of players those contracts
and you think kobe and lebron want to play in a league full of average bball players where the competition is minimal?
sure you have you sean livingston and bonzi wells who can go over there and average 40 a game and feel like stars
lets face it black players fucked themselves on this shit by giving whitey the ammo to fuck them. too much laziness, getting into trouble etc. white america is just WAITING to jump on black athletes. guys like Eddie Curry and Arenas really should have their asses kicked.
I saw the pics of Arenas' Playboy mansion style pool grotto Why not invest in productive businesses and put people to work? fuck welfare. I'm talking about some positive sustainable shit.
I swear black folks are our own worst enemy. We need to find that old 50s - 70s type spirit where people had a sense of community and were working together. This materialism and worship of money a white man prints out of thin air has gone way too far.
I saw the pics of Arenas' Playboy mansion style pool grotto
Why not invest in productive businesses and put people to work? fuck welfare. I'm talking about some positive sustainable shit.I swear black folks are our own worst enemy. We need to find that old 50s - 70s type spirit where people had a sense of community and were working together. This materialism and worship of money a white man prints out of thin air has gone way too far.
nba aint the nfl they can ask for every player to shit golden eggs in the paint but they aint gonna get it
guaranteed contracts didnt destroy the nba - stern did
bullshit faggot rules where the game isnt physical anymore
bullshit cheating ass refs rigging every fuckin game
actually i wouldnt give a fuck if they stopped the nba altogether and had no replacement pro league
same goes for the nfl hockey and mlb
guaranteed contracts didnt destroy the nba - stern did
bullshit faggot rules where the game isnt physical anymore
bullshit cheating ass refs rigging every fuckin game
actually i wouldnt give a fuck if they stopped the nba altogether and had no replacement pro league
same goes for the nfl hockey and mlb
yeah right... Players are really gonna work hard when they can be cut. You think Kobe would be playing injured knowing he could in the future be cut. If they make it so players can be cut anytime after 3 years then players will be extra-cautious in a contract season. Plus some will do what they have to do to get cut. NBA owners are smoking crack.
the owners and stern are hoping negative publicity and the recession will give them the advantage with the public and media to break one of sports' stronger unions. shit aint gonna happen unless these moron players have totally lost their minds.
nba and mlb have the owners by the balls and all those old crackas dream of having a nfl style players union that takes it up the ass.
I agree Stern's rule changes have really been terrible for the game. that said, one thing though these dudes coming out the hood are pretty wild. I remember when Chris Mills was pointing his gun at the Trailblazers' team bus after a game in Oakland
People talk about hockey fights but bottom line niggas don't know how to have a fight without escalating it to some gunplay.Stern is probably about as lax with player behavior as can be imagined, for instance he didn't even suspend Arenas until dude started running his mouth.
i still hate stern he turned a sport i loved into some lady gaga with a ball type shitI agree Stern's rule changes have really been terrible for the game. that said, one thing though these dudes coming out the hood are pretty wild. I remember when Chris Mills was pointing his gun at the Trailblazers' team bus after a game in Oakland
Stern is probably about as lax with player behavior as can be imagined, for instance he didn't even suspend Arenas until dude started running his mouth.
its just the trend when you have huge salaries and investments, owners don't want to risk their meal ticket getting taken out by a goon. same thing is happening in NFL with rules about QB, WR etc. restricting defenses, same thing in MLB with less brushbacks being allowed etc.
Its not Stern really, its inevitable as team values started skyrocketing. people don't remember how downplayed shit used to be. the famous finals finale Magic's rookie year when he played center to replace Kareem wasn't even live! it was tape delayed! back in the day in the 60s etc. players didn't make shit and had to get jobs in the offseason. Dave Cowens drove a cab when he retired. etc.
u are missing my point. everybody has a role to play. some guys are shooters and some are defensive specialist and some are slasher.
nash plays no defense, yet no one accuses him of not being a hard worker.
guys that can do everything well (jordan kobe lebron) are the exception to the rules. they have the talent and the drive.
some guys have the drive (but just not talent to do it all) nash / ben wallace
those are your opinions but having the say so on what happens is a different matter.
(pretty broad generalizations you are making about the players)
none of us do so it is a moot point.
so you're made at the players for getting what the owners are willing to pay them?
if you're a cashier at a bank and ask for 250K salary and the president of that bank branch gives it you, who's at fault, you for asking for 250K or him for giving it to you?
It's not stern in the sense of rule changes, it's stern in the sense he put everything in the NBA on one man - Michael Jordan. The biggest fuckup by the NBA was focusing pretty much solely on MJ- when he left it created a vaccuum in the league. The players in the 90s should have been able to step up- but there was no one else really marketed like that - it took the players drafted in the mid 90s to develop. Kg, Kobe, vice, AI, tmac. Fact is really, Jordan didn't have much competition in that second three peat- because after 98 everything changed up.
Also the lockout made it harder to stack teams up. More parity. In a sport like basketball you have to have teams that arethe cream of the crop. People want to see dynasties.
Lockout looks hard to avoid with hardline measures like those. The players have to play it better from a publicity angle than last time and be far more united.
this will be ok for me if they decide to drop the ticket prices by a 3rd also
They will just go overseas, simple and plain. Trust superstars like LeBron and Kobe are not going to play for less at this point.
this overall thread is funny.
bgol niggas really hate the nba and its players
yet wonder why these guys don't fuck with fans & people outside their inner circle.
It is funny. Hating on people because they have and you don't is immature as shit and speaks to the type of person you are. Like them or not, those dudes work hard to get where they are and usually play for free far more years than they get paid.
There are only several hundred NBA players, how many people do your job? That's why they get paid so much.
Not when that overseas' coin is so plentiful for top guys.
its NOT that plain and simple
these overseas leagues have like 10-15 teams per league and play like 20 games a year. You really think they can afford an influx of NBA players?
so you're made at the players for getting what the owners are willing to pay them?
if you're a cashier at a bank and ask for 250K salary and the president of that bank branch gives it you, who's at fault, you for asking for 250K or him for giving it to you?
I hate atheletes for being white boy hoes.
They get those dollars and get a white lawyer/agent, move to a white neighborhood, with a white wife, buying from white stores, living the white lifestyle.
Meanwhile, all the kids want to be like them, a white wannabe.
I'm not mad about the pay, I'm mad that this human garbage completely squandered the opportunities they were given.
This time will never be seen again. Yet, when we all look back, the only thing they will have to show for it is some memories.
Pro atheletes are monstrous dumbasses, the lowest-grade of human.
The days of Jim Brown/Kareem/Ali/Aaron were completely missing these past 20 years.
That's ridiculous. They're in worse shape than the United Sates.
Face it, they're screwed.
Didn't LeBron or Kobe say something about playing overseas?
You can really tell who will future business owners in this thread based on these comments you are making.
I have to side with the owners on this. I think the "Max Deals" that were implemented years ago was a great thing. I have great solutions for the NBA.
- I think salaries should go up for the players. This is a star driven league so salaries need to go higher.
- I think contracts should be guaranteed for 2 years. This way you won't have teams stuck in shitty contracts and players like Starbury would be on top of his game instead of a slacker. This will help players improve their play.
- I think rookie contracts need to go down in salary. Make players earn their worth. I think 4 million is too much to be paying for an unproven player. I'm sorry I just do. Regardless to salary, players will still work hard to raise their draft stock.
- Get rid of the Veteran's minimum contract. This causes teams to cut some veterans because of salary and makes teams taking chance on unproven rookies because they can pay them less.
- Lastly this league needs revenue sharing in the worst way. I hate to see teams like New Orleans and Mil. having to gut their teams due to money issues while New York can take on crappy contracts and have a payroll over $100mill with the luxury tax not affecting them. This is the reason why the Nets are moving to Brooklyn.
I have to side with the owners on this. I think the "Max Deals" that were implemented years ago was a great thing. I have great solutions for the NBA.
- I think salaries should go up for the players. This is a star driven league so salaries need to go higher.
- I think contracts should be guaranteed for 2 years. This way you won't have teams stuck in shitty contracts and players like Starbury would be on top of his game instead of a slacker. This will help players improve their play.
- I think rookie contracts need to go down in salary. Make players earn their worth. I think 4 million is too much to be paying for an unproven player. I'm sorry I just do. Regardless to salary, players will still work hard to raise their draft stock.
- Get rid of the Veteran's minimum contract. This causes teams to cut some veterans because of salary and makes teams taking chance on unproven rookies because they can pay them less.
- Lastly this league needs revenue sharing in the worst way. I hate to see teams like New Orleans and Mil. having to gut their teams due to money issues while New York can take on crappy contracts and have a payroll over $100mill with the luxury tax not affecting them. This is the reason why the Nets are moving to Brooklyn.
All good things must come to an end.
Yes.
What do you mean the European leagues have offered Kobe and LeBron huge contracts in the past? The reality is the big bucks are going over the pond, you can take it or leave it alone.
I don't recall them offering contracts to Lebron or Kobe. All I remember is ESPN proposing scenarios would Lebron or Kobe go play overseas for 50 mill a year.
You say that like Brown/Kareem/Ali were the norm, they weren't. While he's made plenty of poor decisions, Stephon Marbury went out of his way to try to make affordable sports gear and brought along several top NBA players with him. Hakeem Olajuwon endorsed Spalding at a time when Nike and Reebok were handing out 8 figure deals.
Some of these are workable and will probably be thrown out there during the actual negotiations. But I'm not a fan of the league protecting owners/GMs from themselves. If you fuck up your payroll, you should have to suffer for it. The players shouldn't have to suffer so that teams can cover up their mistakes.
TAIYUAN, China -- Stephon Marbury has returned to basketball -- this time, playing in a parched, polluted city in China after making himself unwelcome in the NBA.
