Uncertainty mars the opening night of the NBA season – A fan’s take: Part 2
Derek Fisher, the president of NBPA, reportedly wanted to discuss the issue of Basketball Related Income (BRI), but Billy Hunter’s exit left him and his negotiating team in the cold.
There is a clear rift between the two officials now and it is epitomized by the fact that Fisher, in his latest letter to the player, did not care to mention Hunter’s name even once.
For Hunter and his think tank, Derek is going soft and playing right into the hands of the NBA owners and their messiah, Stern.
The NBPA is however not the only side in trouble. If you doubt it – ask Micky Arison, the Miami Heat owner, who was fined $500,000 by NBA over his twitter comments just a day before.
When a fan tweeted on his account that: "How's it feel to be a part of ruining the best game in the world? NBA owners/players don't give a d**n about fans∧ guess what? Fans provide all the money you're fighting over&you greedy
(expletive) pigs.”
Arison replied: "You are barking at the wrong owner."
The response only seemed retaliatory, but it has in fact exposed the differences the NBA owners have over this Collective Bargaining Agreement.
A large part of the league’s owners, most of them who have acquired NBA franchises recently just because they want to squeeze out some money from them, are behind the NBA’s hard and greedy stance in the current lockout.
They were appalled at Arison because his comment more or less confirmed that it is those new owners of smaller market teams, rather than those who run bigger market operations like the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and the New
York Knicks, that are causing all the turmoil.
Therefore, it is believed pressure was put on Stern to impose a heavy fine, and the commissioner, eager to please a majority of his board of governors, proceeded to make an example out of Arison.
Stern is playing to the tune of the NBA owners for whom this whole dispute should be “Collective NO-BARGAINING Agreement”. After all, what has he got to lose? A major share of the pie for the owners will mean that Stern will receive
a higher pay cheque and it will also consolidate his power in the league.
The whole issue is taking the shape of a lava, just waiting to the shape of a volcano eruption. However, what these players and owners have forgotten is that they are playing with the patience of the fans. We are interested in
the fights between them and in between them; what we want to witness is basketball, a game for which this whole governing setup is built upon.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not represent Bettor.com’s editorial policy.
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