Rajon Rondo rejects 50-50 BRI split – NBA Update
Boston Celtics star point guard Rajon Rondo has said in a recent interview that the current NBA proposal regarding the split of Basketball Related Income is simply unacceptable for the players. The NBA wants a 50-50 split of the
BRI, but the players are holding out for 52.5 percent.
The NBA lockout started on July 1st after the old Collective Bargaining Agreement expired. The two sides had been meeting before that to formulate a new one and have increased their efforts since. However, a solution
to the problem is yet to be found and even though many of the issues have been resolved, the BRI keeps proving to be a stumbling block too big to remove.
NBA players were guaranteed 57 percent of the BRI under the now expired CBA, so they have only been discussing a concession ever since the negotiations started. The difference now remains on the quantity.
"Yes, I do find that (unacceptable)," Rondo said according to the Boston Herald. "We've already gone down more than four percent from 57. That's a $400 million cutback that we've already agreed to give back.”
The players indeed have made significant concessions. Over the 10 years that the CBA will run, they would be giving back around $3 billion under the proposed deal. That is a lot of money, but the owners are not satisfied.
They contend that they lost over $300 million last season and need huge player cut backs to recover the money. The players have responded by saying that the owners should concentrate more on revenue sharing and sensible managing
of their teams, but the NBA has turned a deaf ear to them.
Rondo just does not see the sense in giving so much money to the NBA owners when it is the players who are the life and blood of the game. He contends that there is no example of the greed owners are exhibiting at the moment.
“I mean, (performing) artists don't give up 50 percent of their revenues. There's no business model for what they want us to do."
He also stressed that NBA players are united, and are ready to face the challenge of a continued lockout. They were warned ahead of time and are more than ready.
"We're together," he said. "We've been talking about this for a long time, getting ready. There haven't been a lot of public words from players."
The lockout has already consumed the entire training camps and pre-season, as well as all NBA regular season games for the month of November. If a solution is not found soon, the whole season could be lost, which would not be in
the interests of either side.
Tags: