Photo by Auntie P on Flickr

Here’s what I’m not expecting to hear much from the basketball blogosphere today: “I’m pumped to watch the charity game in Miami tonight. The Goodman/Drew rematch tomorrow is going to be awesome, too.”

That’s what I’m thinking, though, and I think it’s kind of crazy that I feel the need to justify it. I’m going to watch Chris Paul, Rajon Rondo, Russell Westbrook, and John Wall in the same game tonight. I’m going to watch LeBron and Dwyane playing against one another again. This is all kinds of awesome in my world… but instead of being pumped to share some basketball joy on Twitter, I’ll probably leave TweetDeck closed. Not interested in seeing people complain about the lack of defense and intensity.

It’s completely understandable to me if you’re not into summer games or if you’re simply tired of ‘em. To lots of people, even huge NBA fans, the fact that there’s little at stake means they’re not that entertaining. Fair enough. Thing is, it’s unreasonable to think that these games have somehow been disappointing. It’s silly to act as if they’re worthless just because they aren’t the same as pro ball. The games feature NBA players, but OF COURSE they’re not going to have NBA intensity. You’re not going to see proper team defense in an All-Star game. Guys are not going to risk injury during the off-season. It’s about putting on a show. If you’ve ever seen a charity game before this summer, you know this. At Vince Carter’s charity games in Toronto, they’d stop the action to have dance-offs. They’d reset the score to 0-0 in the fourth quarter. This seemed totally appropriate. Everybody had a good time.

I’m trying to figure out why anyone would be angry about something that gives fans the opportunity to see the best in the world put on a dunking clinic up close at a reasonable price. I’m trying to comprehend why you’d whine about the style of play in a game you’re choosing to stream for free. Maybe the lockout just has NBA lovers on edge, angry at every party involved: “You’re giving me THIS? Screw you, I want my NBA!” But how about seeing the increased summer action as one of the only positives to come out of this mess? Believe me, I’d love to know serious pro competition was coming soon. It just seems like a total waste to let that stop me from enjoying this ridiculous collection of talent in Miami.

Plus, Eddy Curry!

Photo from Daniel2005 via Flickr

Two men are arrested for being suspects in an unnamed crime. Police is low on evidence, but what they do have is a sophisticated interrogator. The interrogator speaks to each of the two suspects separately, and tells each of them this:

The players are holding out for an additional $120 million in 2011-12, but holding out costs them $82.4 million per week. They would lose everything they stand to gain this season in less than two weeks. On Monday the league is expected to announce the cancellation of the first two weeks of the season, which will cost the players $164.8 million.

Over a six year agreement, the players would burn through the $796 million in a little under 10 weeks. If they continue to hold out for 53 percent, and the owners hold firm at 50 percent, the players will reach the break-even point around December 16th. If the sides settle for 53 percent past that date, then the players would have been better off by taking the owners’ offer of 50 percent before games were cancelled.

via The player salaries lost to a lockout – TrueHoop Blog – ESPN.

In this case, the NBA is one prisoner, and the players are another. “Ratting out” for that extra 3% looks good on paper – after all, this lockout was always about financial splits, and each side badly wants to win that battle. But if both sides rat out, the losses will be worse for everybody. Huge losses will combine with lost momentum to create a much worse situation than the 6 aggregate years served by our hypothetical criminals from before. No, for prisoners Hunter and Stern, our table looks more like this.

Photo by Mark Heard on Flickr

It seems as though the lockout has lasted indefinitely. The weird, constantly changing presence that screams and demands your attention (but doesn’t understand why it does) has echoed from the beginning of July to the present day. That feeling doesn’t really ever stop. It lulls from time to time, hiding underneath the activity of more active sports, biding its time before it rears back and screams again. Things become too comfortable, and it cries out, “The season might not happen at all!” The difference in recent weeks has been the existence of actual negotiations (as opposed to more informal posturing), and some good has even come out of those modest hours of talking between the NBA and NBPA. The gap has closed to what seems like a manageable sum ($80 million per year is the number recently floated in many reports). It’s an amount that can be negotiated, and it’s an amount worth negotiating (in the context of the money that stands to be lost by both sides) when compared to the effect of missing regular season games.

Whatever happens this weekend, whatever secret or not-so-secret negotiations occur at the final hour, we’ll know whether or not games will be missed by Monday. That’s the deadline David Stern has set. After months of not really knowing anything, at least the beginning of the 2011-2012 NBA season’s fate will become clear. Thinking about it causes knots waiting in my stomach to twist, but I’d rather consider what defined this period than gaze into an uncertain future. I’ve compiled some of the words and ideas written during the lockout that helped to define the period. My hope is that the consensus of these (knowledgable) voices gives some kind of perspective to the directional arrow of the lockout and how it might change its course this weekend.

From Tom Ziller:

That’s why, if Stern’s gang refuses to relent on its incredible demands, these communities that have made the NBA what it is deserve answers from their team’s owners. Fans have financed the arenas that the NBA’s teams play in, paid ever-increasing ticket prices and supported their local team through thick and thin. They deserve answers.

via NBA Allows Lockout Owners To Cheat Fans, Embrace Greed

 

From Kelly Dwyer:

We’ve gone on at length, since July, about the financial impact an extended NBA lockout will have on thousands of North American workers that rely on an 82-game season to put food on the table. Workers that need those 41 home games to help chalk up the hours, and earnings. Men and women that have nothing to do with a terrible application of a mid-level exemption by owners, or player that burned through his rookie contract in just a few months.

What we forget, when we mock the half-canceled NBA preseason, is the sheer amount of workers that will be hurting due to a delayed series of games that nobody really cares about. Yes, the preseason counts.

via Your daily reminder that every lost NBA game hurts more people than you know

 

From Tim Donahue: 

Even if the owners are adamant about a 50% split, and the players have dug in at 53%, there is no math that says it is worth it to either side to lose games. I have tried to find a financial reason for either side to stand firm until the other breaks — no matter how long it takes — but I can’t. Not even if I take off my shoes.

Come Monday, if games are canceled, neither side can win. It will only be a question of which side has lost less.

via CBA Talk: A Little Math

 

This is hardly the breadth of the terrific work that’s been done during the lockout by reporters, writers, and the “bloggers”, but it illustrates this: This lockout benefits no one. Everything stems from posturing and negotiating tactics designed to produce the best deal possible at the last available moment. It’s a game of awful wait-and-see, with both sides hurting everything that surrounds and defines their sports. The worst part? No matter what deal is struck, no matter how slanted it might be towards one side, the net result will almost definitely be negative for both sides. Financially, it’ll hurt. Competitively, it’ll hurt. Regarding fan interest in the league, it’ll absolutely hurt.

Money lost in the short-term can always be recovered or sought out with a reasonable understanding that it might be gained (as an owner, player, or part of the system) back, but goodwill and interest take years to generate. If there’s a lockout now, even the most ardent NBA fans will be sickened by the lax, failing negotiations offered. They won’t care whether fault lies more with the owners, players, David Stern, or Billy Hunter. Anger and irritation and sadness will be the only feelings permeated through their tweets and water cooler discussions. After that ends, all that will be left is apathy. Even if a shortened season is saved, perspective will have floated into jaded neglect. But hey, at least the NHL will get a few new fans!

The reasonable NBA thinker can only come to one conclusion at this point: Either the owners and players reach a deal that saves the season (or only loses a few games), or they allow their egos to obscure the path to compromise until the bitter end, causing damage to their own industry.

Decide how you’re going to reach an agreement (an entirely possible and reasonable goal), NBA and NBPA, and do so quickly. If you don’t, much of your fan base won’t forgive you in the near future. They’ll have already made their own reasonable, justified choice.

