N.B.A No Basketball Allowed

Ruffle My Feathers, a weekly sports blog by Justin Lewis

The NFL lockout consumed our time for several months and was resolved, but the same can’t be said for the NBA lockout which is causing games to be scratched off faster than the Philadelphia Eagles fans jump off and on the “Dream Team’s” bandwagon.  There will be no training camp; no pre-season games; and we are likely to not have basketball until January.  It’s starting to become more of a reality every day that money is the root of all evil.  Neither the Owners nor the players are budging as of right now and its not looking likely we will even have a season, but I have a few things that may help bring it all together.

The NBA announced a little while ago that they would be canceling training camp, all of the exhibition games, and the first two weeks of the regular season.  This was the result of a negotiating session between Player’s Union executive director Billy Hunter and Commissioner David Stern.  We have since been told that games have been canceled until January.  David Stern brought a “smack in the face” offer to the players via the owners that would reduce the players’ cut of basketball-related revenue to a figure well below 50 percent. I call it a “smack in the face” offer because the previous agreement, which expired July 1, guaranteed the players a minimum of 57 percent of basketball-related revenue, which would be spent on salaries.  Why would the players just “take” a giant cut like that which at a minimum (if the total amount they collected w/owners was $4 billion) would decrease their revenue by $280 million.  Now to everyday folks that may seem like a lot just for playing basketball but the owners set that standard so why would someone give the money back that they “usually” earn by working hard and putting their body through rigorous workouts and a minimum of 82 games a year? In light of that terrible offer the players received, the Players Union proposed reducing their 57 percent to 53 percent, which they said would have given owners back nearly $1 billion over the life of the six-year compromise. Needless to say neither side budged so here we are with no basketball possibly until the New Year.

In light of all of this I have some things that may help the season get started a little earlier as well as make the NBA more about basketball instead of money and/or politics.  They should bring back Rec-Specs; High shorts; Knee socks; Reebok Pumps; Gumby’s and high top fades and haircuts with the giant parts on the side. (Shawn Kemp and Patrick Ewing I’m talking about you).  That way the players of today would be too embarrassed to mess up and/or worry about money(since EVERYTHING is about an image), they would be more worried about getting OUT of those shorts as quickly as possible rather than if their jersey gets sweaty or not.  We could finally rid ourselves of zone defenses and MAN UP!  They instituted zones to either make it a thinking man’s game thus forcing the players of today to be able to shoot like the players of yesteryear OR they made it an easier game for the athletes who cant run and jump as good as the other players (Cue J.J. Redick and Adam Morrison   Sorry guys just calling it like I see it).  Somebody must have cried that they can’t keep up so they needed a way for “other” players to be able to be relevant in the league as well (Same thing happened in the late 70s until Magic and Bird came around).  I hate to break it to you but it ain’t working out so well!  They should limit Fan Voting on ANYTHING because most of them have only watched sports, never really competed in them.  Another sensible thing would be to put people who can actually dunk “creatively” on the dunk contest judge’s panel.  This would eliminate the appearance of cupcakes, stuffed animals, capes and 30 plus attempts for (1) dunk, thus helping us to get back to what the contest is supposed to be about, DUNKING. The All-Star weekend should be about basketball not this three-ring circus they’ve produced for the last few years.   The events that should take place are the All-Star Game, Celebrity game, 3-point contest, and the dunk contest. THAT’S IT!

In regards to monetary issues that need to be adjusted maybe the owners should stop paying Top 10 picks $71-90 million contracts.  I don’t mean jip them out of money like the NFL did to Cam Newton who is making ¼ of what the previous years #1 draft pick Sam Bradford made (and Newton is WAY better at this junction of both of their careers),  but make it a reasonable amount of money.  Those contracts should be restricted to        5-years $50 million, period.  I have a list of players here that didn’t pan out so well and it was even worse because their respective team could have researched better than they did and found an even better player who was either annual all-star and/or Hall of Famer (Don’t be alarmed if you don’t know the names of all of the worst draft picks because I don’t think anyone short of a basketball historian would know this off the top of their head):

• Joe Smith
• Selected ahead of Rasheed Wallace, Kevin Garnett, and Michael Finley (1 Hall of Famer and 2 all-stars)

• Dennis Hopson
• Selected ahead of Scottie Pippen, Reggie Miller, and Mark Jackson (3 Hall of Famers)

• Rick Robey (picked by the Indiana Pacers)
• Selected ahead of LARRY BIRD (Yes I said Larry Bird who ironically was a hometown hero in Indiana and the Pacers still took Robey over Bird. One of THE Greatest Players Ever!)

• Michael Olowokandi
• Selected ahead of Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki, and Paul Pierce. (2 Hall of Famers and an annual All-Star/Highlight Reel)

• Of course one would mention the Jordan trade but honestly I believe the Portland Trailblazers were picking for need not want because they already had Drexler, but they could have selected Charles Barkley.(2 Hall of Famers including the greatest player to lace up the sneaks)

Overpaying for free-agents in 2011 alone produced some bad investments and most of them were role players.  These role players couldn’t hold the jock of former Role Players like Byron Scott, Mark Aguirre, Vinnie Johnson, and Robert Horry.  Look them up and you will know why they were worth more than what they were paid.  Today’s “role players” or supposed “big market” free agents are cleaning up with all the money they are getting so it’s the owners fault if the demand for their services rises every year.   Players like:

• Carlos Boozer ($60 million dollars due in the next 4 years; for a guy who goes into his shell when his defender is taller than him.  He’s 6’7 for crying out loud!)
• Joe Johnson ($20 Million dollars per year to dribble the air out of the ball and then take a crazy shot.  Finance wise it’s not a knock on him but for what he brings to a team per the amount of money he makes, it doesn’t add up at all.
• Brendan Haywood (Is on the team because he is tall and angry, he only plays 10-15 minutes a night off of the bench, and makes approx $8-9 million). He was acquired to be the starting Center, but he was eventually relegated to the bench when Dallas traded for Tyson Chandler. So Haywood gets to commit 6 hard fouls, yell from the bench, and participate in practice for $8-9 million.  I’m not mad at him for collecting that check!
• Gilbert Arenas ($63 million dollars due in the next 3 years) and he comes OFF THE BENCH!
• Rashard Lewis (Second highest-paid player IN THE NBA) Nothing further your honor!

The NBA should stop worrying about “branching out” overseas and try to develop the players here first. That’s the problem with everything in the U.S. its as simple as basketball or football or baseball etc. you work from the inside out; meaning if you take care of home e.g. make it more stable and efficient here, when the time comes that you want to branch out you will be that much stronger.  Dabbling is not a problem it’s the constant smack in the face to the people at home that’s the worst part.  Reward people who have done some things for you, not IF they will do things for you.  The NBA needs a jolt of energy and reasoning because everyone will be losing money one way or another so get the deal done so we can see another great season.  Hopefully with better referees as well!

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