Hunter: "Maybe we can start our own league"

[gatorpops]

What the NBA needs is a government bailout on the scale of Solindra. That would fix all. Let the players and owners lobby for such.

 

[julius]

What the NBA needs is a government bailout on the scale of Solindra. That would fix all. Let the players and owners lobby for such.

half a billion dollars wouldn't help much.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Their own separate league huh? Do they plan to rent out high-school gymnasiums? Tournaments at the 'Y'? Awesome.

I know it's probably because I'm a cynical bastard, but part of me hopes both the owners and players crater in spectacular fashion because of this idiotic standoff. There'd be nothing funnier than if when the lockout finally lifts next year (or whenever) that these guys damaged revenue so badly that max contracts dropped 500% and courtside seats were only worth about 30 bucks.

 

[THE HCP]

Dope! Season tickets courtside for $1,200!

 

[jlprk]

Their own separate league huh? Do they plan to rent out high-school gymnasiums? Tournaments at the 'Y'? Awesome.

I know it's probably because I'm a cynical bastard, but part of me hopes both the owners and players crater in spectacular fashion because of this idiotic standoff. There'd be nothing funnier than if when the lockout finally lifts next year (or whenever) that these guys damaged revenue so badly that max contracts dropped 500% and courtside seats were only worth about 30 bucks.

I'm hoping for the same thing, and in fact I bought a piggy bank today so I can start saving up my 30 bucks by then.

 

[barfo]

Hilarious. I'm just speechless at the absurdity, the ignorance and the delusion necessary for the players to think they can just show up in a gym, play basketball, and get paid, let alone do better than what the NBA has offered them. These morons would lose every dime they have and be washed up has-beens, just in time for the entire venture to go bankrupt. That is, if they could even get that kind of organizational complexity off the ground. Hilarious.

Well, the players themselves certainly couldn't do it. However, you can hire that sort of talent. I don't think it is outrageous to think about, if the players are willing to accept a different sort of deal just to screw the NBA. For example, you might cut them in as partners - they get a share of the profits, rather than a salary. If they accept this, then you can get through the first few years ok. If I had a few billion dollars that I wasn't using, I'd think about deploying it here. There's a $4B revenue stream that is available for the taking.

barfo

 

[jlprk]

Player-owners would need seasoned owners to mediate between them, just as they need referees. Players might own 10-20% of the new league, but as I said,

I'm thinking of a league with new owners, and not the players owning it. I think Hunter meant that when he said, maybe "we" can start a new league.

 

[Ed O]

Well, the players themselves certainly couldn't do it. However, you can hire that sort of talent. I don't think it is outrageous to think about, if the players are willing to accept a different sort of deal just to screw the NBA. For example, you might cut them in as partners - they get a share of the profits, rather than a salary. If they accept this, then you can get through the first few years ok. If I had a few billion dollars that I wasn't using, I'd think about deploying it here. There's a $4B revenue stream that is available for the taking.

They would be getting a share of revenues (better than of profits) from the NBA... why would it be better to have their own league? To get equity?

What would stop them from being just like Michael Jordan (i.e., hardline ownership) after they retired and were just owners, rather than owner-players?

Why would future players be better off playing for them than for the current owners?

Ed O.

 

[barfo]

They would be getting a share of revenues (better than of profits) from the NBA... why would it be better to have their own league? To get equity?

Yes, to get equity. Having a lifetime revenue stream might seem more appealing than a 5-year revenue stream.

What would stop them from being just like Michael Jordan (i.e., hardline ownership) after they retired and were just owners, rather than owner-players?

Nothing, but who cares? That's a problem for future players, not for current players.

Why would future players be better off playing for them than for the current owners?

They wouldn't, if the two leagues both exist. However, I'm suggesting that it's possible to actually kill the NBA right now with a focused, well-financed attack.

barfo

 

[jlprk]

1. To have a say in policies that should have been instituted long ago, like profit-sharing among owners. Now, no more surprises about plastic balls or dress codes. They'd get a minority vote in management decisions.

2. Nothing.

3. Players would get a share of voting and profits only as long as they were players.

 

[HailBlazers]

Great Ideas Guys ^

Dope! Season tickets courtside for $1,200!

Also a nice idea. Hopefully they can secure stadiums with roofs.

 

[Ed O]

Yes, to get equity. Having a lifetime revenue stream might seem more appealing than a 5-year revenue stream.

OK. So it's the current crop of players acting in their best interest--not in the interests of players moving forward as the union claimed to be concerned with. Just wanted to clarify that (that sounds like it's a negative attached with your idea/position... it's not. I just wanted to clarify).

Nothing, but who cares? That's a problem for future players, not for current players.

Future players might as well play for the teams and owners that fans recognize. Presumably Andre Drummond or Jared Sullinger would rather play for the Chicago Bulls or the LA Lakers or Boston Celtics than part of some startup league that simply exists to enrich the current batch of players.

They wouldn't, if the two leagues both exist. However, I'm suggesting that it's possible to actually kill the NBA right now with a focused, well-financed attack.

I don't think there's a chance in hell. All the NBA has to do is lure some players to the NBA from the current batch (which it could do by paying some of the very best players top dollar--with the union out the window, why would there be solidarity between players?) and attract top college talent.

The NBA owners have too much equity invested in their current intellectual property to simply dry up and go away. There are great players all over the world and more blossom into marketable elements every year... a new league cannot create the history or fan bases that the NBA already has cultivated in a short enough time to convince the new players to play for them, instead.

Ed O.

 

[Natebishop3]

I hope they do it. Fuck the NBA and fuck Stern!

 

[THE HCP]

^Somebody has the day off and has been drinking.........

 

[Natebishop3]

^Somebody has the day off and has been drinking.........

No dude, the NBA sucks. International basketball is much more fun to watch. I love watching the Olympic basketball. No star treatment, no bullshit, just basketball. That's how it should be. The NBA is the worst league in sports when it comes to start treatment and referee interference. Crash and burn that shit and let's start from square one.