Photo from peternijenhuis via Flickr

It’s been six years since the Phoenix Suns were referring to their franchise big man Amar’e (at the time, just Amare) Stoudemire as a “point center.” Six years forward, it’s still a bit unclear what exactly a point center’s job description looked like. It certainly wasn’t discernible at the time. While Stoudemire made significant strides in his outside shooting and his overall awareness on the court, he wasn’t a do-it-all in the mold of Magic Johnson, or even his future teammate Boris Diaw. This is not a slight to one of the most remarkable offensive players in the game — just a statement of observable fact. But Amar’e has always been motivated to improve. And while his on-court play hasn’t diversified as much as once projected, he’s made significant strides in becoming a more complete cultural being.

Recently placed in the spotlight is the phenomenal Bon Appétit feature on both Stoudemire and his personal chef Maxcel Hardy. If Stoudemire’s complete embrace of New York City’s cosmopolitan lifestyle wasn’t clear enough over the past year, Adam Sachs’ feature spells it out quite plainly. However, what’s more interesting is the parallel between Stoudemire and Hardy, whose partnership could only be construed as fate playing its part. Both men emerged in 2002 as teenage talents in Florida — at age 19, Stoudemire bypassed college and entered the NBA Draft and was selected 9th overall, while Hardy established a celebrity catering company in Miami at 18 while attending Johnson & Wales University on both a basketball and culinary arts scholarship.

Of course, Stoudemire has very much identified with the Jewish faith, and consequently, has taken up a more kosher diet. Not a problem, because Hardy gained extensive knowledge of kosher cooking early on in his career working  for Gem Catering, a kosher catering company. Seriously, what else other than fate could have brought these two together?

Suffice to say. Amar’e Stoudemire is living the life. He is a wealthy, wealthy man playing a sport that he is incredibly good at in a city that treats their sports figures as immortals. He is a prolific socialite with connections in every direction, and yet through all the noise, he has time and space to emphasize the importance of his own health and spirituality. And he pays someone who is ready to cook for him whenever he wants. The gravity of that concept is unfathomable to mere peons like myself.

It doesn’t hurt to know good people, and from Sach’s feature, there is no shortage of connections for Amar’e Stoudemire. Most notable is Brooklyn-based rapper Fabolous, who easily wins the award for best quote ever:

The rapper Fabolous is standing by the pool table. “I’m fond of his work,” he says of Hardy’s culinary prowess. Fabolous also respects Stoudemire’s interest in eating well: “I pig out all the time, but I plan to trend down the fried stuff when I get older. You gotta chisel at it, though. You can’t go cold turkey on fried chicken, you know?”

via Amar’e Stoudemire’s Full-Court Southern Feast | Bon Appetit

(“You can’t go cold turkey on fried chicken” is going on my headstone.)

Fabolous commends Stoudemire’s reformed eating habits, and rightfully so. As a player, understanding nutritional balance and exploring culinary alternatives is a necessity in not only discovering the body’s thresholds, but applying pressure on those boundaries once age begins to set in. And as a person, Stoudemire is learning, strengthening his spiritual bonds, becoming a cultural point forward, all in one (presumably satisfying) bite.

The press conference got off to a hilarious start with the president of CSKA showing up with an AK-47. (You just gotta love Russia!) Even more hilarious, they had AK pose with it at the press conference and photo shoot.

via Living and Dying by the Jazz.

Andrei, you’re doing it wrong.

Not signing overseas – as pointed out by Zach Lowe earlier today, that might be the perfect place for you, and you might not be able to find a contract in the NBA that you’re willing to accept. You’re doing gun safety wrong, and that’s a major no-no.

Photo via jazzfanatical.wordpress.com

Pointing a gun at someone, Andrei? Not cool! And that man is your teammate! Even if the gun is unloaded, you never point a gun at someone. That’s Gun Safety 101. Are we going to have to send you to Professor Chris Kaman for a little remedial education?

This isn’t ‘Nam, Andrei. This is Russia. There are rules. Please abide.

