It's easy to holler GREED! It's easy to say "they're being selfish and pety but what would you do if your boss announce that he is going to take back every benefit and incentive he offered you to work for him? What if your boss decided that after he made questionable and highly risky business decisions that loss money that your pay would be cut to make up the difference? What would you do? Probably exactly what the NBA players are doing. Drawing a line in the sand and saying "NO MORE".
Take the same business model that is the proposed model of the CBA and apply it to your job and work situation and you would be just as upset as the players. I concede that the the priority of business is to turn a profit but not at the expense of the employees that make it possible. No fan has ever purchased a ticket to a NBA game with the hope of seeing Dan Gilbert in his press box. In a business that money is made by the product that the players put out 82+ games each season, billions of dollars are generated. From jerseys to shoes, the NBA is almost a " right to print money" organization. Be it cable of satellite tv NBA game packages or attending a live game, the NBA has made money. Maybe not as much as they would like but it has been steady.
Since the last work stoppage, players has come and gone. We have seen outstanding games like game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals and the entire 2009 Finals. Through all of that we, the fans, are told that we can't have games anymore because one side wants the other to give up everything they have worked for and earned.
No one held a gun to any owners head and made him sign a player to a contract. Whether or not a players was over paid is no real fault of the player but you shouldn't be able to take it away because of failed expectations either. When a person makes a decision, they have to live with the consequences, good or bad. Each contract is a risk. Any player could get hurt at any time and be lost for the season but still teams take he chance. In any business, there is risk and sometimes failures happen.
In the economy that we have been in for the last few years it is expected for less people to spend money at NBA games and NBA apparel. That always has been a part of life in business in the world we live in. So when the players went to the table and offered to come down to 54% that should have shown the owners that the players recognized hat there should be some concessions made from there side. Instead of being appreciative, the owners "saw blood" and wanted more. The owners latest proposal basically takes away money and power from the players. What the players are asking for is no different then you or I having out sick and vacation days taken away. No more 401k and medical insurance. None of us would stand for it either so why should the players? We may not ever be able to understand having the amounts of money being fought over but the economics are the same. The zeros don't change in the big picture. No employer should be able to tell an employee that to give 100% for less money. To drive the business but not have a share in the reward. Most NBA players have experienced this: in college but that's for another time. You don't have to agree with me but you know I'm right.
