tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39291578021482731142024-03-05T00:55:10.146-05:00EsquireSportsAn NBA blog written by a recent law school graduate where I combine my love of the game with my knowledge of law/business. Enjoy.EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-21455863726688416132014-10-13T10:00:00.000-04:002014-10-13T10:00:18.836-04:00Are Mark Cuban’s Comments Evidence of Collusion?<br /><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; margin-left: .5in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 505px;">
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Mark Cuban<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/10/08/mark-cuban-if-players-want-to-get-rid-of-max-contracts-they-have-to-give-up-guaranteed-contracts/">http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/10/08/mark-cuban-if-players-want-to-get-rid-of-max-contracts-they-have-to-give-up-guaranteed-contracts/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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“If you give up guarantees, [i]t’s a trade-off….”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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“It was discussed during the lockout time among owners, but never got
anywhere. So it was just one of those trial balloons. I’m not offering this
as a negotiation, I’m not suggesting it, all I’m saying is that was something
we discussed before, and max contracts are always big question, guarantees
are always a big question. But we have two years before that’s even an issue,
so no point discussing it now.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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While many of us read Cuban's comments and focused only on the impact on future labor negotiations; I could not help thinking that Cuban's words sounded a bit like the owners were discussing colluding to
change the market which results in guaranteed deals (just as the NFL was
accused of doing during the supposedly "uncapped year").<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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As I've stated many times before the only NBA contracts
mandated by the CBA to be guaranteed are those belonging to 1st round picks on
their rookie deals. Any other guaranteed contract is the result of the negotiations as they exist in the current market.</div>
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With that in mind; its hard to not read Cuban's comments and feel that the owner's were discussing artificially changing the market which results in the lion's share of the workforce receiving totally guaranteed deals.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-67840628731868800072014-10-13T09:49:00.001-04:002014-10-13T09:52:31.906-04:00Kevin Durant and Mark Cuban Verbally Spar Regarding Max Contracts & Guarantees<div class="MsoNormal">
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We’re less than a week from the announcement of the new
media deal and discussions about the new Collective Bargaining Agreement
("CBA") are out in mass. We've
already heard from the movers and shakers such as Mark Cuban, LeBron and Kevin
Durant regarding restructuring maximum deals and the possibility of removing
guaranteed contracts.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After LeBron and Kevin Durant publicly lobbied the owners
to remove maximum salaries; Cuban responded with the following:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Mark Cuban</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/10/08/mark-cuban-if-players-want-to-get-rid-of-max-contracts-they-have-to-give-up-guaranteed-contracts/" target="_blank">http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com</a><br /><br />
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“If you give up guarantees, [i]t’s a trade-off….”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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“It was discussed during the lockout time among owners, but never got
anywhere. So it was just one of those trial balloons. I’m not offering this
as a negotiation, I’m not suggesting it, all I’m saying is that was something
we discussed before, and max contracts are always big question, guarantees
are always a big question. But we have two years before that’s even an issue,
so no point discussing it now.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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These contrasting viewpoints have polarized much of the NBA fan
base; and as such I thought I could shed a little light on the issues being
discussed:</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Maximum Deals</b>. As a direct result of explosion of
contracts given to star athletes which occurred during the mid-to-late 90’s;
one of the owner’s biggest wins during the lockout of 1999 was the imposition
of maximum contracts. Fresh off the
megadeals signed by Shaquille O’Neal (signed <span style="background: white; color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">seven-year, $121 million contrac</span>t
in 1996) and Kevin Garnett (in 1998 signed six-years, $126 million
while only 21 years old) the owner’s had a legitimate reason to fear the
increasing costs of superstars. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Additionally the
owners had an unlikely ally here as they had the support of the vast majority
of the players in the union. These
players realized that the star’s salary being capped leaves more money
available for the rest of the players on the team; and because these players
represent the lion’s share of the union this alliance was enough to approve
the inclusion of max deals.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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While I am optimistic
that the value of max deals will increase substantially; I doubt the influx
of money will be enough to defeat those two powerful forces and totally
remove max deals.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Guaranteed Contracts</b>. While most of us know that the bulk of NBA
contracts are fully guaranteed; most of us do not seem to know why,
mistakenly believing that the basis of the guarantee lies with the CBA. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The truth is the only
NBA contracts mandated by the CBA to be guaranteed are those belonging to 1st
round picks on their rookie deals. Any other guaranteed contract was the
result of the negotiations as they exist in the current market not the CBA.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Therefore any
changes in the structure of contracts would be the result of a change in the
market and not the CBA.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So while it was interesting to hear these powerful voices
make their stances known regarding labor issues; I am not optimistic that this
will result in any changes. <o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-32973323779857212752014-10-07T14:01:00.003-04:002014-10-07T14:04:50.331-04:00NBA, I Salute You<div class="MsoNormal">
Congratulations NBA. In
just 3 short years; the league has gone from being perceived as full of “thugs”
and hemorrhaging money to having its future interests firmly secured by totally
restructuring their image and taking progressive financial steps to secure a
massive influx of revenue.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Image</b>. While no one is ready to claim that the NBA
is ready to rival the NFL, the fact that ESPN/ABC and Turner sports are willing
to triple the media deal with the NBA proves just how desirable the league currently
is. Players like LeBron James, Kobe
Bryant, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin, and Chris
Paul are among the most recognizable faces in sports. Don’t believe it? Try to tune in to an hour of TV without
seeing one of their commercials. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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While it can be argued that much of this is due to those
respective stars and not the league, the league’s contribution cannot be
denied. The NBA’s implementation of the dress
code, exile of Donald Sterling and willingness to embrace ideas other leagues
have been historically tone-deal to (i.e. gambling), that have made it easier for
the casual fan to accept the product. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Influx of Revenue.</b> Beyond the revenue being produced by the new
TV deal; the NBA has taken several steps to make the NBA a more financially
healthy league. The first and likely
most significant was the CBA of 2011 which not only increased the money that
the owners are entitled but also strengthened revenue sharing among the teams to
ensure that cash-strapped teams have an additional stream of cash.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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While the effects of the mega media deal on the CBA, salary
cap, etc. are yet to be determined; the most significant development of this
new deal is how expertly the NBA has navigated the tumultuous waters that permeated
the league after the ugly labor battle. <o:p></o:p></div>
EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-57362066432644344142013-02-25T16:56:00.000-05:002013-02-26T08:52:17.855-05:00Exmining Impact of New CBA After Uneventful Trade Deadline<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Speaking to reporters
earlier in February Stern was quoted as saying </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"[i]t's not about size, it's about revenue, San Antonio
is a small market ... four championships, pretty good. Oklahoma City? Pretty
good."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Teams are going to have to
manage well to get the best players they can," he said. "They'll have
to manage well to hire the best coach, manage well their roster under the cap,
manage well with tickets and sponsorships to do the best business they can.
Every team has the ability to be competitive and profitable under our current
system.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"It's not about market size.
