The end of the NBA lockout
Every time I heard the phrase “basketball-related-income” the past few months, it practically caused me to throw up in my mouth. The term of course, referred to one of the main issues in the NBA’s labor dispute, which ended on Nov. 26 after lasting about five months.
I’ve always enjoyed following the NBA. However, following the business of the NBA and feeling obligated to analyze the NBA’s financials like an eager associate at Goldman Sachs left me feeling pretty sour.
Especially because the settlement that finally was reached, was one that could have been reached last June. Lockouts that last five months are not natural phenomena. They don’t just happen, and they don’t occur because both sides are at fault. Lockouts that last five months are attempts by management to exercise control over their workers.
Anyone that has followed the NBA closely knows Commissioner David Stern, and team owners love to have control. For example, Stern at one point sought to maintain control over Allen Iverson’s rap lyrics. In 2005, he implemented a dress code for his players. Last season, the NBA-which is to say David Stern-came down with a rule that stated that headbands cannot be worn upside down or inside out.
So when Stern started going around explaining that 22 of his 30 franchises were losing money, and that owners needed a bigger cut of “basketball-related-income” (BRI) it was obvious the players wouldn’t agree, and there’d be a lockout.
In the previous Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), players received 57 percent of BRI. The owners wanted to lower the players share to about 50 percent, and while the players fought back for awhile, they realized that losing a whole season of pay wouldn’t outweigh the benefit of receiving a higher cut of BRI in the new CBA.
In the end, the players took a reduction in the amount of BRI they will receive. Players and owners settled on a financial split where players will earn between 49 and 51 percent of BRI depending on league growth
The players did win some concessions in regards to the league’s salary structure and in the rules regarding free agency. That was pretty much it after five months of loud public wrangling.
Though the owners got most of what they wanted, I’m sure most of them are still unhappy. Owners should take solace in the fact that by reducing the player’s share of BRI by seven percent, they will net over three billion dollars more than the previous deal over the life of the 10-year contract.
With an agreement finally reached, the 66 game season that has been agreed upon will start on Christmas Day.
Play during the first couple weeks of the season may be played at a pre-season caliber given how little time teams will have to prepare. Also, veterans may struggle later in the season given the little amount of off days team will have. As Charles Barkley said during the 1998-1999 lockout, “I can’t play three days in a row. I can’t have sex three days in a row.”
The season should be a great one overall though, and the playoffs should prove to produce some of the best play in years. Last year was arguably the best NBA season of the past decade, and the 2012 version should be even better.
We’ll get to see if Dirk and Kobe have another title in them; if Boston’s Big Four and San Antonio’s Big Three can make one more title run before they scatter to the wind; if the up-and-coming Bulls and Thunder can finally break through and make the Finals. And yes, as awful as it is to imagine, we’ll get to see if the Heat and their Big Three can make good on their promise to win a championship. Without a NBA season we never would’ve gotten the chance to find out.
While the lockout wasn’t an ideal situation for players, owners or fans, it’s certainly better to have the NBA season start late than not start at all.
