Players stand to lose more than owners if NBA season is cancelled – NBA Report
The NBA players will lose much more money than the owners if the 2011-12 NBA is cancelled due to the labour dispute. A senior NBA player agent made those remarks in a recent interview.
David Falk, who has been dealing with players for over 3 decades and has extensive links with the owners as well, said the current situation in the NBA lockout was very discouraging. The agent was of the view that both sides could
get to an agreement soon, but their rigidity and aggressive posturing might result in a lost season.
If that were to happen, it would be the players who suffer more. Although the owners want to upset the current financial system applied in the NBA, the players already have millions of dollars tied in contracts. In an interview
published by Sports Radio Interviews, David Falk compared the losses both sides would endure if the season is lost.
“It’s my understanding that the owners project if there’s no season, they’ll lose $1.5 billion and if there’s no season the players will lose $2.167 billion in salary, probably another $200 or $300 million more in endorsements.”
NBA players are at the moment trying to offset those losses by playing abroad, or talking part in lucrative tours. However, not all players can get jobs overseas, nor can all of them go on tours. Even those who do make some money
via the means mentioned above, it will be nowhere close to what they will earn if the NBA season is saved.
That though, seems like an increasingly unlikely event. Falk viewed the current deadlock in negotiations as a significant one and the stances of both sides as principally opposite. What that means is that relations between the
NBA owners and players could be damaged to such an extent that it will not be able to repair them quickly.
According to Falk, if one side views the other as having caused the loss of some NBA games, through an unreasonable stance, the process could be fractured and the whole season would be lost.
“We’re right up against the deadline. Unlike ’98, when we had a 50-game season, I would bet a lot of money that if we miss one or two games, we’re going to miss the whole season. This is like Texas Hold’em; it’s all in. Everyone
has to understand what’s at stake.”
What that basically means is that the worst fears of NBA fans are about to come true. The main dispute between the two sides is the split of the Basketball related income or BRI. The players get 57 percent now and NBA Commissioner
David Stern is demanding they come down to 46 percent.
Realistically, it’s hard to see players agreeing to that.
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