Players rejected today the Owners 50-50 split of revenue. That seems a bit strange in a league that is just squeaking by financially. I am not saying that the Owners do not bear some of the blame for the current state of the league but the Players are not living in this world with what they think that they are worth. The NBA has guaranteed contracts. A player can sign a huge deal that then do nothing and still get their money. Think about that. What job other than that of an athlete can that be said. Ok there are probably a few but we are talking about sports right now. Minimum wage in the NBA last season for a player who had never played a game was $473,604. Say what? How long would it take you to make that kind of money? Keep in mind that is the Minimum wage for a first year player it only goes up from there.
I am not saying that the players should not get paid well. I think think that if the money is there and the public is willing to keep buying tickets and buy the merchandise then they should get their cut of the money. Here is where things seem to get crazy. Players think that they are the league. The NFL was getting to that point as well but then we are talking about a league that is making money for everyone right now so it is a different beast. They players need to understand that they are not the league the league is them and all the players before them and all the players that will come after them. When the Celtic champions of the 60’s retired the fans did not stop rooting for the Celtics. When the Players of the Lakers from the 80’s retired the Laker fans kept on coming. It did not matter to the fans if it was Kareem and Magic or Koby and his side kick of the day. They still came to the games. After this group of players leave the fans will keep on coming. Well it may not be the NBA anymore but Basketball fans will watch Basketball and they will find new stars to cheer for. It happens in every league and will continue to.
If you can’t hold on to your cash after you retire that is a you problem. Making more will not solve that. Many players in all pay levels have shown that if they are going to go broke they will and there is nothing that anyone can do to stop it. The ones that were able to handle it would have handled it no matter how much they made.
I guess that gets me the most in all this is that the Players don’t seem to understand what it takes to run the league and to keep it going. There is more to just drafting the players and throwing them out on the court. I just don’t understand how the players think that getting a 50-50 split of revenue is a bad deal.
If the owners were smart, which I am not so sure that they are, they would just cut all the players loose. Create a new league and find new players and start over. Tell the ones that want to come to the new league that they are welcome to come. The ones that don’t well see where else they can make that kind of money.
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