College Wolf wrote:
I'm going to put it out there and say I'm an advocate of "At Will" employment for all NBA players and "Right to Work" collective bargaining status...

How would THAT look? Other than the ridiculous difficulty that you would find in keeping the Owners from colluding being as they are all partners of sorts in the greater NBA venture, it would be interesting as hell. I don't think it would do much to combat the lack of parity though.

By the way I'm just playing on the RTW and At Will thing, no hardcore organizers get up in my grill please(!). As CW referenced, pro sports are a weird economic world where it's not exactly capitalist, largely removed from free markets, but you wouldn't say it's socialist or anything either, just real weird.

I hope this lockout ends soon so I can get pumped about Ricky and D-Will being Wolves and being coached by Adelman!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yea, just trying to make light of this dumb, dumb situation. It is disgusting. I need two hands to name my friends and associates who have been laid off or have had their work reduced due to this sh*t.

While the big boys treat this like a game, for others it's their livelihood on the line.

P.S. This guy goes hard. he sums up my sentiments on the NBA, the U.S., and the world at large.

daddyfatsax wrote: Makes logical points. Get that man in office somewhere.

So much being written on the lockout. Here's more:

The Games Beyond The Game

NBPA, owners can reach finish line on new deal; here's how

With nearly all of $8 billion gap closed, season can be saved

More great lockout related content from today. Some goods here:

With 'deadline' looming, NBA players union must take action

KG = STUD: Garnett makes stand in NBA’s labor battle

So no one cares about the NBA, huh?

Taxing the rich isn’t as simple as it seems

CBA Talk: A Little Math

"And if that doesn't cheer up despondent fans, consider this: Whatever's on Netflix has to be more entertaining than the Timberwolves":
No Basketball, No Problem

The player salaries lost to a lockout

Ten lockout questions to chew on ... probably for awhile

I'm no genius, but it seems simple enough to me. Give the Players 51% of ALL Total Revenues. Then after that, figure out the new contract lengths, max salary amounts, Luxury Tax, revenue sharing amongst teams, etc etc etc.

With 51% of all revenues, the Players feel like they "won" the negotiations, and can tell all their members they get more than the Owners. Personally, I think a 50-50 split of all total revenues is fair, but 51-49 gets things done much sooner. There's still some ego and pride at stake here too, after all.

The players have already given away hundreds of millions over the length of a new CBA from their old deal, by going down from the previously agreed upon 57%, to the newly proposed 53%. Going from 57% to 51% gives the Owners over $1 billion in savings over the length of a new CBA. Considering the Owners locked out the Players because they "supposedly" lost $300 million-ish dollars last season, that's not too shabby.

If the Owners insist upon 50-50 split of revenues, but under the "old rules" concerning BRI (Basketball Related Income - where they got about $400 million per year in stadium/team costs/etc "credits" off the top BEFORE splitting the rest with the Players), then a 50-50 BRI split in this situation is actually only about 47% of all Total Revenue for the Players under a new CBA. That just doesn't seem fair to me at all. I'm sorry, but I can understand why the Players wouldn't take that deal. It stinks.

So yeah, split ALL Total Revenue 50-50, and then the rest of this crap shakes out quite easily (all things considered.) Considering both parties are supposedly merely only a few percentage points away, then missing any games is very very bad. They'll end up losing more to the lockout and not having games, than they would by agreeing to a bad CBA (see: "CBA Talk: A Little Math" linked above.)

But as I said above, make that happen and it's The End. Lockout is over soon. Games come back. We are all happy.

(I just went and turned this into a TWB Front page post too. Check it out there for hopefully commenting with new readers.)

College Wolf wrote:
KG doing work. Can't stop, won't stop. Rep it right my dude.

Looks like another good read:

Why David $tern Wants Us To Panic Over NBA Lockout's Deafening Silence

Uh-oh again:

Union refuses NBA’s conditions of meeting

What The Fans Truly Care About

Union refuses NBA’s conditions of meeting

Revenue split will determine NBA’s fate

Season won't be lost; whether games are is simply a matter of ego

New one
twolvesblog.com/201110103314/minnesota-t...down-the-briath.html

WallyWorld wrote: Good post WW, I commented on the front page.

It's crunch time. From David Aldridge:

Players, owners must reach deal to avoid significant damage

Games cancelled... and it's just the tip of the iceberg.

NBA cancels first two weeks of season

NBA season can still be salvaged, but quick resolution is unlikely

Key points as full season falls by the wayside

So many angles to this...head exploding.

-Owners = greedy
-Players = Stupid and will have to take a worse deal after losing 1/2 a season pay.
-System = Definitely needs change
-"Owners need system to save from themselves" is not entirely accurate I don't think.

I wish I didn't care this much.

Key question....someone find out for sure....did the players in '99 get a better deal by holding out?