It's about management."</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Seeing that I’m not the
biggest advocate for parity I gave only a passing thought to these comments until
last week’s dud of a trade deadline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its
normally an annual tradition in the NBA for one of the teams that feels they
are on the verge make a move to add a real contributor at the deadline; however
last Thursday we saw no such things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Instead [according to RealGM] this year marked the first time in 6 years
that not a single all-star was dealt at the all-star break.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">So
what role does the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) have to do with
this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Depends on who you ask -- most
seemed to erroneously believe sweeping changes would be felt immediately after
the CBA was ratified, it always seemed logical to me that the majority of teams
would not truly change course until the more punitive portions are
implemented.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now that teams know that we
are mere months away from the aspects discouraging overspending being put into
operation we are seeing that the vast majority of teams are being more fiscally
responsible.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">What
are these punitive portions you ask?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Good question, and to answer it I’ve taken snippets from Larry Coon's
excellent FAQ on the NBA’s salary cap to detail four different ways that the
new CBA attempts to make management and not market size the most vital aspect
to running a successful franchise >>>>> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm" target="_blank">http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm</a>.
</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q21">http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q21</a></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">21.
What is the "luxury tax?" Why does it exist? How is it determined?
Who pays it?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The luxury tax is a mechanism that helps control team
spending. While it is commonly referred to as a "luxury tax," the
CBA simply calls it a "tax" or a "team payment." It is
paid by high spending teams -- those with a team salary exceeding a predetermined
tax level. These teams pay a penalty for each dollar their team salary (with
a few exceptions, see below) exceeds the tax level. The tax level is
determined prior to the season, and is computed as follows: </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The amount of tax a team pays depends on the season, the
team salary as of the team's last regular season game, and whether the team
is a "repeat offender": </span></i></div>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For 2011-12 and 2012-13,
teams pay $1 for every $1 their team salary exceeds the tax level. There
is no repeater rate.</span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2013-14 teams pay an
incremental rate based on their team salary. There is no repeater rate.</span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For 2014-15 teams pay an
incremental rate based on their team salary. They pay the repeater rate
if they also were taxpayers in all of the previous three seasons.</span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For 2015-16 and all
subsequent seasons, teams pay an incremental rate based on their team
salary. They pay the repeater rate if they were taxpayers in at least
three of the four previous seasons.</span></i></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here are the tax rates beginning 2013-14: </span></i></div>
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<td colspan="2" style="height: 25.4pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Team
salary above tax level</span></b></div>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="height: 25.4pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Non-repeater</span></b></div>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="height: 25.4pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Repeater</span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 25.4pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="height: 25.4pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lower</span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 25.4pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Upper</span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 25.4pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tax
rate</span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 25.4pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Incremental
maximum</span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 25.4pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tax
rate</span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 25.4pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Incremental maximum</span></i></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.7pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$0</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$4,999,999</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$1.50</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$7.5 million</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$2.50</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$12.5 million</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.7pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$5,000,000</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$9,999,999</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$1.75</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$8.75 million</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$2.75</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$13.75 million</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.7pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$10,000,000</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$14,999,999</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$2.50</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$12.5 million</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$3.50</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$17.5 million</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.7pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$15,000,000</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$19,999,999</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$3.25</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$16.25 million</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$4.25</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 12.7pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$21.25 million</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 61.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="height: 61.75pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$20,000,000</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 61.75pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">N/A</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 61.75pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$3.75, and increasing $.50 for<br />
each additional $5 million.</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 61.75pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">N/A</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 61.75pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$4.75, and increasing $.50 for<br />
each additional $5 million.</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 61.75pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">N/A</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For example: </span></i></div>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A team with a team salary $12
million over the tax level in 2011-12 pays a tax of $12 million.</span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A team with a team salary $12
million over the tax level in 2013-14 pays a tax of $21.25 million (the
incremental maximum of $7.5 million for $0 to $4,999,999, plus the
incremental maximum of $8.75 million for $5 million to $9,999,999, plus
$2 million times the incremental rate of $2.50 for $10 million to
$14,999,999).</span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A team with a team salary $4
million over the tax level in 2015-16 pays a tax of $10 million ($4
million times the repeater rate of $2.50 for $0 to $4,999,999) if they
also were taxpayers in three of the previous four seasons, or pays a tax
of $6 million ($4 million times the non-repeater rate of $1.50 for $0 to
$4,999,999) if they were not taxpayers in at least three of the previous
four seasons.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What it means</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That the days of teams trying to “buy a title” (i.e. spend so much above
the rest of the league that they have a completive advantage) may be over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the example illustrated the transition to
a system involving tax brackets that has even harsher rates for repeat
offenders from a dollar-for-dollar tax means costs will skyrocket if teams
don’t change their spending habits.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Looks
like those habits are in fact changing too. While all transactions have a
financial aspect to them, the deals this year seemed to be even more focused on
financial ramifications. We saw 2 contenders (Oklahoma City and Memphis) deal away
players with all-star talent (i.e. James Harden and Rudy Gay) in large part
because their old teams<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>already had
multiple players making big bucks and wanted to cut costs. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
old days that would have never happened.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 4.5pt 4.5pt 4.5pt 4.5pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 88%px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 212.25pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="border: inset 1.0pt; height: 212.25pt; mso-border-alt: inset windowtext .5pt; padding: 4.5pt 4.5pt 4.5pt 4.5pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q23">http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q23</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">23.
Other than financial penalties, are there restrictions on taxpaying teams?</span></b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<br />
In addition to the tax payments described in question number 21; taxpaying
teams have the following restrictions. Note that most of these restrictions
aren't triggered unless the team would be over the "apron" -- the
point $4 million above the tax level -- following a signing or trade.<br />
<br />
- Teams above the apron cannot use the Bi-Annual exception.<br />
- Teams above the apron have a smaller Mid-Level exception. Teams above the
apron can offer contracts no longer than three years, while other teams can
offer four. The starting salary is also lower (for example, in 2011-12 it is
$3 million for teams above the apron, versus $5 million for other teams).<br />
- Taxpaying teams can acquire less salary in a simultaneous trade.<br />
- <b>Starting in 2013-14, teams above the apron cannot receive a player in a
sign-and-trade transaction (see question number 89).</b><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></i></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What it means</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">? Today’s NBA now there has a
true impediment for overspending that goes beyond dollars and cents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gone are the days where the only obstacle for
improving a team was how deep an owner was willing to dip into his wallet --
now overspending means a team is restricted in the transactions they can make
to acquire talent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
most significant restrictions come into effect in free agency: now teams who
have spent too much are barred from adding an average salaried player using the
mid-level exemption (instead they can only offer a contract that is 40% lower
to start).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Additionally the loophole
allowing teams over the luxury cap “apron” to add top level free agent talent
even though they have no cap space has finally been closed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">These
changes work to make cap space more valuable, as the big spenders will not have
the same flexibility to continue amassing talent unless the players are willing
to pay for peanuts.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 4.5pt 4.5pt 4.5pt 4.5pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 86%px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 365.75pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="border: inset 1.0pt; height: 365.75pt; mso-border-alt: inset windowtext .5pt; padding: 4.5pt 4.5pt 4.5pt 4.5pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q24">http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q24</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">24.
