Maybe the most frustrating part of these negotiations, if we can even really call them that, is the lack, of true movement by the NBA and the owners on systemic and financial issues. Whatever movement that has been made has come grudgingly, and, in reality, represents little more than the NBA backing off its own ridiculous offers.
What they’re doing is not negotiating. And the thing is… they know that.
“…we have certain core beliefs … which we think are absolutely necessary to achieve before we continue to play NBA basketball,” Silver continued.
“What we told the players again today was that we could not trade one off for the other,” Silver said of BRI and system issues. “As much as we would like to find a way for a so-called win-win for both parties, or we win one and you win one, in terms of the future of this league, we don’t think it makes sense.”
Or, to deliver a more exact interpretation:
“It doesn’t make sense for the players to win anything. It only makes sense for us to win everything. BRI, system, everything.” What’s more, considering the concessions the players have already made in negotiations, it’s not just winning. It’s “it only makes sense if we achieve total victory and win overwhelmingly.”
That last quote was from a writer, not an NBA official. Not like it matters, though, because that’s essentially the NBA position. Their position is a true negotiation doesn’t make any sense. Their position is simply the players are getting nothing more than they’ve gotten. They get nothing more than 50% of the BRI and they get nothing more than whatever other systemic issues have been agreed to.
Does it matter that not negotiating further is stupid? Clearly not. Because as Chris Sheridan points out:
The NBA is a business that brought in $4.2 billion last season, and the owners and players are a mere $100 million per season apart on the financial side of their negotiations. They will lose $800 million by wiping out a month of the schedule, yet that is what they seem to be intent on doing to show what tough negotiators they are. (It is worth noting that the only people making money from the NBA lockout are the law firms representing the two sides).
Burning down the village in order to save it? Yep.
This impasse is a result of nothing more than egos. Maybe you want to boil those egos down to Paul Allen and Kevin Garnett, since they’re the two most recent villains for each side. But its about egos nonetheless. David Stern wants to be the guy who broke the union and revolutionized the NBA’s business structure and Billy Hunter wants to… welll… he just wants to look tough enough to save his job.
Once both sides can put aside their pursuit of “appearances,” we can get this deal done. The NBA has already won this thing. They’ve already gotten at least 4.5% of the BRI back, they’ll get a more punitive salary cap, and they got the right to waive players. Those are huge issues for small market teams. They have more money coming in, big markets will spend less, and everyone gets a chance to erase their mistakes. Lines in the sand at this point don’t make sense.
These guys have been building a rope bridge across the canyon for months now. It’s been slow going, and the players’ side has done more work, but there are only a few slats left to finish this thing off. Just get the damn thing done.
