an update on likely starting dates beyond the draft including free agency and next season are asked and answered in an article about what comes next after the bubble and a Q&A with NBPA boss Michele Roberts. she gives answers about the discussions she has already held with Nate Silvers too.is at the athletic behind a pay wall so will post some highlights. there is a lot more depth to her answers at the athletic.
https://theathletic.com/2118672/202...-nbpa-boss-michele-roberts/?source=dailyemail
— January and February are realistic start times for the 2020-21 season: “The latter part of January, February makes sense. If it’s later than that, if we have a terrible winter because the virus decides to reassert herself, that’s fine. The absolute earliest would be January, and that’s doable.” The NBA and NBPA both have shared goals: An 82-game season, in-market play, reduced travel and potentially a set amount of fans.
— Free agency is expected to be no later than Dec. 1 — and the salary cap and tax numbers should not dip much lower than the current projections: “We can’t go much beyond (Dec. 1) for (free agency).
Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell, Portland Trail Blazers forward Carmelo Anthony and Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown will serve on the Social Justice Coalition.
Sacramento Kings forward Harrison Barnes and Philadelphia 76ers forward Tobias Harris will serve as player reps on the NBA Foundation.
In your meeting with Adam, what did you take away about the league’s future?
That there is a future. As bad as this thing is, it’s never occurred to me and I won’t allow it to occur to me that somehow basketball, as we know it, is over. This has been an incredibly successful sport in terms of popularity and revenue-generating possibilities. That’s not going to change. We’re certainly on a detour right now, but at the end of the day, professional basketball is still going to be an incredible machine. What we’re doing now is figuring out how to manage what is a short-term problem. We’re not going to make as much money. Money is not a dirty word, it’s the reality. So we need to figure out what we’re going to do about a season that is revenue-challenged. That’s what we’re addressing and once the Finals end, then we’re going to have conversations in a very significant way. We’re just setting the table for that.
What are the scenarios? How do you address the losses in finances?
Everyone is projecting what the losses are likely going to look like. We projected a BRI of over $8 billion and it ain’t going to be a BRI of over $8 billion. That’s clear. As long as we can’t have our arenas to full capacity, we have to be realistic. That’s a 40 percent revenue drop. So the question is, how do we deal with that and allow the pain that’s clearly going to be felt in a way that makes sense? Clearly the issue will be is … our current BRI has the owners enjoying 49 percent of the revenue, players get 51 percent … we have a substantially smaller pie now. But there’s some real numbers out there, some committed salaries, and some fixed costs. If we’re not talking about an $8-plus billion revenue year, but a $6-plus billion revenue year, what does that mean in terms of our ability get 51 percent and the owners’ ability to get their 49 percent?
Adjustments are going to have to be made so we can all walk away with some pain but not unfairly distributed.
How do you guys go about closing any gaps?
It comes down to if it’s a $6 billion pie and our owners are entitled to 49 percent, and they’re already committed to $5 billion in player salaries and fixed costs for example, where’s the rest of their money? There’s ways to take that $6 billion and get to their 49 percent. One of the ways to do it is to slash player salaries. I got to deal with a constituency that, you slash their salaries, this may be for many of my guys on the last two or three years of their careers. Is there a way to deal with that?
And we’ll never say to the owners:
Y’all just going to have to eat the loss. Who’s going to do that? They’re not stupid. They’re not just going to say,
OK, yeah you’re right, we’re just going to have to lose a couple billion dollars on our own. That’s not going to happen. Instead what you say is, can we figure out a way to manage that so there is no loss, but there isn’t an immediate pay day. Can you withstand some delay in getting your money? I have some real life examples of people I know in my life that say that they live paycheck-to-paycheck. And there are other people that can say that they can deal with deferred compensation. You figure it out. Our players are well-compensated, I’m not suggesting that’s not the case, but at the end of the day if you’re talking a billion-to-two-billion-dollar gap is there
At times, the fear of a lockout has also come up.
Nobody wants that. When the players ask me now:
Michele, do you think the owners are going to try to lock us out? I use the analysis: the revenue hit is not to be ignored. But do I think we’re not going to rebound and make money again and again soon … I do think we will. You don’t kill the golden goose. I would bet there is not a chance of a lockout. If it happens, it will be absolutely because they are unreasonable and folks without any foresight are driving the train. I happen to think that Adam is neither of those.
We’re going to resolve this.