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

That’s a bit disingenuous, Mr. Fisher. After all, there’s a difference between the words “can’t” and “won’t.” That’s why they both exist – so we can say what we really mean. Granted, you have a job to do; I don’t begrudge you that, and I certainly don’t envy trying to keep so many disparate parts together at a negotiating table.

The fact of the matter, though, is that you won’t go any lower than that. And that’s fine – really. You have your principles and your desires that you must abide by. Stick to your guns. Stay the course. Hell, you’ve been the king of euphemisms, idioms and metaphors so far, so you pick which one best suits you.

Because you and your charges (and the owners – mostly the owners, really, but we’re not talking about them right now) won’t give back anymore to the owners, we’ll likely miss at least the start of the regular season. We – you – don’t know when the next labor meeting will be, which hints at the fact that we’ll likely not know when the regular season will begin for some time. It may be a month or two months, as Billy Hunter said, until we get another labor meeting.

I don’t blame you for the lockout, Mr. Fisher, and I applaud your stewardship of the union through these tough and troubling times. The letters you’ve sent to your players have been evenhanded and rational – two adjectives lacking in the labor talks since April. It is, as Hunter said in answering whether or not the owners’ offer was insulting, business. Negotiations are a brutal affair, and you’re not exactly bargaining with the fairest of adversaries across the table. They know what they want and they know how to get it. They are trying to break you, even more than you are trying to break them, so I cannot fault you for the failure and the fallout.

I simply wish you (and everyone) would say what you mean.

Photo by stephenphampshire via Flickr

Photo by turbojoe from Flickr

Since (David Stern, The Players Union,Billy Hunter, Dan Gilbert, Robert Sarver, Gilbert Arenas’ contract - just pick your favorite) is/are trying to ruin our life with this whole “lockout” thing (maybe you’ve heard of it), I’ve decided to go ahead and pretend it doesn’t exist. Some might call this the “denial” stage; I choose to call it the “I need to find a way to keep myself off drugs” portion of this dreaded labor disagreement. Thus I present you a pair of posts (in a somewhat shorter form, it’s the lockout for crying out loud) I would write in a world where BRI squabbles, hard cap disputes, and blogissists didn’t exist.

A Home For Earl

The league is coming off of one of the best post seasons in recent memory. The Dallas Mavericks finished off an improbable run at the expense of LeBron, Wade and the Heat. The NBA is in the best position since his Airness left the game for good in 1998 (yes,I’m pretending those Wizards years didn’t happen). Unfortunately, the free agent class of 2011 lacks the star power and intrigue of 2010. Tyson Chandler is certainly set to make a lot of money, but that will most likely come from Cuban and the Mavericks considering how well Chandler played throughout the playoffs. Nene is probably the best available player, but it would be surprising if the Nuggets didn’t make a serious effort to lock him down. There is however, an incredibly gifted, if not equally crazy, swingman who could play a key role in the upcoming season.

There’s been enough written about JR Smith as a player already. The general consensus seems to be he has the talent to be one of the best guards in the league, but his emotions and mental mistakes often make him more trouble than he’s worth. Still, placed in the right situation, JR could be an incredibly valuable weapon to a godd team. There are two particular franchises I believe would be most interesting. The first is the Denver Nuggets. Now, most Nuggets fans probably cringe at the idea of bringing JR back. The fact of the matter is he played very well for them, especially after the Melo trade, and I still hold Karl made a huge error by keeping JR on the bench in crucial situations against The Thunder.

The second, and much more intriguing option would be for JR Smith to join the Chicago Bulls. At first blush this seems like an awful idea, but consider a few things: First, The Bulls need someone else who can create and make his own shot. Throughout last years playoffs Derrick Rose was forced to carry the entire offensive load (insert your favorite Carlos Boozer is overpaid, and inept joke here). If Rose couldn’t get to the rim The Bulls were left helpless. JR, either as a starter, or a 6th man could provide a legit scoring threat to take some of the pressure off of Chicago’s new golden boy.  

Second, while Thibodeau and JR would seem to an awful match, there is also a decent chance Thibs could help turn JR around. Thibs’ system has turned lesser players into useful defenders, and JR has to grow up eventually, right? Yes, it’s equally likely that this turns Carlisimo-Sprewell situation, but you have to risk something to gain something. Of course with JR it’s impossible to predict the future. Who knows? He might even sign somewhere crazy, like Zambia or even China.

Lamarcus, We Have A Problem

Most NBA fans are familiar with the story by now. LaMarcus Aldridge stood as a 6 foot 11 inch, supremely talented enigma. Every Portland fan was aware of the potential but many had already dismissed him as “weak” or “soft”. The conventional wisdom - as much as a mystery wrapped in an enigma shrouded in a Blazers jersey can lend itself to conventional wisdom - was that Aldridge and players like him never developed the requisite physicality to dominate down low. Then Brandon Roy went down and everything changed. It seemed as though the Blazers season would be lost. They had no legitimate star or go to option on offense. That’s when LaMarcus WENT OFF. Suddenly LMA was fulfilling his limitless potential. He was terrorizing low post defenders, abusing them with deft hooks and turnarounds, and catching back-breaking lobs as soon as defenders dared to front him. By the end of the season LaMarcus was rightfully being discussed as one of the best power forwards in the league.

Despite LaMarcus’ efforts the Blazers’ season ended in disappointment at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. However, Portland fans, while certainly distraught over Roy, have to be giddy at the huge leap Aldridge made this past year. Even if Roy is unable to play meaningful minutes in the future, the Blazers appear to have a star they can build around.

With that said there are a few circumstances that concern me when it comes to the future of LaMarcus Aldridge.

One issue is the exit of Andre Miller. Now I know what you’re thinking, “ANDRE MILLER! He’s old, slow, and he can’t shoot.” In reality, only two of those things are true, and more importantly while Miller is not a flashy player he is a very gifted floor general. He always managed the game effectively, and was very good at getting the ball to LaMarcus in the spots he was most comfortable. Furthermore, Miller was a key part of the killer back door lob play that became a staple of the Blazer’s offense. John Hollinger has often called Miller the best lob passer in the league, and as great as Lamarcus was at spinning off the defender at the right moment, Miller’s on point passes were equally crucial. Sure Felton’s speed and shooting may provide better spacing for Aldridge, but it’s hard to believe Felton can fully replace Miller’s passing and leadership.

The other thorn in Aldridge’s side is head coach Nate McMillan. While McMillan has had great success in Portland despite numerous injuries, he still has the propensity to frustrate fans and players alike. His slow paced style handicaps Aldridge’s ability to flourish on the break. LMA is one of the best big men in the league while running the floor, and McMillan is actively limiting those opportunities. Second, McMillan has consistently overused his stars. Aldridge played the second most minutes in the league at 3211 total minutes and 39.6 per game. McMillan can’t allow that trend to continue. Aldridge’s body can only handle so many minutes throughout a season and his fatigue was apparent late in the Dallas series. In order for Aldridge to continue to grow and develop, McMillan needs to be more careful with his minutes or risk wearing down his gifted forward.

I remain extremely excited for the upcoming Blazers season. Since he was drafted LaMarcus has always been one of my favorite players and seeing him succeed last year vindicated my belief in his abilities. Still, Brandon Roy’s short lived success and rapid decline leave me weary of becoming too optimistic. Maybe Aldridge can handle all the minutes, maybe Felton will end up being a better fit than Miller ever was. Ultimately we’ll just have to watch and see. Thank goodness November isn’t that far off.

Photo via pro basketballtalk.nbcsports.com.

