There was collusion prior to the free agent period. The Big three had talked about it and made up their minds before the opening date for discussion. Going around the teams was a charade and a lie to the NBA & it's fans
Tend to agree, but I always think of the Olajuwon, Drexler & Barkley concept, although it didn't work out...Again, one rock, not enough touches to go around...
I don't think Stern really has a big problem with this. When's the last time the NBA has been this hot of a topic in June/July? How do you think this is going to effect ratings once the season starts. I also don't think Toronto or Cleveland has much of a case, as they were going to lose their guys anyway. As far as it being unfair to the other teams, Miami still has to work under the same salary cap, which is clearly going to make less effective then they could be. If Miami talked to the players before FA started, that's definitely a problem. I just don't think it's that big of a deal for players to talk to each other, unless they start taking paycuts in order to fit under the cap. That creates an unfair advantage. If the salary cap doesn't proven enough to keep teams balanced, ie players taking pay cuts, then perhaps there needs to be some sort of rating system so that one team can't be so stacked. But players aren't really taking pay cuts, so no problem there. I don''t think a franchise tag could work in the NBA. First, the players would never agree to it, and 2nd because individual players have such a huge effect on a team. If a player wants to leave, franchising him won't keep him playing at a high level...you'll have to let him go.
3 eye doctors is different because there is no set price for HMO reimbursements/contracts and they're actually discussing bidding on the contract, which will vary depending on their bids and will theoretically have correspondingly anticompetitive effects if they all conspire to fix bids. Here, there's a set price for James, Bosh Wade (the maximum contract) that, even if they wanted to, they couldn't conspire to exceed, and that's coming out of a set pool of money (the salary cap). There is no anticompetitive effect in the market for players as a result. That's doesn't reallly hold water as an "antitrust injury" and not the kind of thing the antitrust laws are designed to redress. David Lee is a direct horizontal competitor to James et al. So he'd be harmed. The owners could concievably be hurt as buyers, but only if the market for players as a whole was affected. But due to the CBA it's pretty much impossible for this to have occurred to either Lee or another owner. What you're talking about is more like promissory estoppel or misrepresentation.
Who is hating on you? That is ridiculous, you are one of the most moderate posters on the entire forum....and you take on Yao is spot fricken on. DD
yeah..i hear you. in my last post i was thinking, "i wonder if we're talking more about typical common law remedies instead of stautory/antitrust stuff." good stuff, sam. thanks for input.
A couple of thougts: 1: Does it matter that the three free agents got together and decided to play on the same team, can all get their max money, and also play tax free? Wouldn't that be sorta self price fixing? Wouldn't that decision be to their own benefit economically? Remember, they all got their max S&T deals. People talk about how they took less money, but they didn't. Through no state tax they got quite a bit more than if they had gone to Toronto, Cleveland, New York, or New Jersey. 2: Can't someone take the case to an actual prosecutor? Say one in Cleveland? If that were the case, they could demand phone records and Stern couldn't do much to stop the investigation ala Donaghy. Correct?
decisions MADE ON THEIR OWN are fine. that's the point. it's when they get together and make decisions together that they draw this fire.
If they talked about it earlier, so what? As long as they played out their contracts and gave their all while on the court, then I could care less. When you are a free agent you can sign wherever you want. If they didn't bust LA for collusion in 08 when Artest walked into Kobe's shower saying he wanted to play with him (comfirmed by him and Jackson), then how can they bust Miami for this? You can't stop players from talking about playing with each other.
Kobe wasn't a free agent...it's the fact that all of these guys were free agents that has some using the "c" word.
okay so they talked to each other, there's also indication that all talked to other interested parties.
Isn't it better if you are a free agent? You have confused me? I thought tampering comes into play while you are technically a member of another team, or under contract somewhere? I thougth that's why no one was allowed to talk to players until free agency actually started? How can someone have any issue with a free agent talking to another free agent? At that time the market is open and anyone can offer a sales pitch.
right....the concern would be whether they all agreed beforehand as to where they were going. that's arguably collusion. it's something prohibited in the collective bargaining agreement of at least MLB and likely NFL as well. if the meeting in miami in november was to discuss that stuff, then the Heat are really the story here moreso than the players.