How does revenue sharing work? How is it different from the luxury tax?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The high revenues generated by the big-market teams
increases BRI, which increases the salary cap, which increases the amount all
teams (including low-revenue, small-market teams) are forced to spend on
player salaries -- leading to an unsustainable system. The league's revenue
sharing plan works in parallel with the CBA (including the luxury tax) as a
one-two punch to address franchise economic disparity. It is designed to help
redistribute money from high-revenue teams (generally in big markets) to
needier teams (generally in small markets). <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By 2013-14 all 30 teams are projected to be profitable under this
system if they meet reasonable revenue and expense standards</b>. </span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The NBA also had a revenue sharing system in place with
the 2005 CBA. It was funded entirely through luxury tax revenues, and paid an
average of $40 million per season. However in many cases teams were getting
back money they had put into the pool themselves, so the net redistribution
of money was much lower than the gross distribution. Under the old plan teams
received much less than under the new plan, with the highest individual
receipts averaging $5 million. With the new plan, $181 million is projected
to be redistributed in 2013-14, with two teams projected to receive over $20
million each, and seven teams over $16 million each. </span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The basic idea behind the plan is that teams contribute an
equal percentage of their total revenues into a common pool (minus certain
expenses such as arena expenses), then receive an allocation equal to a 1/30
share of the pool<sup>1</sup>. Small market teams with lower revenues will
therefore contribute less than they receive, and will be net beneficiaries
under the plan. Large market teams will contribute more than they receive,
and will be net payers under the plan. </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What it means</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Say what you will about how reliable the figures used by the league
during the last CBA negotiations were, but the assertion that now every team in
the league “should” be profitable is huge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I also like that the size of a team’s market will determine how much
they are expected to pay, so small markets like Oklahoma City or Charlotte are
not expected to bring in the same amount of revenue as a big market team like
the Knicks.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Seeing
the value that the two teams that have been up for sale since the ratification
of the new CBA looks like this provision is also having its intended effect.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In
conclusion seems that the provisions in the CBA as it relates to the new luxury
tax, restrictions on high spending teams and the increased revenue sharing had
a will influence the league for years to come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Mark my words -- the limited transactions completed at the trade
deadline was no coincidence, and expect the trend to continue as teams adjust
to the league’s new financial climate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
will the result be?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">No
guarantees, but here’s hoping Sterns quote that “</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">[e]very
team has the ability to be competitive and profitable under our current system”
comes to fruition.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></div>
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<![endif]-->EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-70753691754742592112013-02-08T17:26:00.003-05:002013-02-08T17:29:37.560-05:00Reevaluating Commisioner Stern's Decision to Rescind CP3 Trade to Lakers<div style="text-align: justify;">
For all the criticism Stern took in the closing days of 2011 when he rescinded the original Chris Paul trade to LA hindsight has shown that the right decision was made. For all the talk about how that trade would impact other teams very little attention was paid to the Hornets who are indisputably in a better situation based on the trade that Stern accepted as opposed to the original 3-way.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For all the talk about parity and Stern trying to flex his muscles immediately after agreeing to a new CBA with the players, all evidence suggests that none of these things were actually considered when he rejected the original deal. At the time of the trade the NBA owned the Hornets and was actively trying to sell the club. When pressed on why he decided to rescind the trade, Stern replied “[t]he
decision was taken that Chris Paul in New Orleans was more valuable than
the trade that was being discussed,” the commissioner said. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<br /></div>
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While the deal he declined would have made New Orleans better short-term than the one he accepted, but it would have made the team much less attractive to potential buyers and severely restricted the Hornets cap-space. Stern realized that owners want to make their own mark on the team and that would not have been possible had they acquired 3 vets (Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, and Kevin Martin), and a young PG (Dragic) whose contract was up last summer. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
The trade that was rescinded would have resulted in their payroll looking like this had it gone down >>>>><br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZdWb7XSo-Qohx3pFgEOc2ANeSOJXMk94ZgdfvUXm6ZhHMGGVMxmQKH0p5un3Kjptyja-sfnTEDJEV05plQ99w1dl8MytlNtp00Ez-CMRE51kbBjGTkERbrE14aXRQWR41fvSZ8NvX1_2F/s1600/Rescinded+Trade.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZdWb7XSo-Qohx3pFgEOc2ANeSOJXMk94ZgdfvUXm6ZhHMGGVMxmQKH0p5un3Kjptyja-sfnTEDJEV05plQ99w1dl8MytlNtp00Ez-CMRE51kbBjGTkERbrE14aXRQWR41fvSZ8NvX1_2F/s400/Rescinded+Trade.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Hornets payroll including players that would have been added in original 3-way trade that was rescinded</b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Is it really worth paying Lamar Odom [2 years $17 mil], Kevin Martin [2 years $24 mil], and Luis Scola [4 years $30 mil] just to be mediocre? Plus the team would be right at the cap before re-signing Goran Dragic and without including Ryan Anderson (who was signed as a free agent and has probably been the most consistent player for the Hornets all year) or whoever the Hornets would have drafted in 2012 (which likely would have been a middle of the pack pick since the team would have been better in 2011-12). </div>
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For comparison's lets also look at the cap figures for the players
received in the trade that sent CP3 to the Clippers (including the
unprotected 1st round pick from Minnesota which turned into Austin
Rivers). <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj4NzknlUrakvyN3T7zIoHW82OQHyTlHM_Z9m8g4wC90CcfQfgBximyqlf7EjRNnBYA5PNz95tfU7SSeRsPGuhwD_Tn4FuBzdLE-UnpjtDfFfi5QcUlE4yCpgr3pd-jG1lSzhFX0JLG3Kl/s1600/Accepted+Trade.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj4NzknlUrakvyN3T7zIoHW82OQHyTlHM_Z9m8g4wC90CcfQfgBximyqlf7EjRNnBYA5PNz95tfU7SSeRsPGuhwD_Tn4FuBzdLE-UnpjtDfFfi5QcUlE4yCpgr3pd-jG1lSzhFX0JLG3Kl/s400/Accepted+Trade.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Hornets payroll including players added in trade with Clippers <i>[*
included Gordon's max contract in salaries received because it was
always assumed EJ would require a max contract to stay in New Orleans]</i></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
With this deal the Hornets ended up with approximately $12 mil in cap space. This cap room turned into Ryan Anderson and Robin Lopez, who have turned into two of the best values over the summer and those moves combined with hitting lottery gold and drafting Anthony Davis has given this team a great future.</div>
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At the end of the day great job by the Commissioner.</div>
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<br />EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-59023401315550541452013-02-08T16:50:00.000-05:002013-02-08T16:50:08.227-05:00BACK FROM HIATUSHello to everybody who used to frequent the site and to new readers alike. After starting my first real professional job in November 2011 I was totally unable to balance working, my developing family life (expecting a beautiful baby boy in just a few months), and writing; and unfortunately writing seems to have been the item that was totally eliminated. <br />
<br />
However now looks like those days are over and I will be able to devote a good amount of time to writing again. So poke around on some of the old articles for a while and expect to see an influx of basketball, legal, and business insight in the future.EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-19265834367731963852011-12-13T18:31:00.006-05:002011-12-13T19:59:45.292-05:00Paul Pierce Explains Why Newer Generation of Stars More Likely to Leave in Free Agency<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>by Kevin L. Davis (@EsquireSports)<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px; margin-top: 5px; text-align: left;"><table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0"><tbody>
<tr><td class="alt2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #dddddd; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-style: inset; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: inset; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-style: inset; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-style: inset; border-top-width: 1px; font: normal normal normal 10pt/normal verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">“It’s a players league at the end of the day, regardless of what you say about what all went on about the lockout,” he said. “At the end of the day, players are going to want to play where they want to play, whether they’re free agents or not, and they’re going to have that choice. And I think it’s a right. So I don’t really see too much wrong with it. I don’t know if you can create a system to kind of change it or not because obviously we didn’t do it with this collective bargaining agreement (laughs).<br />
