NBA 2016-2017 Season Thread

[foodguy]

IIRC, there are clauses that forbid certain things at certain times (vladimir radmonivich snowboarding, for example). but i don't really think the nba is in much of a position to be dictating too much ... that's a negotiation and for some players, those extracurriculars are worth a lot of money.

 

[skitlets]

Yao Ming retired

I guess the repeated injuries finally broke his will to rehab for the millionth time.

 

[thinman]

Originally Posted by skitlets

Yao Ming retired

I guess the repeated injuries finally broke his will to rehab for the millionth time.

What a sad story. He could have been good for many years and inspired a generation of Chinese basketball hopefuls. Heck, if Arvydas Sabonis made the HOF, why not Yao?

 

[Gibonius]

Has there ever been a player in that 7'6" range that's been durable? Seems like foot problems are almost inevitable for anyone over a certain height.

 

[idfnl]

Originally Posted by thinman

he could have [...] inspired a generation of Chinese basketball hopefuls
Whoa there tiger...

 

[HRoi]

Originally Posted by Gibonius

Has there ever been a player in that 7'6" range that's been durable? Seems like foot problems are almost inevitable for anyone over a certain height.
I thought the same thing. The biggest human that I can think of with sustained NBA success is Shaq

 

[thinman]

Originally Posted by idfnl

Whoa there tiger...
You edited out the key word from my post, "good". I intentionally avoided writing "great". Career averages of 19.0 ppg, 9.2 rpg, and 1.9 bpg do not make him the dominant player he was projected to be as the number one overall pick in the draft. He never gave the impression that he could take over a game anytime he wanted and he also never lead his team to a championship. Overall, he had a good, but not great, career.

 

[Steve B.]

Originally Posted by Gibonius

The NBA obviously benefits to a certain amount from pulling in international stars and audiences. God only knows how many new eyeballs and jersey sales the Dream Teams generated overseas, and I believe China may now buy more jerseys than the US. But for individual teams concerned about winning...it's hard to justify your stars risking injury and having guaranteed wear and tear to play for any national team, whether US or Argentina (etc).

I seem to remember clauses in NFL contracts that allowed them to be fined if they got hurt playing other sports, playing in non-NFL games etc etc. Can't say that I've ever heard of such a thing in the NBA, and I have no idea if it'd be ok under the CBA or not. Maybe it'll show up in the new CBA once the lockout ends, guess we'll see.

I know with Manu he HAS to play with Argentina or his contract wouldn't allow him to play in the NBA at all.

 

[RFX45]

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

 

[HRoi]



[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

that was the second best thing i saw at the ESPY's.

with the first being Jimmer Fredette's girlfriend.

 

[RFX45]

I go this e-mail.

 

[foodguy]

not exactly on topic, but i was getting my nba fix last night watching hardwood classics. the great, tragic 1984 Finals game 4 between the lakers and the celtics (hint: kurt rambis horse-collared; did not end well for the GOOD guys). but it got me to wondering: what NBA team has had the greatest collection of individual talent? Not the best team, but the best players? think about this lineup:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, still playing well
Magic Johnson, at his peak
James Worthy, second year
Michael Cooper
Rambis (actually, surprisingly good rebounder and outlet passer)
coming off the bench:
bob mcadoo in his dotage
Jamal wilkes
Swen nater
Byron Scott

 

[RFX45]

Really losing hope that there will be a season this year.

NBA players reject owners' offer

NEW YORK -- NBA players rejected the league's latest offer Monday and began disbanding the union, likely jeopardizing the season.

"We're prepared to file this antitrust action against the NBA," union executive director Billy Hunter said of the possibility the union will take the league to court. "That's the best situation where players can get their due process."

And that's a tragedy as far as NBA commissioner David Stern is concerned.

"It looks like the 2011-12 season is really in jeopardy," Stern said in an interview aired on ESPN's "SportsCenter."

"It's just a big charade. To do it now, the union is ratcheting up I guess to see if they can scare the NBA owners or something. That's not happening."

Hunter said players were not prepared to accept Stern's ultimatum to accept the current proposal or face a worse one, saying they thought it was "extremely unfair."

Monday on "SportsCenter," Stern said offer on the table was no ultimatum, but "a revised proposal which met many of their concerns."

"When you negotiate for 2½ years and finally get to where the parties are ... that's not an ultimatum. That's a proposal that's ready to be voted up or down," Stern said.

"The chances of the season slipping away from us and the players losing that they have worked very hard to achieve ... it's really a tragedy," Stern added. He said the league had anticipated the union's actions, which was why it filed a lawsuit against the union and a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board earlier this year.

"They seem hell-bent on self-destruction and it's very sad," Stern said.

