http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2011/7/1/2254117/2011-nba-lockout-explained-gilbert-arenas Lol this guy is funny.
Its funny cause its true. Agent 0 didn't cry foul when he made a stupid purchase like a live shark tank, but the owners act like Rashard Lewis and Gilbert Arenas' contracts were signed under duress.
He has made some very poor choices... i.e. "the golden gun"... etc. ... BUT he is a very bright man, and there is a lot of truth to what he says...
He's right about the best free agents always preferring certain teams, which is why the NBA needs a franchise tag.
I am actually very surprised by this, I must admit. Arenas knows his facts, and he sure is coherent when expressing his opinions.
Wow... Normally I think the guy has his head up his ass, but he made some damn good points... I do feel that a hard cap/franchise tag would make it a more even playing field, it's not just about markets and money, because if it were the Clippers would not still suck. Teams like New York suck and they are in a major market. It's not purely markets, but evening that out would help greatly... Then again, (and if this sends it to a D&D area I apologize) but doesn't that sound like redistributing the wealth and/or communism?...
I mentioned something like that last week. 1) Big owners are telling the small owners to take back their share from the PLAYERS 2) Small owners concede to big owners. The players make THEIR concessions. 3) Small owners and players look to the big owners and the league and say "We made our concessions, now what about YOURS?" NO ONE wants to share any revenue or give back a cent.
Best part. Can dictator sperm drop a hefty fine on A0 once the lockout is over for making these statements?
Hard cap for all teams with an allowance to let players resign THEIR OWN FAs for an extended amount while the extended amount doesn't count against the cap and no sign and trades of contracts where the extension of salary is utilized. This would allow the smaller market teams to keep their own FAs and would not remove team's financial responsibility for bad contracts. Shorter guaranteed contracts are also needed, maybe make the last two years option years like the rookie deals, one player and one team.
I liked this part: "Are they gonna give out free food with all the extra money they're gettng? Ummmm no. They're gonna get a new 20 million dollar scoreboards and still scream we're losing money..."
Funny, he had all those guns and never once shot himself in the foot. But with twitter, he can't miss. I guess someone had to throw themselves on the hand grenade to get the word out though. Good stuff.
Stern and NBA have acknowledged that smaller market teams being competitive is an issue/concern. Arenas isn't revealing anything new or secret here. Umm, no they won't if the money isn't right. NFL small market teams attract stars because they can pay what large markets can pay. That's why you need a hard cap (or at least a harder cap than before). Money will almost always trump city. Again, the league has acknowledged this and it's something they want to address in the new CBA. As for them lying to fans, do you expect the team to say it's hopeless? Sometimes rebuilding is the best of only bad choices. Owners claim they need to cut costs, and player salaries are the biggest part of that. Some players act as if they are equal partners with the owners, when the players are fronting none of the investment and taking none of the risk.
Money will Almost trump city. People will always move for location. I'm sure a lot of people in New York and California would rather have more money, but they still live there because of location. Bad example I know, but think about it this way. Would you rather work in the middle of nowhere for a ton of money, or work for less and live in an awesome city? I'm not saying that money isn't good bait because it is, but location and legacy is huge.. NFL small market teams have much more legacy than a lot of the small market teams in the NBA so players are more likely to go to those team too. blah blah blah I'm sleepy don't feel like finishing this reply
Not sure why he had to make a big deal out of rebuilding. Thats something fans deep down understand but fans aren't trying to be FULLY "rational" with their following. Thats just part of the fan code. If sports fans did the "right" thing, they wouldnt spend 10 minutes watching sports. Its like when a man says about his 55 year old wife "she keeps getting more beautiful every day". Of course she really isnt, but you don't really have to approach something like that with "hard truth". Part of entertainment is having mutually agreed upon ignorance of common truths
No they don't. In the nf, the smaller markets work because of great drafting like the steelers,gb,colts,and so forth. If you draft poorly or don't know when to say goodbye, you fail in every sport,especially football. Who was the last big name to sign with pittsburgh? When woodson signed with green bay, he was coming off poor seasons and people didn't know if it was oakland or he lost it. The bills suck and so does a lot of small and large markets because they draft poorly. Same can be said for the nba.
I see your point of view, and it does make sense. However, just because you work somewhere doesn't mean you have to live there. Between offseason and road trips, you're probably in your teams city about 5 to 6 months a year. I would take more money and live in a small market city half a year, rather than take less money and live in a destination city all year. Sadly, the average pro athlete probably doesn't think of it that way.
