October 3, 2011

Owners' sins might just send us fans to basketball hell.




It's no secret. There is nothing to hide. The elephant in the corner is now upon us and a NBA lockout might cost the league a season, and for us fans there is nothing we can do.

The dreaded and inevitable NBA lockout started on July 1st. 95 days later it enters the most crucial phase, which will decide on whether an NBA season will occur or not. While the owners and players will take turns pointing fingers at each other, all us fans can do is cross ours and hope for the best.

The NBA could not exist without the fans.It's quite simple. With no fans, the owners get no money, and if the owners don't have that income then they can't pay the players. You simply cannot argue the fact that the NBA is a fan driven league, which is why it is so ironic that the fans have absolutely no say in what happens with this disaster of a lockout. Do the owners and players take account of the fans when they sit in there meetings and fight about money? They might acknowledge us in the back of our heads sure, but when it comes down to who gets what, nobody cares about where the money is coming from.

So who do we blame? Well at first it was a mixed bag of who was right and wrong. But it has become very clear now that it's the owners who are going to send us to basketball hell. The players entertain, the fans pay for the entertainment, and yet the owners want all the benefits.

Owning an NBA team is an investment. Like any other investment it has its pros and cons. It will have its risks, and if managed right if will have its rewards. Which of course is why people invest, for the reward. The problems with investments is that they are not all safe, they have their risks. If you buy stock in a company, and lose money. You lose that money. You can't go to that company and demand it back, it was your choice, and if you're complaining, then it probably was not a good one.

And that's the problem. The owners are complaining about their lost money, and they expect the players to cover their losses. Look at it how you want, but the owners are the ones giving out the million dollar contracts. They are the ones not investing there money in the right players. But what can the players do? They don't have an NBA season until the owners are happy, which means they don't get their paychecks until the owners are happy. How do you make the owners happy? Cover their losses.

The owners have the players in a choke hold, and all us fans can do is wait for the players to tap out.

* * * * *

And so it comes down to this. Today's and tomorrow's meetings are seriously make or break. Not only does progress need to be made, but serious issues on the cap and BRI have to dealt with to save the season. If there is no serious progress in these next two meetings, a full season is nearly impossible and its being said its either a full season or no season. Lets hope for the best.

No comments:

Post a Comment