On Monday, members of the NBA players’ union and league representatives met for about five hours as part of the ongoing CBA talks. According to reports, tomorrow’s scheduled meeting is essentially do-or-die time for determining whether or not the 2011-12 regular season will start on time. When today’s meeting ended, NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver characterized the talks as “setting the table” for the all-important Tuesday session. This statement drew eye-rolls from around the blogosphere and Twitterverse, where many people wondered why the league and players’ union needed five hours to plan another meeting the next day. However, Hardwood Paroxysm’s sources can exclusively reveal details of the kind of planning that took place in the bargaining room today, and with a clearer picture of the table-setting process, it is apparent that the time put in today was both necessary and fruitful.
(more…)

Photo by alancleaver_2000 on Flickr

Today is the greatest day in basketball history. We did it. Together, as bloggers and fans, we defeated the lockout. Us 1, Lockout 0.

There was the lockout trying to be cool, hurting our feelings, and keeping us down. What did we do to stop it? We just believed, and it all happened. There were people that said we couldn’t do it, but we showed them.

It wasn’t easy. Most people thought we wouldn’t get to this point, especially this soon. There were some daunting obstacles. The CBA was a mess, the BRI gap was wide, and the only thing anyone could agree on was that Baron Davis’s hipster fashion sense looked unique. All of the arguing, all of the conflict, and all of the insecurity seemed to be coming to a head. Derek Fisher looked extra serious, and every media report pierced our souls. The future was bleak, but our hearts were strong, or at least strong enough to form a poorly constructed metaphor. We updated our blogs, we kept discussion logical and real on the Internet, and we complained about it on real life and online forums. This lockout formed a tidal wave against us, but our stronger metaphor fought back and won. Us 1, Lockout 0.

As the great philosopher Ke$ha once said, “We R Who We R”. And boy, was she right. Who we “R” is an unstoppable force that met the immovable object (in this case, it’s Dan Gilbert’s font choices) and punched it write in its stupid Comic Sans face. “Ow!” said the lockout. But we didn’t care. We were already setting sail for Basketball Town, first stop Optimism Station. The lockout tried to tell us what to do, but we responded with some good old-fashioned rebellious mid 1990s angst. You just got Nirvana’d, NBA lockout.

You know, there was a time when I didn’t even think it would happen. I read vaguely negative reports, and I felt doubt. Would I ever get to see Alexis Ajinca play basketball again? But hope always returned. I found vaguely positive reports to make me feel better about my “life outlook”. David Stern tried to stop us. But you can’t stop bloggisists, and you can’t stop the fans (unless you’re powerful and have money, but that’s not important right now). You can’t stop our dreams.

See, when it came down to it, the NBA, NBPA, and owners knew they couldn’t leave fans, media, and all of the people that rely on the existence of their league for their employment and well-being hanging. Sure, they waited until October to actually begin negotiating a monumental deal that could seriously affect the lives of many, but that’s only because they knew they could get a deal done before losing any games. Once they started talking, it would really be negotiating time. They wouldn’t take a day off (except a few times a week), and they would work around the clock (2-4 hours) to ensure that they protected their own livelihoods and the livelihoods of others.

Oh, the day the lockout ended was a great day. All of the players tweeted in happiness together, glad they’d be able to go to training camp soon. Billy Hunter and David Stern even smiled genuinely when they shook hands at the press conference. The season would be saved. The crisis would be averted. Logic and practicality ruled the day.

What a great story. Inspiring, even.

Except it was all a dream.

Photo By ZeRo`SKiLL on Flickr

I suppose it only comes down to a handful of questions, really.

Do you believe that there’s anything more to professional basketball, to the game, to the NBA, than just money? 

Because if you don’t, congratulations, you’re a cold-blooded realist. And you can welcome every day with a savory lack of hope and remain devoid of romanticism, passion, or joy. This is, honestly, not the worst way to go through life. I had this philosophy professor. And the old man honestly could not give two damns about anything. His philosophical wanderings had led him to the conclusion that being an active human being made more rational sense than abandoning the meaning of anything. He had a wife who said he did not love, had no children, and just got up every day, enjoyed his coffee because it tasted good, went to work, came home, listened to classical music, and repeated it. It’s a fine existence.