Instead, players went a different route, believing that filing the disclaimer is much quicker that the decertification process and gives them a chance to win several billion dollars in triple damages.

"This is the best decision for the players," union president Derek Fisher said. "I want to reiterate that point, that a lot of individual players have a lot of things personally at stake in terms of their careers and where they stand. And right now they feel it's important -- we all feel it's important to all our players, not just the ones in this room, but our entire group -- that we not only try to get a deal done for today but for the body of NBA players that will come into this league over the next decade and beyond."

Fisher, flanked at a press conference by dozens of players including Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony, said the decision was unanimous.

Hunter said the NBPA was in the process of converting to a trade association and that all players will be represented in a class-action suit against the NBA by attorneys Jeffrey Kessler and David Boies -- who were on opposite sides of the NFL labor dispute, Kessler working for the players, Boise for the league.

"The fact that the two biggest legal adversaries in the NFL players dispute over the NFL lockout both agree that the NBA lockout is now illegal and subject to triple damages speaks for itself," Kessler said in an email to The Associated Press. "I am delighted to work together with David Boies on behalf of the NBA players."

Stern was not impressed with his legal adversaries.

"The union decided in its infinite wisdom that the proposal would not be presented to membership," Stern said. "Obviously, Mr. Kessler got his way and we are about to go into the nuclear winter of the NBA.

"If I were a player ... I would be wondering what it is that Billy Hunter just did."

Hunter said the NBPA's "notice of disclaimer" was filed with Stern's office about an hour before the news conference announcing the move.

Hunter said the bargaining process had "completely broken down." Players and owners have been talking for some two years but couldn't reach a deal, with players feeling the league's desires to improve competitive balance would hurt their free agency options.

And beyond that, the owners' desire for a 50-50 split of basketball-related income, after players were guaranteed 57 percent under the old deal, meant players were shifting at least $280 million per year to the owners.

"This deal could have been done. It should have been done," Hunter said. "We've given and given and given, and they got to the place where they just reached for too much and the players decided to push back."

Over the weekend, Stern said he would not cancel the season this week.

Regardless, damage has already been done, in many ways.

Financially, both sides have lost hundreds of millions because of the games missed and the countless more that will be wiped out before play resumes. Team employees are losing money, and in some cases, jobs. And both the NBA and NBPA eventually must regain the loyalty of an angered fan base that wonders how the league reached this low point after such a strong 2010-11 season.

The proposal players rejected Monday called for a 50-50 division of basketball-related income and proposed a 72-game season beginning Dec. 15. Players are still unhappy with what they believe are too many restrictions for big-spending teams that would limit their free agent options, but Stern said the proposal is far better for players than the one player reps said they would reject last week.

Now likely awaiting the players, should bargaining resume, is a proposal that will call for a 53 percent to 47 percent split of BRI in the owners' favor, a flex cap with a hard ceiling and rollbacks for current salaries.

On Sunday, the league made a very public push on the positives of the deal -- hosting a 90-minute twitter chat to answer questions from players and fans, posting a YouTube video to explain the key points and sending a memo from Stern to players urging them to "study our proposal carefully, and to accept it as a fair compromise of the issues between us."

In the memo, posted on the league's website, Stern highlighted points of the deal and asked players to focus on the compromises the league made during negotiations, such as dropping its demands for a hard salary cap, non-guaranteed contracts and salary rollbacks.

Union officials repeatedly have said the system issues are perhaps more important to them than the split of basketball-related income, but owners say they need fundamental changes in both to allow for a chance to profit and to ensure more competitive balance throughout the league.

The previous CBA expired at the end of the day June 30. Despite a series of meetings in June, there was never much hope of a deal before that deadline, with owners wanting significant changes after saying they lost $300 million last season and hundreds of millions more in each year of the old agreement, which was ratified in 2005.

Owners wanted to keep more of the league's nearly $4 billion in basketball revenues. And they sought a system where even the smallest-market clubs could compete, believing the current system would always favor the teams who could spend the most.

The NBA's last work stoppage reduced the 1998-99 season to 50 games. Monday marked the 137th day of the lockout; the NFL lockout lasted 136 days.

 

[Dakota rube]

I just can't get too worked up over a fight between a bunch of millionaires and some billionaires.

 

[RFX45]



I just can't get too worked up over a fight between a bunch of millionaires and some billionaires.

The thing is, not every basketball player are millionaires, some are even forced to moving back home to their parents home. Plus it isn't just the players and owners being affected, a lot of jobs are gone in arenas and those assistant coaches, physical therapist, etc... are also all out of jobs. Those guys doesn't make much compared to the big stars, heck even compared to the bench players. So if there is no season, a lot of those people will pretty much lose a years worth of salary.

Most importantly, the fans just wants to see it get it over with so we can start seeing some basketball games again.