When news broke early Saturday morning that the NBA Owners
and NBPA had tentatively agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement that
would save the season and start on Christmas Day, it was met with quite a bit of
enthusiasm across the internet. Coming off the most successful season (by TV
Ratings) in the NBA’s history, the public was anxious for the league to get
back to work and give the fans another season of stellar play and myriad
storylines. I, on the other hand, met the news of the lockouts end with
feelings of sadness and resignation. I had accepted in my mind a year without
an NBA season and had even gotten to the point where I was looking forward to
it, for a couple of different reasons, after the jump.
1. I was looking forward to an increased amount of attention
on College Basketball.
With the NBA out of commission, there was only one place for
people to turn to get their basketball fix, and that was the College ranks. As
much as I enjoy the NBA and passionately root for the Golden State Warriors, I
prefer the College game to the pro game.
It’s not because I foolishly believe the level of play is any better,
that’s absurd. What makes College Basketball special to me are its intangible
qualities. The atmosphere at a big time
college game is nothing like anything you’ll see at a pro venue. The fans are exponentially more vocal and
emotionally attached. The gyms are
built more for maximizing capacity in a small space than comfort, meaning fans
and students are packed like sardines form the rafters to the edge of the
court. Envelope-pushing signs and chants are not only allowed, but encouraged.
A home game at any college that cares about its hoop team is a wonderful
experience.
There’s also the “Jimmer Phenomenon” of a one-trick pony
getting the chance to excel and put on a riveting show because of lower quality
competition. He and JJ Reddick may not
be great NBA players by any stretch of the imagination, but love them or hate
them, watching them shoot more accurate from 30+ feet than you could from 3
feet is a sight to behold. There’s the
raw emotion of the players that cant possibly be matched by a professional
going out and doing a job.
And then there’s the upsets. Oh my, the upsets. Of all the memories I have of watching
basketball games of any level, at least 2/3 of them are various game winners by
teams pulling massive upsets. When
you’re dealing with 18-21 year olds, you’re asking for unpredictability,
without which games like Princeton over UCLA don't happen. Names like “Bryce Drew” and “Valparaiso” would mean nothing, when that couldn't be farther from the truth. Without the continuous mental lapses of college kids, someone on Houston remembers to block out Lorenzo Charles, and this doesn't happen.
2. I don’t like to see greed and stupidity rewarded.
Make no mistake, there were no good guys in this
lockout. Both sides behaved like
selfish 2 year-olds, and exercised about the same amount of common sense and intellect as
one. The owners were by far the bullies
here, initially asking for a 20% reduction of the players cut of Basketball
Related Income. The owners came down from that number, finally cutting an
agreement at somewhere around a 50.5/49.5 split in favor of the players, down
from a 57-43 in the last CBA, but still took the players to the cleaners over
the BRI and many other issues. As ESPN
columnist Ric Bucher stated in reference to the owners giving the players that
extra .5 %, “The Owners essentially just robbed the players house, and then
gave them back a fork”. A deal could
have been done weeks ago, but the owners insisted on winning every battle over
every little issue. The owners wanted
to publicly flog the union, and because of that a logical compromise took an
extra 2+ weeks to be reached.
The players aren’t blameless in this mess either. They foolishly tried to play the “hey its
not our fault, we like things just the way they are” card, not realizing that
the way things were was not working out.
NBA players are the best taken care of athletes in professional sports,
with the highest average salary, the highest minimum salary, guaranteed
contracts, and a million other perks and benefits that go under the radar. Rashard Lewis is going to be the 2nd
highest paid player in the NBA this year, behind only Kobe Bryant, and he can’t
crack the starting lineup of the Washington Wizards. Gilbert Arenas was arrested and charged with a felony for
bringing multiple handguns into the locker room, and he STILL is going to be
paid the remainder of his $105+ million dollar contract. There are a million other examples of
embarrassingly overpaid players on every team.
Couple that with the fact that anywhere from a quarter to
half the league was losing money every year, depending on which financial
records you believe, and the players needed to realize they didn’t have any
bargaining power and needed to make some concessions and try to get a deal done
quickly before losing any paychecks and costing themselves even more
money. Almost the same exact deal was
on the table for the players to take back in September. A 50-50 split instead
of 50.5, but they wouldn’t have missed any game checks. The players insisted on 53, and the league
cancelled games. Then the players went to 52, the league cancelled more games.