The team is officially called Shanxi Fenjiu, named for a local grain alcohol, but is more commonly known as the Brave Dragons.
Home court is a grimy 5,300-seat arena with dragon decals peeling off the worn hardwood. The sports heroes whose posters hang on the baby blue walls outside the locker room are Chinese pingpong and badminton athletes.
How did "Starbury," the brash New Yorker with a tattoo on the side of his head who's lately become better known for his bizarre online stunts and run-ins with coaches and owners, end up in a provincial rustbelt city that's home to the Coal Museum of China?
"It was an opportunity to allow my brand to grow in a different distribution channel," he said, referring to his Starbury line of low-priced athletic shoes and clothing. "And I wanted to get back onto the basketball court."
The Marbury who's been reincarnated in China for this roughly six-week gig is, by all accounts, affable and easygoing.
There's been no sign of the defiant personality that turned the former All-Star into an NBA pariah after feuding with coaches and skipping games, in the process alienating management, teammates and fans.
Marbury has embraced a leadership role with the Brave Dragons after being here only about a week, giving pointers to young teammates through sign language and a translator who hovers along the sideline.
Off the court, he delights his many fans in this basketball-crazy country with one of the few Chinese phrases he's learned, "Xin Nian Kuai Le," or "Happy New Year."
"People say this and that about him, but let me tell you, I had dinner with him last night and it was so simple, chicken fried rice. That's it," Brave Dragons coach Wu Qinglong said, expressing his approval of such low-key behavior.
"He was happy. He said it was really good," Wu added. "He didn't even want anything to drink, just some bottled water."
Marbury was dealing with a throng of fans and journalists as soon as he got off the plane and walked into the airport terminal in Taiyuan, 320 miles southwest of Beijing. Staff at the Western restaurant in his luxury hotel say they've been busy shooing away reporters, including one who ran in after Marbury left to snap a photo of his unfinished meal.
Of course, a positive image helps sell shoes, and Marbury knows his potential Chinese customers are watching.
"You got over 300 million kids that love basketball, so you can't beat that," he said. "I don't think people are all aware of that in the United States."
The 32-year-old Marbury may be the highest-profile NBA player to join China's professional basketball league so far, but he's certainly not the first. The Chinese Basketball Association depends heavily on foreign talent to raise the level of competition, though each team is only allowed to have two overseas athletes who play a combined six quarters per game.
Nine of the top 10 scorers in the CBA this season are foreigners, led by Andre Emmett, who had a short NBA career before becoming an international journeyman.
Ninth on the list is Wang Zhizhi, the former Dallas Mavericks center who was the first Chinese player to make the NBA.
The Brave Dragons have a dire need for talent. They're 4-15, last in the 17-team league.
Team owner Wang Xingjiang, who made his fortune in iron and steel before getting into basketball, saw in Marbury a kindred entrepreneur. He invited Marbury to play in China after reading online that the point guard didn't have an NBA contract and offered him a salary of $100,000. That figure has not yet been finalized, Wang said, calling it a "very low" amount.
"He's helping me with the team, I can help him in business. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to afford him," said Wang, sitting in one of the more than a dozen faded armchairs and loveseats lining the sideline that make up the VIP section at Binhe Sports Arena. "He wants to promote his shoes and I want to be his agent in China."
Marbury has shipped 50,000 pairs of Starbury shoes to China, but said the marketing plan was "secret." On the court, he wears black hightops embroidered with his Chinese name, "Ma Bu Li."
He's opened a store on popular Chinese online retailer taobao.com, but Marbury had no idea how many pairs of shoes have sold so far.
"I haven't even been focused on that, to be honest," Marbury said. "I've been totally focused on basketball."
The knowledgeable Chinese fans expect a lot from foreign players -- and they say Marbury's nine months away from basketball is evident.
"His stamina isn't up to it yet," said 41-year-old season ticket holder Zhang Zhijun, an unemployed driver, sitting on the front row at Marbury's second game with the Brave Dragons. "Right now he needs to turn up his game. He's not even playing at his normal level.
"I can't say he's the best player I've ever seen," he added. The best so far has been "[Bonzi] Wells, who played for Shanxi last season."
Wells, who played for the Portland Trail Blazers for most of his NBA career, scored 48 points in his debut with the Brave Dragons.
During Wednesday night's game against the Guangdong Leopards, Marbury finished with 15 points and 15 assists in more than 42 minutes. He was only 1 of 7 from 3-point range.
Action off the court was almost as exciting as the sloppy play on it. Incensed by what they thought was a bad call in the fourth quarter, angry fans began hurling cigarette lighters at the referees and onto the court. Police dispersed into the stands while the visiting team scurried away, covering their heads with towels and the hoods of their puffy jackets.
"Please sit down," the announcer pleaded. "Please take care of your home court."
Considering the fans' tendency to throw things (the same thing happened at the previous game), perhaps it's not too surprising that the arena doesn't have concession stands -- no popcorn, no hot dogs and definitely no beer.
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