A 72 game regular-season or decertification of the NBA players union - which is a better option
It’s been now four months since the league had imposed the lockout on the players, but after a slow progress in the labour talks the union and the league have reached the point where they both had played most of their cards in order to scratch out a good deal for themselves.
As, the owners of the franchises had at last delivered the ‘final’ offer to the National Basketball Players Association through the hands of NBA Commissioner David Stern. With the delivery of this ‘final’ offer the owners had also intimated the players union that if they reject this amended proffer then they would replace it with a much harsher deal.
As far as most of the analysts of the NBA are concerned their comments on this final offer was that players wouldn’t get any better deal than this, as Stern is offering them a 50-50 split in the Basketball Related Income (BRI). However, in case of rejecting this offer the owners will replace it with more than 50 percent split along with hard salary cap and re-signing of old contracts.
Regarding this issue Indiana Pacers Danny Granger had said that the owners hardly made any changes in the new offer they made to the union therefore there is a high probability that the players would reject it. However, one cannot completely rely on these leaks from players or owners sides, as at this stage anything can happen.
However, if the players union accepts this final offer from the owners then in that case the regular-season could be started from December 15 and each team will play 72 games during the period. This means that the 2011-12 season will lose just 10 regular games, but getting a team ready without having any training camps or summer games would be very difficult task for the coaches and the management.
In addition to that there wouldn’t be sufficient time for the teams to work on their planning with the players before the next season kicks off.
Another negative side of playing 72 games in the next season would be that teams will have to play games at a much higher rate than in contrast to the normal regular-season. Therefore, if a weak team gets a strong start they can make it to the next playoffs and if the strong team from the previous season makes a sluggish start it can put them out of the postseason.
That means a bad team with a hot start could find themselves in prime position to sneak into the playoffs, and a good team with a slow start could have trouble climbing their way back up the standings.
Still one would prefer to see the players back in action once again after a long and tiring lockout as compared to see them dragging the league and the owners in the court after decertifying the union.
Additionally, the players union don’t have much support for the decertification and the high voices that had been heard in the past, who were pushing more to decertify for the players association, were of players’ agents. As the agents were looking to get their players deals outside America and earn their commission this way.
Moreover, this long delay in the regular activities of the league was not caused by the players and that is they have the empathies of the basketball followers. However if the players drags this matter in the court they will most probably pile the dirt on themselves. National Football League’s lockout is a great example for the NBA players to learn from, who can either now lay in the graves they may dig for themselves or either keep their cool.
Tags: