Jerry Colangelo tells NBA owners not to focus on money – NBA Update
Former Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo has warned the NBA owners not to focus on the money bottom line alone, because they were putting the season in jeopardy. Jerry Colangelo has served in NBA in the capacity of a scout, general
manager and a coach and has extensive experience of dealing with matters pertaining to the league.
He was an old styled owner, one who took over the franchise in Phoenix out of the love for the game, not because he saw it as a great business opportunity. Jerry joined the Suns back in 1968 and bought the franchise in 1987 after
gathering a group of investors that shared his passion and vision.
"The sanctity of the game meant more to me than the bottom line," Colangelo said in an interview with ESPN.
"If you focus just on the bottom line and not on the big picture, you tend to make decisions that affect how you operate. There has to be a balancing act at all times." He said.
But that is a message lost on the current crop of NBA owners. Today the league is dominated by owners who bought NBA franchises at inflated prices, all looking to get a piece of the action because they saw that money could be made
here.
That didn’t exactly pan out for them as the league announced this year that it operated at a loss. In fact, NBA Commissioner David Stern revealed that 22 of the 30 NBA franchises operated in the red and the league suffered $300
million net loss this season alone.
That is a principle reason behind their extra hard stance in the NBA labour negotiations. The owners want a new Collective Bargaining Agreement that will guarantee them a profit, and they are prepared to keep the players locked
out for as long as it takes.
That is not the way to go, according to Jerry. He was part of the owners’ board when the league last saw a lockout, back in 1998. Jerry believes that individual agendas have to be set aside if a resolution is to be reached in the
current labour dispute. He warned that irreparable damage would be done to the NBA if the two warring factions do not come to an amicable compromise soon.
"(You have to) set aside personal agendas and focus on the whole and the league and what's in (its) best interest. There's so much involved here with people being affected that it's in everyone's best interest that something happen
and I'll remain optimistic that something positive happens."
The current NBA owners meanwhile held a meeting on Tuesday in New York and are expected to shortly announce more game cancellations.
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