Lockouts and Foul Shots - Chris 'Preach' Smith

It's not supposed to be like this.

The weather is getting crisp. This is the time where jerseys are lovingly placed on
hangers, ready for the first game of the season. This is the time where you actually
care about preseason games and get to go 'WHO?!' when your team has a certain
player who looks like he belongs on a ostrich farm in Nebraska. This is the time when
trash-talking should be simmering like the heralded cauldron in 'Macbeth'. But right
now, we're dealing with another tragedy of sorts. The NBA is in the 112th day of a
lockout. The preseason's been cancelled and despite the involvement of the same
negotiator who helped the NFL end its lockout in time for the season, talks have
broken off yet again.

I don't have to tell you that not having basketball, potentially for a whole season is
depressing. But it's also troubling. To begin with, it's a fight between billionaires and
millionaires in the midst of one of the worst economic periods in this country's history.
No one wins with that. The players, even with all their charity games, are going to be
seen as greedy and overpaid. The league and David Stern look like money-grubbers
themselves. The moment the lockout began, the NBA laid off people. Some teams had
to let personnel go. Even whole cities are in jeopardy. Memphis, fresh off a deep run
in the playoffs stands to lose 18 million dollars due to lost revenue. The FedEx Forum,
the beneficiary of city bonds used for construction, would have to be paid for with
taxpayer money with a lost season. The Memphis City Council is considering a lawsuit
against the NBA. Orlando may be close behind; their new arena, the AmWay Center,
was built with public money and was set to host the All-Star Game in February. And
what about Sacramento?

The big problem the NBA has right now is, they had arguably their best season in the
past 6 years this past season. You had the Big 3 of the Miami Heat fall to the Dallas
Mavericks. The rise of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The re-emergence of the New York
Knicks. And all of those storylines are put on hold. Right now would've been perfect
to come back...no one's barely paying the World Series any mind. Yeah hockey's begun
but there's not a lot of hockey fans you may know personally. The NBA is a perfect
bridge. And it makes a ton of money in cities where it's needed the most. Cities like
Memphis, Orlando, Sacramento, Tulsa. Small markets where it is the only game in town.
The ripple effect hits everyone. And you can guarantee that if the lockout's resolved,
the fans will get stuck with the costs. And the NBA knows this; why else would you
have the Philadelphia 76ers be sold to a group including Will Smith? Why would James
'I Never saw a bridge Isaiah couldn't sell me' Dolan be busy renovating Madison Square
Garden to include luxury boxes on the floor?! It's big business.


Another big problem for the NBA is perception. There's already a slew of folks out
there who see the NBA in a racial light. It's no secret the league is overwhelmingly
African-American. It brings up ugly stereotypes and names and discussions. Bryant
Gumbel caused a firestorm this week by calling David Stern 'a plantation owner'.
I think the comment was overboard. Stern has been guilty of being too heavy-handed
most notably with the player's dress code and the outright elimination of the Slam
Dunk competition one year. But he's not a bigot in that sense. It doesn't mean that
there aren't fans who have always had such a view of the NBA. Comment sections on
Yahoo Sports will highlight that. The league, once it comes back, needs real heavy
public relations cleanups to take place. They had to back in 1999. The other issue is,
players fleeing overseas. Deron Williams is the most notable player to do so, and he's
doing it with a wrist injury. Who's to say Kobe Bryant wouldn't take an Italian contract?
And why wouldn't teams overseas go after superstars? It's all about the dollars..or the
dinars.

Ultimately, I feel the NBA needs to knock this crap off and find a way quicker than they
have in the past. Because right now, it's bigger than the court. You can't cry about not
having the money to be competitive when there's people who can't even scrape enough
together to buy a pair of tickets out there.

Comments

[Ti Randall]

Wooord up!