What else could you possibly take away from the situation other than everything is about money? Long after the millions are spent, after all of these owners are dead in the ground, or have lost their fortunes or sold their teams or are generally gone from relevance in this sphere, the game’s still going to be affecting lives. I’ve said this before, though I’ve never written it. My greatest complaint with David Stern is that he has defined his job as being beholden to those he works for. Sound reasonable, right? We’re all beholden to the people we work for. Except that we’re not all beholden to the people we work for. As a matter of fact, quite often we’re hired to make sure that the people we work for don’t do irreparable harm to the very industry or faction, or element we control. You’ve got any number of regulatory or political offices. Hell, the police. Criminals pay taxes. But that doesn’t mean the cops should overlook crime. My problem is that Stern is more than just the guy who does the bidding for the owners. He’s more than a henchman. He’s a shepherd of the game. That’s a hyper-romanticized term, but think about it. He’s helped bring this game forward. From the stone ages into the golden era, the roaring 90′s and into this new silver age. And he’s watching Rome burn because the wealthy are too busy arguing over whether it’s more profitable to let it burn and then collect the insurance. The problem there? ROME IS STILL BURNT TO THE GROUND AFTERWARDS.

There’s talk that basketball writers just want the lockout to be over to save their jobs. Little clue. I get paid no matter how long this lockout lasts. Because, eventually, they’re going to come back and someone will still need someone who knows how to use the hyperlink button to write about whatever terrible idea Ron Artest has come up with, whatever crime a member of a Western Conference team has committed, what new trade rumor is out there, started by an assistant GM on the orders of his boss in order to raise the trade profile of a player who has zero shot of being traded but will no less impugn the reputation of the reporter who’s only doing his job: writing what he’s been told. The truth is that most of us aren’t pissed about the lockout because of our jobs. Our jobs make us pissed off because we decided to write about something we loved. We decided sports, and in particular basketball, were worth sharing with the world. Millions of fans decided it was worth caring about. Hundreds of players decided it was worth pursuing professionally. And dozens of owners decided it was worth owning a team.

Sports don’t matter. They really don’t. Parity, competitive balance, the heart of a champion, championship rings, None of these things actually carry any weight of significance. But the flaw is that money does. It drives decisions, sure. So do sports. “I’m not hiring this guy, his resume says he’s a Celtics fan.” Or, “I kept going, because honestly, I knew Jordan didn’t give up.” It’s a stupid reason, but it doesn’t change its accuracy. Money matters? Why? To whom, here? It sure as hell matters to the people that are losing their second or third job, but those aren’t the people running the show. I can even understand it mattering to people who have worked hard to come from nothing, and want the ability to set up not only themselves and their immediate families, but their extended family and descendants for life. But the owners, who are driving this entire thing? Ask the most hardcore pro-owner fella you’re going to. Ask the most brusque, capitalist, pro-establishment individual you can muster up why the owners are doing this.

Because they can.

They have a deal on the table to get 2/3 of their money back. They can get systemic changes, exceptions nullified, contracts rolled back, and a huge percentage gain on BRI, with the ability to go back and squeeze the stone in six years for even more. But they want more. Is Michael Jordan really suffering losing out on the Bobcats’ losses? Is Paul Allen? Is Michael Heisley? Is Dan Gilbert?

There’s no pain, there. That’s what I find offensive. That’s why I get so angry with the job losses and the slow negotiating sessions and the short negotiating sessions and the fact that everything has to be made so convenient for them. They’re fine. The reporters are fine. The players should be fine. They’re hurting fans. They’re hurting employees. And they’re hurting the game.

This game is imperfect, at both the molecular and professional level. It’s given to the random chance as much as any other sport, divided by a few inches beyond the control of any individual and ultimately, gives itself to a never-ending Mousetrap the Board Game feel. It’s just run to one end, throw the ball at a basket, go back, try and stop the other team from doing the same. Constantly. Roughly 100 times a game. But it gives people something. In a world where pregnant women get shot, mass atrocities flip by the ticker on the bottom, the economy is nosediving into turmoil, no one can agree on anything and generally everything sucks a lot of the time, basketball, and in particular the NBA, is one of those things that gives people joy. It makes a kid excited. It gives a guy at a terrible, Excel-pushing dayjob something to look forward to. It brings families together, it gives friends memorable nights, it gives people something to hope and dream about. That’s idealistic.