Finally, after missing 3 paychecks, the players take a deal for 50.5
percent. By getting that extra .5
percent, the players gained about $350 million dollars over the life of the new
CBA. By missing 3 paychecks the players
lost over $500 million dollars. Instead
of realizing they didn’t have a leg to stand on and jumping at the 50-50 and a
full season, the players made it personal held out for a bigger number, and
ended up costing themselves over $150 million dollars.
Neither side deserved to feel like winners after this. They
deserved for the season to be cancelled, a deal to finally be struck next
summer, and then the fans don’t come back and both sides realize they shot
themselves in the foot. Call me
spiteful, but I would have been happy to see both sides fail.
3. I was looking forward to a year without the Warriors
pushing me closer to an early grave.
I know people will say I’m not a real fan for feeling this
way (actually people have already said it), and that I’m a hater and the
Warriors are going to make the playoffs, and all that other garbage. Anybody
who questions my fandom because of this statement, hasn’t been as devoted a fan
for as long as I have. My first memory
of my continuous Warrior following is watching the draft lottery in June of
1995 with my dad, which the warriors won the right to the #1 pick. This was my first meeting with Warrior
optimism, and later on my first meeting with Warrior disappointment. That first pick, the “franchise savior,” was
used on one Joe Smith of Maryland. Joe Smith’s career consists of being traded
7 different times, playing with 12 different teams, and 0 All-Star Games. The 4 players that went immediately after
him: Antonio Mcdyess, Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace, and Kevin
Garnett. Every other player in the top
5 played in at least 1 all-star game.
The Warriors of course ended up with the only one that didn’t.
In the 16 years since I can remember actively following
Warriors basketball, they have made a grand total of 1 playoff appearance. In a
league where over half the teams make the playoffs every year. Golden State has
failed to even reach the level of “mediocre” 15 out of 16 years. Throughout the way I’ve been witness to a
trainwreck of decision making, from boneheaded draft picks (Todd Fuller over
Kobe Bryant! Adonal Foyle over Tracy Mcgrady!), to boneheaded trades (Chris
Webber for Tom Gugliotta! Marc Jackson for Dean Garrett! Mookie Blaylock!
Steven Jackson for an injured Raja Bell!), to boneheaded free agent signings
(extensions for Dunleavy, Murphy and Foyle!), and I, with a straight face,
defended them all. Every year, I’ve
gone into the season excited and hoping for some improvement, and almost every
year all I get is frustration and disappointment.
I love this team. From the months of November through April my mood
rises and falls with the success of this team, meaning my winters have been
ruined almost without exception since I was 9 years old. My parents occasionally worry about my
often-cynical outlook on life. I blame
my cynicism on the Warriors. When the
thing you love the most (outside of family of course) fails you over and over,
its only natural for that pain and bitterness to invade the rest of your
outlook
That is mostly why I’m sad to see the lockout end. A year without Warrior disappointment
excited me. It made me optimistic, it
soothed me. No NBA allowed me to watch
basketball without having to think at all how it affected the Warriors
season. But in true Warrior fashion,
they had to disappoint me by caving and agreeing to a deal with the players and
saving the season. Now no matter how
far I try to distance myself from the team, no matter how low I set my
expectations, by January 1st I will be completely sucked back
in. I will throw the remote at every
ill-advised Monta Elllis jumpshot. I
will cringe at every free throw taken by Andris Biedrins. I will watch flabbergasted as David Lee
plays his patented version of matador defense (olé!). This team will disappoint me and stress me out and take years off
my life, and I can do nothing to stop it.
The march to 26-40 starts on Christmas, and even though I know its
coming, I can’t break away…
Because, you know, a new coach who stresses defense might be
able to make a difference. And if Jerry
West liked this Klay Thompson kid, he must be alright. And Steph Curry will be healthy this go
around. And a full year of Ekpe Udoh should help out… you know what, we might
not be half bad if we can catch a couple of breaks…
(Uh oh, here I go again…)
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