Could an NBA doomsday be on the horizon...
When the subject of great sports quotes comes up, the conversation quickly gets to Patrick Ewing's plea for sympathy during the NBA lockout, when he said athletes "make a lot of money, but they also spend a lot of money."
His agent is putting that knowledge to good use. David Falk has written a book called "The Bald Truth." (recommended for NBA aficionados).
Falk sat with the New York Times and forecast a dire future for the NBA. With the economy in the tank, teams losing money and the salary cap about to shrink, Falk sees trauma in 2011 when the collective bargaining agreement expires.
"The owners have the economic wherewithal to shut the thing down for two years, whatever it takes, to get a system that will work long term," Falk said. "The players do not have the economic wherewithal to sit out one year."
The NBA's average player salary for 2008-09 is $5.58 million.
Players better be ready to play for less under any new collective bargaining agreement in 2011 or not play at all. Ewing is right, when you earn big you spend big, take away that huge income and enter the bankruptcy lawyers.
Players Union President Billy Hunter's take on where the talks are regarding where the league and its players will be in 2010.
"I can't tell you that we are close to reaching a deal, but we have been talking and I'm obviously going to be as diligent as I can be on behalf of our players," said Hunter during the recent All Star break.
"You must understand that we all understand that we live and benefit from the success of the NBA. The last thing we want to do is see it lose its vitality. We will do everything possible to reach a deal.
"Whether or not that means we will reopen before the expiration of the current contract conclusion is another question. But I can say to you that we are anxious to reach a deal. I'm going to do everything within my power, everything within reason to reach a deal, but I'm going to be an aggressive negotiator on behalf of the players."
"I think it is fair to say that the one thing we are not going to get into an argument about are what the facts are," added NBA Commissiner David Stern. "We meet with the union regularly; we turn over everything we possibly can; we may argue about what they say, but you are not going to be able to argue about what they are, because it is too important a subject.
"The union audits on a regular basis a certain number of our teams because it is in the collective bargaining agreement. Honestly, we have to see what happens now with the stimulus package, plus a lot of other things, but we have been very much involved with each other and we will continue to be so."
The future of the NBA is at stake, but fans should feel confident that Stern, who has taken this game to new heights in his tenure as Commissioner, will find ways to cultivate growth in what is becoming more and more a global game. There was a contingent of media from India, and Stern admitted that India is an area where the NBA is looking to expand its influence.
"There is an enormous growing middle class in India," said Stern. "There were 300 million Americans and probably I don't know what our target is that, probably 120 million or 130 million, and of the billion two people in India, we think there might be a pretty similar number that are following our game a little bit. The younger they are, the more likely they are to follow it in the particular regions. We think that the American networks are rushing in for ownership of Indian networks. There is some concentration going on.
"We think that programming of NBA is going to increase there. We recently had Robert Parish in India involved in school programs and the like. We are working in 600 schools in India. We just see that as a natural extension of what we're doing, the same way we are doing it in other regions of the world. But India is a very important and promising market."
Quotes from HoopsWorld.com
When the subject of great sports quotes comes up, the conversation quickly gets to Patrick Ewing's plea for sympathy during the NBA lockout, when he said athletes "make a lot of money, but they also spend a lot of money."
His agent is putting that knowledge to good use. David Falk has written a book called "The Bald Truth." (recommended for NBA aficionados).
Falk sat with the New York Times and forecast a dire future for the NBA. With the economy in the tank, teams losing money and the salary cap about to shrink, Falk sees trauma in 2011 when the collective bargaining agreement expires.
"The owners have the economic wherewithal to shut the thing down for two years, whatever it takes, to get a system that will work long term," Falk said. "The players do not have the economic wherewithal to sit out one year."
The NBA's average player salary for 2008-09 is $5.58 million.
Players better be ready to play for less under any new collective bargaining agreement in 2011 or not play at all. Ewing is right, when you earn big you spend big, take away that huge income and enter the bankruptcy lawyers.
Players Union President Billy Hunter's take on where the talks are regarding where the league and its players will be in 2010.
"I can't tell you that we are close to reaching a deal, but we have been talking and I'm obviously going to be as diligent as I can be on behalf of our players," said Hunter during the recent All Star break.
"You must understand that we all understand that we live and benefit from the success of the NBA. The last thing we want to do is see it lose its vitality. We will do everything possible to reach a deal.
"Whether or not that means we will reopen before the expiration of the current contract conclusion is another question. But I can say to you that we are anxious to reach a deal. I'm going to do everything within my power, everything within reason to reach a deal, but I'm going to be an aggressive negotiator on behalf of the players."
"I think it is fair to say that the one thing we are not going to get into an argument about are what the facts are," added NBA Commissiner David Stern. "We meet with the union regularly; we turn over everything we possibly can; we may argue about what they say, but you are not going to be able to argue about what they are, because it is too important a subject.
"The union audits on a regular basis a certain number of our teams because it is in the collective bargaining agreement. Honestly, we have to see what happens now with the stimulus package, plus a lot of other things, but we have been very much involved with each other and we will continue to be so."
The future of the NBA is at stake, but fans should feel confident that Stern, who has taken this game to new heights in his tenure as Commissioner, will find ways to cultivate growth in what is becoming more and more a global game. There was a contingent of media from India, and Stern admitted that India is an area where the NBA is looking to expand its influence.
"There is an enormous growing middle class in India," said Stern. "There were 300 million Americans and probably I don't know what our target is that, probably 120 million or 130 million, and of the billion two people in India, we think there might be a pretty similar number that are following our game a little bit. The younger they are, the more likely they are to follow it in the particular regions. We think that the American networks are rushing in for ownership of Indian networks. There is some concentration going on.
"We think that programming of NBA is going to increase there. We recently had Robert Parish in India involved in school programs and the like. We are working in 600 schools in India. We just see that as a natural extension of what we're doing, the same way we are doing it in other regions of the world. But India is a very important and promising market."
Quotes from HoopsWorld.com