<br />
<b style="text-align: left;">“But at the end of the day, the great players want to be part of great teams, and when management and ownership isn’t putting out the product to help the great players, then they feel like their legacy is on the line.</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: left;">When you go through your prime years playing great basketball and you have no help, who knows what kind of player you could have been. That was one of the issues that I had. I was playing into my prime and it’s like you kind of feel like you’re wasting years away. If you got with other players, who knows if there’s a championship on the horizon. Obviously when we got the great players here, we were able to win a championship. So not all of my prime went to waste (laughs). </span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: left;">“It’s kind of a double-edged sword there. </span><b style="text-align: left;">When you’ve got Chris Paul down in New Orleans and Dwight (Howard) down there (in Orlando) and not really a great supporting cast, I think they really think about their legacy. Around the league there aren’t a lot of great general managers, they make mistakes, and like Minnesota, they couldn’t put a team around Kevin and really get over the hump.</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: left;"> And I think a lot of players are seeing that, what’s happened to the players in the past and they just want that opportunity for a championship.”</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: left;">“This is a new generation,” he said. “You just didn’t see this the last 10, 20 years. </span><b style="text-align: left;">This is a newer generation who understands that there’s only a short window for success, and they realize that it’s not always about the money with these guys anymore.</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: left;"> These guys, they have other opportunities to make money off the court, with sponsorships and shoe contracts. It’s like, they have the money so what more do they want? It’s a championship. So when guys take less money for that opportunity, that’s what you’re seeing.”</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.csnne.com/basketball-boston-celtics/news/Loyal-to-a-C-Why-Pierce-wont-give-up-on-?blockID=611070&feedID=3352" style="color: #003366; text-align: left;" target="_blank">http://www.csnne.com/basketball-bost...70&feedID=3352</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><br />
I couldn't agree more. This generation of players saw how guys like Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, and Patrick Ewing were ridiculed for not winning the big one and have decided to do anything possible to make sure they aren't looked at that way.<br />
<br />
Honestly I can't say I blame them. The thing that has shocked me has been that fans who always bad-mouthed players for never being willing to take less money for a chance to win, are still criticizing players now that they are. <br />
<br />
In light of that I've gotta say that the way most fans' have reacted to this development makes no sense to me.</div>EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-19471628091286666582011-12-12T05:15:00.004-05:002011-12-12T05:21:10.551-05:00My Reaction to Dan Gilbert's Infamous Letter<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>by Kevin L. Davis (@EsquireSports)<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">You may know that I'm not the biggest fan of some of Dan Gilbert's comments, but how can you read his letter and not believe that this is the most asinine statement ever. If you haven't seen it I have included it here in its entirety.</div><div><br />
</div><div><div class="smallfont" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font: normal normal normal 11px/normal verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 2px; text-align: left;"></div><table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td class="alt2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #dddddd; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-style: inset; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: inset; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-style: inset; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-style: inset; border-top-width: 1px; font: normal normal normal 10pt/normal verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>It would be a travesty to allow the Lakers to acquire Chris Paul in the apparent trade being discussed.</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>This trade should go to a vote of the 29 owners of the Hornets.</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Over the next three seasons this deal would save the Lakers approximately $20 million in salaries and approximately $21 million in luxury taxes. That $21 million goes to non-taxpaying teams and to fund revenue sharing.</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>I cannot remember ever seeing a trade where a team got by far the best player in the trade and saved over $40 million in the process. And it doesn’t appear that they would give up any draft picks, which might allow to later make a trade for Dwight Howard. (They would also get a large trade exception that would help them improve their team and/or eventually trade for Howard.) When the Lakers got Pau (at the time considered an extremely lopsided trade) they took on tens of millions in additional salary and luxury tax and they gave up a number of prospects (one in Marc Gasol who may become a max-salary player).</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>I just don’t see how we can allow this trade to happen.</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>I know the vast majority of owners feel the same way that I do.</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>When will we just change the name of 25 of the 30 teams to the Washington Generals?</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Please advise….</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Dan G.</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Via Yahoo</b><br />
<br />
Read more: <a href="http://basketball.realgm.com/news#ixzz1g2S1bkIx" style="color: #003366;" target="_blank">http://basketball.realgm.com/news#ixzz1g2S1bkIx</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div><br />
</div><div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">First off let me say that I am not attacking Gilbert, he is a savvy businessman and passionate owner. I respect that and wish that most other teams had an owner who were even half as involved with their teams as he seems to be with his. </div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">My criticism stems only from some of the statements he makes, including his latest comments which baffle me because of what has happened to the team he owns. You would think that if anybody should understand how bad it hurts a franchise to lose a superstar for basically nothing in free agency it would be the Cavs. But here it seems that the man who owns that team has the nerve to claim that it would be better to keep Paul for this year just to let him walk and cripple the franchise? </div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">Makes no sense.</div></div></div>EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-40631790809438319862011-12-09T07:15:00.000-05:002011-12-09T07:15:02.737-05:00Lockout of 2011: What Effects (If Any) Will There Be Long-Term<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;"><b>by Kevin L. Davis (@EsquireSports)</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">With the lockout finally over and an unusual NBA season is set to begin (which will start on Christmas Day for the first time in league history), I thought what better way to begin this journey than to examine the effects of the lock-out post-mortem. Instead of focusing on which side “won,” I thought it would be better to discuss how the NBA as a whole won or lost in 3 key categories: buzz among fans, financial impact, and competitive balance.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>BUZZ AMONG FANS<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">After a season where ratings where at a record high, fans and analysts steamed for months with doom and gloom projections about the damage the lockout would cause to the league. As the lockout consumed the entire summer and most of the fall, most seemed to believe that the NBA was inflicting a blow to itself that would cause long-term damage to its popularity, but looking at the positive response I’ve seen amongst fans it seems that they couldn’t have been more wrong.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This goodwill started on the early morning hours of November 26<sup>th</sup> when David Stern and Billy Hunter (the leader of the NBPA) announced that a tentative agreement had been reached to end the lockout. Within instants the outpour of response from the fans proved that any damage was already being forgiven.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Twitter (everyone’s favorite gauge of what’s “hot” nowadays) blew up with posts about the NBA returning and every new station in the country brimmed with excitement about the impending return of the NBA. For all the disgust fans had of millionaires and billionaires bickering about money, they could not deny their excitement to see their favorite NBA players hoop it up for real.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>FIANANCIAL IMPACT<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Heading into this lockout the league claimed losses of $300+ mil in the last 3 seasons. For all the sites who disputed the numbers and the talk about what percentage of BRI the players should give up it almost was forgotten how poorly the league was performing as a whole financially.