But God damn it, we’ve got to want something to matter more than just money. I don’t mind people getting rich off of it, I think it’s great that they do. I think it’s fantastic that the NBA got a $930 million media deal! USE IT TO MAKE SURE YOU DON’T GO UNDER.

It’s become really popular to just spit the same lines about the lockout. “This is just business” being the biggest one, and it’s not a falsehood. But it’s also something more than that and to ignore it is to stand blindly in front of the ocean at sunset and go “it’s just water.” There’s more to life than that, I’d hope. And yeah, someone’s got to pay for all of that, but if you want to go down that road I’ve got fans buying tickets and merchandise and oh, yeah, the Goddamn stadium you don’t want to pay for for the team to play in.

So what the hell are we doing here?

There are days I ask myself if this is just some sort of karmic punchline for my dedication to small-market teams. Because I’ve been beaten down to the point where not only do I want to not reward the small market owners holding the NBA world hostage, but I’m warming to the idea of getting rid of them altogether. Which sucks because the two places that would get axed are New Orleans whose fans have thrown themselves into trying to save the team, and Sacramento, where the fans have gone even further. But I’ve just gotten to the point where I want to shout the next time the statement of “They just want to be profitable” comes up, “THEN GO OUT AND WIN CONSISTENTLY USING A SMART METHOD, YOU MORON.”

The Lakers didn’t do this. The Lakers exploited a system the owners allowed to exist and an inherent advantage that comes from being somewhere the weather is always nice. But no, it’s teams that wasted their potential and now are feeling the effects dragging us down and holding us down.

There’s still talk from the optimists that a deal’s going to get done, that we’re not missing games or if we are, it won’t be many. But my biggest concern is driven from the fact that there’s been no point of concession from that faction. There’s nowhere the league has said they’re trying to get to, other than something which solves the problems. Which is like saying “well, there’s really no body part we won’t hack off to stop the infection.” Sooner or later it’s just pieces of a corpse and you’ve defeated the point.

What’s the end point?

Somewhere down this road the NLRB ruling comes back. And from there it’s lawsuits, either way. And once that happens, all hell breaks loose. Because the lawyers will take their time and bill as much as possible. You know why? Because it’s a business for them.

Somewhere down the road the union’s going to crack. I don’t doubt them when they say they’re prepared, that’s why I’m concerned. Because if the owners dedicate themselves to waiting, it may take longer than they’ve expected. But once you go down that road you’re stuck with it, and you’re just sitting there hoping the siege works.

So what’s so bad?

It’s so bad that it took them until October to sit down and really negotiate. It’s so bad that both sides seem prone to dramatics. It’s so bad that the union treats this like a junior high choir competition with matching t-shirts. It’s so bad that the owners are too busy to attend meetings but not too busy to reject offers. It’s so bad that the proposals aren’t constantly being exchanged. It’s so bad that the most they can deal with a meeting is five hours. They say that’s a long time. Do the people that say this, have they actually ever worked in an office? Because a five-hour meeting is a bummer. It’s also manageable. So is an 8-hour one. They happen. All the time. Why are they any different? Why aren’t they meeting every day for ten hours to get a deal? What else are they doing? The answer is nothing. They literally have nothing else more important to do.

It’s so bad because there’s this sense of “well, it’s not your money.” But it is. I support the NBA, my income goes back into it. My job is making the league more popular, getting you to think about it and read about it and care about it even when I’m criticizing it. Everyone chips in with what they have, what they can, and the casual viewers, the golden calves of sports marketing, they’re adding their cud just like everyone else. Maybe I’m a fool for thinking they deserve better but I’m sticking with it.

Is the system broken?

Yes. Because the system has made people believe that they are bigger than the game which was handed down to them from seven decades and that they will hand down just the same.