Ever since LeBron brought his talents to South Beach, LeBron has been the most controversial player in NBA history. NBA viewership has soared to heights not seen since the days of Michael Jordan. Viewership on cable TV, regular TV, NBAtv.com, cell phone downloads, live games even in the arena of competitors when the Heat and LeBron were playing have made the NBA a popular sport again.
I am going to say that LeBron is my favorite player and why people dislike LeBron is baffling to me. He never committed a crime or did anything to hurt anyone and yet he is hated (which is a vulgar word) or very unpleasant. He can be arrogant at times, but look in your mirror and tell me that he was never proud or arrogant about anything in your life. Can you cast the first stone?
However, NBA owners and Commissioner David Stern (who appears to be on the owners’ side) will reverse the rise in popularity of the NBA.
I think if David Stern and the owners don’t come to an agreement before the season starts, they will see a downturn and a huge loss of revenue, not just for 2011-2012, but for many years to come.
What if some of the big players go and play in Europe who only have a 1 year contract or free agents now and stay in Europe, the owners of those respective teams will probably lose? We have 3 great players on a one-year contract who can opt to stay in Europe if they decide to play there: Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Derron Williams. Once in Europe, they don’t have to return to the NBA if they decide to play there and then they will be free agents in the summer of 2012.
Actually, there are so many players in the summer of 2011 who are becoming free agents or restricted free agents. So if there continues to be an NBA lockout for half a year or a full year, it’s going to be complete chaos of where players can or will go.
Depending on the owners of the teams and the arrogance of David Stern (my opinion) it may upset some of the best players who will not return to their respective teams due to greed or the way they handle the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). .
There are plenty of free agents or restricted free agents for 2012. Restricted free agents include Derrick Rose, Kevin Love, Danilo Gallinari, Eric Gordon, Brook Lopez and Russell Westbrook. A restricted free agent, in essence, can receive offers from interested teams, but is at the mercy of his current team. The current team has seven days to match any offer or come within 10 percent of the offer.
The new viewers of the 2010-2011 NBA may not return. A year is a long time or even half a year is a long time for the collective agreement to be resolved. The money lost in the long run will be absolutely more than the stubbornness of the owners and David Stern.
The money the teams lost seemed to be the fault of the owners and not the players. What about all the players who were fouled (unfairly at times). Let David Stern share that with losing teams. I’m sure it’s a lot of money.
Plus, the owners didn’t have to pay a lot of money for mediocre players. Even small-market teams have stars like the LA Clippers with Blake Griffin and the Oklahoma City Thunder with Kevin Durant and Westbrook.
Owners should stop crying with sadness and train better. Get good team players to step up. There are good team players on every team, but where are the great coaches? They should know that defense wins games. Look at Kevin Love on the Minnesota Timberwoves: An amazing defensive player, and yet the team had a poor winning record.
NBA owners should get rid of players who don’t live up to their contracts or the team’s level of play. If the players don’t play to the max, hasta la vista players.
David Stern and the owners, get it together now. Otherwise, David Stern and the owners will be blamed for many years of declining viewership and the LeBron ripple effect will be reversed.