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">While neither the Players nor the Owners ended up happy with the financial split as it was agreed to, it seems clear that establishing a band where the Players share is reduced from 57% to a band varying between 49 and 51% helps remedy this problem. Assuming the league were to bring in the exact same revenue as earned in 2010-11 this new system would save Owners somewhere between $229 million and $305 million. This one change seems enough to take a business that has been operating deeply in the red and give it a chance to be profitable.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>COMPETITIVE BALANCE<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Although the Owners were not successful in getting all the changes they wanted, the new Collective Bargaining Agreement will bring forth several additions that will achieve a more balanced payroll among the NBA teams. The hope is that these changes will help improve the chances of a team to compete no matter the size of its market. Will it work? My prediction is that it definitely will.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The league did greatly improve the revenue sharing system as well as make key changes to the floor and ceiling that teams will spend. They did this by first increasing the minimum a team must spend from 75% of the cap up to a percentage that once fully implemented will be 90%. This new floor means that teams will be forced to spend about $9 mil more than the currently imposed minimum (up to $52.2 mil from about $43.5 mil). A de facto salary ceiling was also created by overhauling the penalty when a team exceeds the luxury tax (currently $70.3 mil in payroll). Starting in 2013-14 the new more punitive luxury tax will tax teams at an elevated rate instead of at a dollar for dollar as the old rule did. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">While these changes mean that unless an Owner decides he will not be deterred by these steep taxes, the days of big spending teams having roughly double the payroll of small market teams are over. However the question is how big of a difference will this make? It has been proven time and time again that in the NBA you don’t win without a star, and next to nothing was done to help small market teams keep their stars. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">While many perceive this is a negative I for one see this as a positive. While the attention Chris Paul and Dwight Howard are getting must annoy their fan-base it keeps people talking about the NBA. As seen with the LeBron and Carmelo mini-dramas over the last few years, the energy that produces is good for business.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CONCLUSION<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I think it’s fair to say that the NBA as a whole was a big winner in all 3 categories. Seeing that we only lost 16 games and there will be games on the first major basketball holiday (Christmas) my gut says any ill feelings still lingering in fans will be forgiven. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Although things got ugly at several points during the lockout, all I can say to both sides is great job getting it done.</div>EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-3333327047940724742011-09-22T13:38:00.002-04:002011-09-22T13:38:48.974-04:00My Proposal for Labor Peace in the NBA<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>by Kevin L. Davis (@EsquireSports)<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">As the labor debacle wages on, the debate as to whose right and whose wrong is over.<span> </span>Now if we want to have a season that starts on time both sides are going to have to make major concessions and compromises. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Here goes my proposal as to what should happen so both sides can come away feeling like they achieved key victories, while also making the league more financially stable.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><u><span style="font-family: "AR JULIAN";">Hard Cap or Soft Cap<o:p></o:p></span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This is the key issue right now.<span> </span>Billy Hunter has called taking a hard cap a "blood issue" that he claims he is willing to lose a season instead of taking, and some owners feel just as strongly that one should be imposed.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I would keep the soft cap in place but would make it a lot "harder."<span> </span>How you ask - easy by eliminating most of the exceptions that allow Teams already over the cap to bring in players from other Teams (including the MLE) and lengthen the amount of time needed to attain Bird rights.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This way teams would be limited to go over the cap to sign minimum salaried players or to re-sign their own guys (if they have been under contract long enough to have Bird Rights). </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><u><span style="font-family: "AR JULIAN";">Players Share of Revenue<o:p></o:p></span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Currently the Players are entitled to receive 57% of league revenues.<span> </span>Seeing that everyone agrees many teams are losing money, that percentage is completely too high to ensure the financial health of the league.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Therefore this percentage must be decreased drastically.<span> </span>I would have the Players decrease their share from 57% to right at 50%.<span> </span>That is a big sacrifice by the Players, but its worth it if they can keep the soft cap system in place.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><u><span style="font-family: "AR JULIAN";">Length of Contracts<o:p></o:p></span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The current CBA which allows contracts to be a maximum of 5 to 6 years is too advantageous to the Players.<span> </span>Period.<span> </span>In this market where most people can and are being fired on the whim, it is unrealistic to expect NBA contracts to remain as they are where for the most part they are fully guaranteed and extend so far into the future.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I would recommend having Players sacrifice here to shorten max length of contracts to 4 years if going to a new team and 5 years if re-signing.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><u><span style="font-family: "AR JULIAN";">Effect of Buy-outs/Amnesty Provision<o:p></o:p></span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">As I mentioned earlier the previous CBA counts all money paid to a bought out player on a team's salary cap for all the remaining years left on the deal.<span> </span>This means if a Player whose under a 2 year contract for $12 million is bought out for $10 million, then the team takes a $5 mil cap hit for the next 2 seasons.<span> </span>Because of this in the current system once a relationship sours between a Player and the Team, the only options the Team has are to: </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">1) keep him and hope things get better, </div><div class="MsoNormal">2) trade him for peanuts, </div><div class="MsoNormal">3) send the Player home and pay him his full salary, or </div><div class="MsoNormal">4) buy the Player out but still have him count fully against your teams cap.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This level of job stability is basically unknown in America, and with this labor dispute occurring during the current political climate it does not bode well for the Players.<span> </span>With that in mind, I suggest a system where if a Player is bought out the Team can distribute the money given to the Players over the next 10 cap years (thus lessening the cap hit).<span> </span>This would give the team more ability to part with troubled players, while still giving the Player the money he is entitled too.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">If that idea doesn't sound good to you I propose in the alternative an expanded Amnesty provision.<span> </span>In my proposal every 2 years Teams would be able to buy out a Player and he not count for salary cap purposes.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><u><span style="font-family: "AR JULIAN";">Revenue-sharing<o:p></o:p></span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Here's another of the major issues that must be resolved to end this labor dispute.<span> </span>Many teams are suffering and because of that this system must be expanded to give teams in smaller markets an infusion of cash.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">While its unclear if the Owners have relented on their demands to be allowed to determine revenue sharing amongst themselves, its clear the whole system of revenue sharing must be expanded. Currently certain items of revenue including that from local TV deals are not included in revenue. I would remove those restrictions and include all moneys earned through operation of the franchise used to calculate revenue.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><u><span style="font-family: "AR JULIAN";">Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">All the posturing and hard-lining was nice but it is time to get down to business if we want the season to not be interfered with because of this labor non-sense.<span> </span>At the end of the day we are all fans first and therefore missing games this season would be a huge black-eye for the league.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">As I've said all along, although its clear that talent-wise the league is in a great place, there is no guarantee the fans will come back if games are missed.</div>EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-15570629437270798592011-09-21T11:20:00.000-04:002011-09-21T11:20:58.294-04:00Sorry I've been away....<div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>by Kevin L. Davis (@EsquireSports)</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Sorry guys, based on not having Internet access and general exhaustion after taking the Bar in late July I had to take a little time away from writing. I'm back now. </div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">That is all.</div>EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-91040067505089579072011-09-21T11:18:00.002-04:002011-09-21T11:22:55.918-04:00Little Known Fact - The inter-relation Between Hard Cap and Guaranteed Contracts<div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>by Kevin L. Davis (@EsquireSports)</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I read a great article from Henry Abbott a few days back that really explains why the NBA Players are so opposed to accepting the hard cap and its impact on guaranteed deals that I had never considered. It was weird because I always here people commenting on Players guaranteed contracts and saw fans writing about how Players in the NBA are spoiled by their collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that I always assumed the provision promising guaranteed contracts was in the CBA. The truth of the matter is its not.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Abbott explained that there is nothing in the CBA that guarantees the Players guaranteed contracts. They just get them because the current market (which includes a soft cap that allows teams to exceed the cap level) allows teams to be more free with their money, and because of that the vast majority of Players are under guaranteed contracts. The Players position is that if teams were to switch and have a hard cap it would also likely mean the end of guaranteed long-term deals for middle and lower tier players; as teams would lock up their stars forever and then annually fill in their roster around the stars. This is why Billy Hunter has the Players claiming that they are willing to lose the season instead of going for that.</div>EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-407945578637828252011-08-19T10:05:00.004-04:002011-12-13T20:05:20.137-05:00Attorney David Cornwell "NCAA Mandated That He Feed Their Families, But He Could Not Feed His Own."<div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>by Kevin L. Davis (@EsquireSports)</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">Readers of this blog will remember that I have already stated my belief that the system of college athletics is broken, and it should be reformed to allow Players to be paid, although that compensation should not be paid from universities and instead Players should be eligible to receive compensation based on their likeness not actual pay. If you haven't seen it the petition can be found here >>>> <a href="http://esquiresports.blogspot.com/2011/06/petition-to-allow-collegiate-players-to.html">http://esquiresports.blogspot.com/2011/06/petition-to-allow-collegiate-players-to.html</a>. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">With the recent developments dominating the sports pages involving scandals at Ohio State University and the University of Miami, and the firings of the coach and athletic director at University of North Carolina, I felt now was a great time to reexamine the state of college sports.The quote from attorney David Cornwell in the course of representing former Ohio State Quarterback Terrelle Pryor, that I used as the title shows the hypocrisy of the amateurism rules. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">As such I decided to take Cornwell up on his call to arms on challenging "the NCAA on its 'amateurism' rules." To me this system is nothing short of an injustice, there is no justification to allow enormous amounts of money to be made for everyone involved (i.e. NCAA executives, coaches, and the university itself, etc. ); but the player. Lets just face it, prohibiting players from profiting off their likeness is patently unfair. </div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">I know players do receive an education at a university for free and also receive other benefits during their time at the university which obviously have value. However, when compared to the value lost by Players based on not being able to profit off their likeness during collegiate years, its clear that the latter is more valuable. The large amounts of money boosters, agents, and others have shown themselves willing to spend to get in contact with these young superstars of college sports illustrates that.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">So what do I suggest? A re-writing of the rulebook totally abandoning the rules of amateurism. That my friends may just be the only way to reestablish the integrity of college sports.</div></div>EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-87241851473785021142011-08-14T16:40:00.004-04:002011-12-13T20:10:11.974-05:00My Critique of Excellent David Stern Interview Conducted by Bill Simmons<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>by Kevin L. Davis</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> </b></span><b>(@EsquireSports)</b></div></div></div></div></div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hello Sportsfans. Not sure if you all are aware but prior to the weekend David Stern made an appearance on the BS report giving Bill Simmons a rare interview that spanned a little more than an hour. If you've not listened to it for yourself, you should definitely check that out >>>>> http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=6856992.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Although I must admit that my views have been slanted toward the players I decided prior to listening to the interview that I would stay open-minded. Although at times I felt that Stern was condescending and arrogant, and even felt that at times he seemed a little angry and Simmons for bringing up points that didn't paint him or the owners in the brightest light I think for the most part Stern set out to accomplish what he intended to accomplish - to explain to the common fan what the importance of the issues at stake in this CBA and to illustrate the size of the schism that exists between the Players and the Owners, and to present a united front among his contingent of Owners.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Stern accomplished both of these objectives masterfully by calling the NBA Players the "worlds highest paid union" he shows just how well compensated the NBA players are, and by following that up by stating the amount of money being lost by the league annually. In these shaky economic times, very few fans will have pity on millionaire Players whose lavish salaries are causing their business to be unprofitable. He also did a good job in arguing why revenue sharing should be kept out of these negotiations and should instead be determined at a later date once Players and Owners have determined the revenue split, as attempting to do that in these negotiations very well could cause a split amongst his Owners.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">However this interview also pointed out some of Stern's weaknesses, as condescending, insecure, and quick to anger when he's being challenged. His continued statements that the players will come around when the offer is explained to them does that (insinuating their too stupid to understand whats going on themselves) and again even more blatantly when Stern snapped at Simmons that he's "been doing this for 40 years, which is much longer than Billy Hunter has" (which seems irrelevant to me when he admits to having lost the last 3 negotiations that he had against Hunter) seems the best illustration of that. With all do respect Mr. Stern we all know the league has grown by leaps and bounds under your leadership, you don't have to be so touchy about not feeling as if you got your due.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">All in all though this interview shed great insight on where things currently stand in this labor dispute. In order to get things going the Players simply must realize that will receive a smaller share of the revenues. Now we just have to find middle ground where both the Players and the Owners will be satisfied.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I still think the offer reportedly made by the Owners which would allow the Owners to be the sole recipients of the first $900 mil in revenues, and then to split remaining revenues 50/50 goes too far, but at least that forms a basis to start. Additionally middle ground must be reached on revenue sharing. Personally I still believe that it should be apart of these negotiations, however I do agree that the revenue split must be determined first before the league can figure out an effective way to split those revenues.</div>EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-45098767212060167982011-08-04T18:50:00.001-04:002011-12-13T20:09:56.846-05:00Billy Hunter Admits That He Expects There Will Be No NBA This Year<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>by Kevin L. Davis</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> </b></span><b>(@EsquireSports)</b></div></div></div></div></div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div></div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">While speaking to an audience composed mostly of lawyers at the American Bar Association, Billy Hunter said what most of us have expecting all season - that chances are the upcoming season will be cancelled as this labor dispute drags on. Although this statement has been repeated time and time again over the last year or so, I believe this is the first time that Hunter has stated publicly that he expects the season to be cancelled. </div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Hunter went on to point to what he views as the problem leading to the more contentious manner behind this whole labor dispute, the changes in the constituency of ownership. At one point Hunter said "[i]n the last six or seven years, there is a new group of owners to come in who paid a premium for their franchises, and what they're doing is kind of holding his feet to the fire."</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Whether you agree or disagree with these tactics at this point it seems clear that if there is no resolution soon the true losers here will be the fans.</div></div></div>EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-91340354358567154942011-08-02T12:26:00.001-04:002011-12-13T20:09:52.730-05:00NBA Files Lawsuit Against Players and File Unfair Labor Charge<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>by Kevin L. Davis</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> </b></span><b>(@EsquireSports)</b></div></div></div></div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">Remember how I said the meeting yesterday had to be seen as good news? Scratch that. The owners and David Stern have now filed a lawsuit against the players as well as filing a charge with the National Labor Relations Board against the Players accusing them of unfair labor practices, specifically for failing to bargain "in good faith" and of "impermissible pressure tactics" in labor talks.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">From the information that has been made available to the general public, it seems the league has little chance of success with either of these proceeedings. Why do I say that? </div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">First off you must as I'm sure many of you remember, these negotiations didn't take the turn into the current bitterness until David Stern famously told the Players that he knows where “the bodies are buried” in the NBA....because he had buried some of them himself. Sounds to me that Stern and not the Players started that.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">Also you must remember why the league is currently locked out. The Players had no problem with the old CBA, and would still choose to play under it if given the option. We're only in lock out mode now because the Owners opted out of the deal and chose to impose that course of action.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">I believe the Owners understand that there is a very small likelihood of winning these suits, but are only doing this to try to prevent the NBPA from filing an anti-trust suit against the NBA with the threat of voiding out the Player's contracts if they do pursue a suit.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">So as I said, the chance of success for these suits seems low, but they do signal just how far apart the Players and Owners are. Bad sign.</div></div>EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-69122045568945423382011-08-02T09:22:00.002-04:002011-12-13T20:11:15.589-05:00NBPA and Owners Have First Substantive Talks Since Lockout......No Progress Made<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>by Kevin L. Davis</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> </b></span><b>(@EsquireSports)</b></div></div></div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Yesterday in what has to be viewed as a good sign David Stern and his high level executives (deputy commissioner Adam Silver, Spurs owner and labor relations committee head Peter Holt, and T-Wolves owner and Board of Governors chairman Glen Taylor) met with Billy Hunter, along with NBPA player-execs Derek Fisher and Theo Ratliff<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;">. </span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;"><br />
</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Unfortunately the fact that there was a meeting seems to be the only good news to report. Neither side produced an offer, and it currently appears that neither the Players or the Owners are willing to make any concessions yet. However they did agree to meet again in the coming weeks</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Stay tuned sports fans maybe there will be something new to report soon.</div>EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-12124727209330338372011-07-19T20:49:00.002-04:002011-12-13T20:11:25.635-05:00No News to Report.........And Thats A Very Bad Thing When it Comes to Collective Bargaining<div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>by Kevin L. Davis</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> </b></span><b>(@EsquireSports)</b></div></div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Right now with the lockout in place there seems to be no real news to report on the NBA's labor situation. The sides have not sat down at the negotiating table recently, and unfortunately that does not look like it will change any time soon. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is a terrible thing for NBA fans to hear. Right now the sides are so far apart that they aren't even at the table. I hope I'm wrong, but its looking very likely right now that games will be missed in the NBA next year.</div>EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-92089712168048925532011-07-04T12:53:00.007-04:002011-12-13T20:11:45.352-05:00A Little More Info on Collective Bargaining<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><b>by Kevin L. Davis</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> </b></span><b>(@EsquireSports)</b></div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In my last article I claimed the the Players may have a valid claim that the Owners have acted in bad faith during the negotiating process based on the tactics they have used against the Players while not elaborating on why. Here is a little information explaining the laws as it relates to collective bargaining which may shed a little light on why I made that claim >>>> <a href="http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/collective+bargaining">http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/collective+bargaining</a></div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">1) The employer may not refuse to bargain over certain subjects with the employees' representative, provided that the employees' representative has majority support in the bargaining unit. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">2) Those certain subjects, called mandatory subjects of bargaining, include wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">3) The employer and the union are not required to reach agreement but must bargain in <a href="http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Good+Faith">Good Faith</a> over mandatory subjects of bargaining until they reach an impasse. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">4) While a valid collective bargaining agreement is in effect, and while the parties are bargaining but have not yet reached an impasse, the employer may not unilaterally change a term of employment that is a mandatory subject of bargaining. But once the parties have reached an impasse, the employer may unilaterally implement its proposed changes, provided that it had previously offered the changes to the union for consideration. </li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Duty to Bargain in Good Faith</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">During the bargaining process, the parties are not required by law to reach agreement. They must, however, bargain in good faith (29 U.S.C.A. § 158[d]). Although good faith is a somewhat subjective concept, courts will look to the entire circumstances surrounding bargaining, including behavior away from the bargaining table such as pressure and threats (NLRB v. Billion Motors, 700 F.2d 454 [8th Cir. 1983]).</div><div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>What this means in the context of the NBA's Labor Dispute?</b></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Players have felt all along that the Owners have been making attempts at breaking their Union and made offers so bad that no reasonable union could be expected to take it. The offers have definitely been underwhelming, and if the reported comment attributed to David Stern that "he knows where the bodies are buried because he put them there, is true that definitely sounds threatening.</div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'm not guaranteeing a legal win, but it definitely sounds like the Players may have a leg to stand on.</div><div></div><div></div></div></div></div></div>EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-89685735834341707622011-07-03T21:30:00.007-04:002011-07-19T20:49:06.215-04:00According to ESPN's Larry Coon Owners May Be Exaggerating Figures To Reflect A Loss<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>by Kevin L. Davis (@EsquireSports)</b></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">If you have not read this article from ESPN's Larry Coon I suggest you check it out now >>>> <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=coon_larry&page=NBAFinancials-110630">http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/column...ancials-110630</a>. In his article that he wrote based on viewing financial records of two teams (2005-06 Nets and 2008-09 Hornets) he makes 2 main arguments 1) Since the Players can't share in the profit when a team is sold it is not fair that they are burdened with the costs associated with buying the team in the first place and 2) If they don't have a say in the team's management decisions, they don't want to pay the cost when those decisions go awry.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">He went on to show that the figures the Owners have been reporting as their losses may be the result of an accounting fiction. While it is true that financial statements are prepared by external auditors, who are bound by their license to do things right and subject to review by the IRS, any person who knows a little about finances you know that depending on the method you use to account for your finances, the profit/loss figures could vary by tens of millions of dollars.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This insistence of bargaining from a position of using these figures and not true basketball-related expenses and revenue could be viewed as an attempt by the Owners to doctor the numbers to exaggerate losses. If Coon is correct, its very possible that instead of 20+ teams losing money only 7 or 8 are, and they seem to be losing less than $20 mil a year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">If this is true and it is happening throughout the league, the Players may have a leg to stand on if the legal route is pursued and they allege that the Owners are negotiating in bad faith. I could very well see a court ruling that The combination of utilizing these figures instead of basketball-related expenses combined with their offers which included taking away so many rights from Players (i.e. guaranteed contracts, hard cap, smaller contract lengths, etc.) in times of increasing viewership and attendance as negotiating in bad faith.