NBA Lockout in 2017 Will Happen

Will we see another NBA lockout in 2017? 

This past week, both NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and NBAPA director Michele Roberts have began to draw deep lines in the sand with very contrasting views on the business of basketball. We take a look at why a lockout is squarely on the horizon.

by +Rodney Fisher

NBA: LeBron James For President

LeBron James NBAPA President? Photo credit NBA 

by Rodney Fisher

LeBron James has recently mentioned that he would be interested in becoming the next president of the NBA Players Association. Should LeBron take on the task of representing every NBA player and this point in his career?

Playing in the Red: The New NBA

As a Dallas Maverick fan, I have to wonder why teams like L.A., Miami, New York, and even Brooklyn can acquire the players that they have under the new collective bargaining agreement, yet a team that has operated well above the salary cap since Mark Cuban took over can not. Those teams have made a decision to operate in the red and a NBA championship is worth it.

The new agreement was supposed to level the playing field by requiring a much higher luxury tax for teams over the salary cap. What has happened is the plane between contender and non-contender has grown exponentially. At the start of the 2012-13 season, the number of teams with a legitimate chance of winning it all is few and far between. Struggling franchises are finding it hard to attract top free agents and additional revenue streams to compensate for increasing their payroll. The original thought that low salary cap teams will be the go-to destination if a superstar wants to make big money was totally wrong. Lebron is not going back to Cleveland, Dwight is not going to Charlotte, and Chris Paul is not requesting a trade to Milwaukee. The NBAPA forgot that teams have low salaries for a reason; the owners don't want to spend the money.

The league on the other hand is different situation. David Stern and company have decided to help the big market teams get bigger. Recently, the league office allowed teams to place advertisements on game jerseys. An ad on a Knicks or Lakers jersey will be quadruple the price of an ad on a Timberwolves jersey. The Knicks and Lakers also have local TV deals that help balance financial spreadsheets. They also have merchandise sales blow smaller market teams out of the water. The bigger the market, the bigger luxury tax you can afford to pay.

To Mark Cuban's credit he knew this was going to happen before the new agreement was signed. There are reports that he wanted to have a hard cap, meaning that a team can't go over the cap and pay a luxury tax. Imagine the parity of the NBA if that was true. Instead of 5 teams with a chance to win, there would be 20. Cuban has made a good decision to let the dust settle. For the first time his franchise will operate under the cap which gives him great flexibility to do anything. His new challenge is to play the cap game and win another title using the flexibility to his advantage. He already has proven the other way works.

Why NBA fans lost with new deal

Basketball fans are pleased overall with the return of the NBA, but not all NBA fans. Since 1980 there has been only 9 franchises that have won NBA championships. That's 9 different franchises in 30+ years! Part of the hard line stance the owners maintained was an honest effort to create a true competitive balance across the league. Was this accomplished? No. Sure they may increase the level of spending a franchise must commit to and increase the luxury tax for those that over-indulge, but nothing that prevents the "rich to get richer".  Nothing was done that would prevent Dwight Howard from leaving Orlando to join Kobe in LA or teaming with Chris Paul to make their own team. Nothing was done that would prevent any future player to do a "Carmelo" and basically hold their team hostage for a trade while the season is in full swing.

Nothing was done for Timberwolves, Kings, Bucks, and Bobcats fans to make them feel like their team as a decent chance of winning a championship someday. Using the NFL as an example, parity can only grow the league. Teams like the Saints, Cardinals, and even Carolina have all had "magic" seasons recently. Yet the NBA is the best sports example of "have and have-not's". You can't put the blame on the city because after all, who wants to live in Green Bay?

This agreement that was reached finally between the NBA and NBAPA could have been done well before the October. Based on the outcome of months of deliberation and missing games, one would expect wholesale changes to the "system" as Billy Hunter states. Everything stayed the same in most respects. A little tweak here and there should not have caused NBA fans to miss basketball for two months.

 - RF

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