</div>EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-9018268468801899522011-07-01T04:06:00.002-04:002011-12-13T20:11:54.375-05:00NBA Lockout Offically in Effect<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>by Kevin L Davis (@EsquireSports)</b></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">It is now July 1st, and as expected the Owners have locked the players out. Reportedly team officials (i.e. coaches, trainers, front office staffs) and their spouses have been told to not contact Players or their families during the lockout whether it be in person, by phone, or by electronic means including social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">I'll have a few more articles coming soon covering important labor issues related to the lockout over the weekend.</div></div>EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-90408752813984796052011-06-27T22:47:00.002-04:002011-07-19T20:51:31.118-04:00At This Point Lockout is Inevitable<div style="text-align: center;"><b>by Kevin L Davis (@EsquireSports)</b></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">With no major developments occurring in the next few days, it seems inevitable that after June 30th the NBA will be entrenched in its second major labor dispute of David Stern's tenure as commissioner. Right now both sides seem committed to their positions and unwilling to make necessary concessions needed to begin the path towards a deal.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hopefully things change soon, but as it stands their is a humongous divide between the Players and the Owners.</div>EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-69485879676849297402011-06-23T01:28:00.004-04:002011-07-19T20:51:20.470-04:00Players Speak Out On Current Status of Labor Negotiations...Said to Be Livid<div style="text-align: center;"><b>by Kevin L Davis (@EsquireSports)</b></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Now that the latest round of negotiations between the NBA's Players and the Owner's are done the Players are taking to the press to voice their displeasure with the proposal being offered by the Owners'. While this is a risky strategy that risks turning off the American public I like what the Players are doing. They are making it known, that the Owners are making a proposal that takes away core values that Players of the NBA have enjoyed forever, and they will not accept it and are clarifying their position to the press with statements that have been measured and showed unity. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The message from the Players was clear, the small amounts of progress that have been made in this proposal (no longer asking for contracts being partially guaranteed, no longer having a true hard cap) are not significant enough to make a difference. The fact that the Owners are trying to retroactively take money that the Owners and Players already agreed that belongs to the Players only makes it worse.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">Basically it goes like this, you never want to piss of your adversary in a one-on-one negotiating situation. While some reports have correctly stated that you don't want to start with your final offer, you also don't want to begin an outlandish offer that mobilizes your opponent. I think its possible that the Owners' have done just that.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">From what I can tell, the Players don't feel that the Owners are treating them with respect with these tactics. First off tho the Players' this insistence towards taking past money that the Players' feel they have already earned and collectively bargained is mind boggling. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another issue that is also of supreme importance in these negotiations, is the economics of the league. Right now the Owners and Players differ fundamentally on how the economics of the league should function once the new CBA is implemented. Everybody agrees that in the previous collective bargaining agreement small-market teams suffered financially. The disagreement lies in how this issue should be addressed. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Players feel that the problem can be solved by larger market teams sharing more revenue (mainly from local TV deals) to support these struggling franchises, and the mechanism to determine how revenue will be shared should be negotiated now. However, the Owners think these CBA negotiations should only include the manner in which Players should bare their share of the burden, and the way Owners should split money amongst themselves should not be collectively bargained. </div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Until one of the sides change their stance on key economic issues and the Players are treated with more respect in this process, expect a protracted lockout.</div>EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-83184309698829994572011-06-22T19:28:00.004-04:002011-12-13T20:12:33.526-05:00Owners Make Latest Proposal.....Offer "Flex Cap"<div style="text-align: center;"><b>by Kevin L Davis (@EsquireSports)</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In their latest offer made to solve the labor impasse, the Owners have offered the Players what has been termed a "flex cap." While all the details of this system have not been explained, this system would include a "target cap number" of $62 mil, but in certain situations teams would be allowed teams to go over the cap, and certain exceptions would remain. Players also would be guaranteed that they would receive a slice off the revenue pie that would be no less than $2 bil annually over the course of a 10 year CBA.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The dropping of the insistence of a "hard cap" coincides with my expectations. I never expected a hard cap to be implemented during this labor dispute. This is one of the biggest rights afforded to NBA players, so expect Players to right tooth and nail to keep it. Seems now that even the Owners understand this as well, but I'm not sure if this is enough deviance from the "hard cap" to please the Players.</div>EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3929157802148273114.post-87914527107709460362011-06-21T10:28:00.003-04:002011-12-13T20:14:09.264-05:00Petition to Allow Collegiate Players to Receive Compensation<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><b>By Kevin L Davis (@EsquireSports)</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;">For those that don’t know, the NCAA has rules which require players to be amateurs to play for their universities. Because of this players lose their eligibility if they are paid in anyway for playing, including profiting off their likeness. Yes they do get their scholarship and certain other academic benefits, but that’s it.</span></div><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 10pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 10pt;">What th</span><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-size: 10pt;">is means is these players are also not allowed to receive payment from schools, AAU coaches and agents; they also can't get paid for commercials, shoe deals, aren't entitled to a share of their jersey sales, don't get paid for inclusion in video games, etc. </span></div></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">To me this system is blatantly unfair. While I don’t think the school’s themselves or the States, the funding source of public universities, should pay athletes (could you imagine supporting a tax-hike to support paying players when schools are being closed?) I think any of us who attended college for years on end would agree that the living expenses amassed during your stay there are enormous. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">These costs and the restriction from making any income off a player’s celebrity status, causes the enticement of accepting illegal benefits from unsavory characters that much harder to resist. The result of that temptation has brought proud programs like USC and Ohio State to their knees as indiscretions of players and coaches come to light. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">As much as the NCAA’s leadership may disagree, I say the only proper reaction to the slew of indiscretions is to abandon their rules on amateurism. Instead they should adopt rules similar to those proposed by Jay Bilas. In this article >>> <a href="http://www.courtcred.com/college/item/615-jay-bilas-thinks-collegiate-players-should-get-paid.html">http://www.courtcred.com/college/item/615-jay-bilas-thinks-collegiate-players-should-get-paid.html</a>; Bilas states his belief that the concept of amateurism is morally wrong and a product of past times that is no longer needed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Bilas went on to say “<b>I don't think that college athletes need to be paid by the universities but they shouldn't be restricted from realizing monetary gains from outside the universities</b>.” For those that don’t know as well as being an ESPN personality, Bilas is a practicing attorney who went to law school at Duke while also working there as an assistant coach. During his 3 years coaching the Blue Devils made it to the Final Four all 3 years and won 2 national championships.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;">In my opinion, Bilas could not be more right. Changing the rules as he suggested could go a long way in prevent future fiasco’s such USC or Ohio State from occurring. Players would be able to get paid for commercials, sign shoe deals, etc. and universities would not have to worry about being shamed because of their athletic program or be forced to spend so many of their resources on ensuring that their players aren’t receiving benefits, because a compensation system would be allowed. </span></div><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">In the words of President Barrack Obama, "it's time for a change." The reason given to support keeping the requirement that a player must have amateur status to maintain eligibility in the NCAA is normally “that's the way its always been.” Frankly this is not good enough. When it is clearly evident that current system is broken, there is absolutely no reason why the status quo should be maintained just in the name of tradition.</span></span></span></div></div>EsquireSportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699111232477413819noreply@blogger.com0