Divide and Conquer: NBA Lockout 2011

Divide and Conquer also known as divide and rule refers to a strategy that breaks up existing power structures and prevents smaller groups from linking up.

David Stern 

Lets not shroud this in something that it is not, this is about winning, always was but winning is in part perception.  Take a look at NBA Commissioner Stern's press conference last evening after talks between the owners and the player union broke down again.  During said press conference, Stern took the misinformed on a magical tour through his world of spin where the owners supposedly "moved" yesterday from 47% to allowing the players to have 50% of Basketball Related Income "BRI".  That may have been news to the misinformed casual fan who wants the players to take a deal at all costs due to that type of fan being thirty for NBA basketball, but the reality is that everyone in the know has known that a 50/50 split has been what the owners have wanted all along.  There was no new revelations last evening from Stern other than the cancellation of NBA games through November 30th, but even with that news, it was expected to be announced once the week began anyway, so again many of you got spun yesterday
by Stern to put the players and their leadership at fault here.  The major players in the lockout are Commissioner David Stern and deputy commissioner Adam Silver who represents the owners versus Executive Director of the NBPA Billy Hunter and President of the NBPA Derek Fisher represents the players.   At its core it seems to be a fair fight, power matching power, equal sides but what if the sides aren't equal, what if the odds are in the favor of the NBA, what if in all reality the ratio is 3 against 1 with Hunter being the odd man out.

Michael Curry 

Last evening Jason Whitlock of Foxsports.com suggested that there may be a rift in the ranks of the NBPA.  In his piece Is Fisher in Stern's back pocket?  Whitlock detailed the sudden rise of power within the NBA Michael Curry, the previous NBPA president.  During his NBA career which started in the 93/94 season, Curry played for six franchises before retiring after the 2004/05 season.  Playing 11 years in the NBA is an accomplishment due to the fact that the average career spans about 4 seasons but Curry was known as a great defensive presence and a leader which is evident by Curry scoring only 2,986 points in his career.  To put that point total in perspective, during the 05/06 NBA season, Kobe Bryant scored 2832 for an average of 35.4 point per game while playing in 80 of 82 games.  Curry's career point total could be matched in a season by a player averaging 36.4 points per game as it has been surpassed in the past.

Curry's ascension throughout the NBA after serving as the NBPA was well chronicled by Whitlock.  June 21st of 2005, the NBPA agreed to the deal that just expired and a week later Curry stepped down as President.  A short time later, commissioner Stern named Curry the Vice President of Player Development for the NBDL.  As his ascension continued Curry would be named the NBA Vice President of Basketball Operations, and a year later assistant coach of the Detroit Piston and a year after that Head Coach of the Pistons despite little experience.  Curry is now the Associate Head Coach of the 76ers and perhaps positioned again to become a head coach.

This is relevant because Curry's ascension can be linked to an apparent link between Curry and David Stern.  If it's indeed true that Curry and Stern were linked when at a time they were supposed to be adversaries, could Derek Fisher be headed down the same road?  Is Derek Fisher selling out the players union for his own personal gain?  When negotiations broke last week, it was stated by Stern that there would be no more negotiations until the NBPA agreed to the 50/50 split of BRI but suddenly we had three days of meetings this past week.  According to Whitlock, there was a confrontation Friday morning between  Fisher, Billy Hunter, and another member of the executive committee based on the fact that Fisher has been "co-opted" by David Stern to deliver a deal of 50/50 to the owners.  Simply put there are major concerns about the relationship between David Stern and Derek Fisher with Billy Hunter being caught in the middle.

If Derek Fsher is truly working with Stern to deliver a 50/50 split behind the backs of the NBPA's executive committee then he has to be ousted a union President based on the fact that he is undercutting the union that pays him $2.6 million a year to be their president.  The NBPA's stance at this time is not to go below 52.5%  of BRI having already come down from 57%.  Each percentage point is worth $40 million and the owners are pushing for a ten year deal while the union would like to have a six year deal.  With that said the players have already agreed to give up $180 million per year for the duration of the potential deal, whether it be six or ten years, which equates to a substantial cut in pay because keep in mind that 90% of the players are making on average $5 million per year.  Fisher, a role player himself is throwing all of the other role players under the bus with his secret deal with Stern, again he needs to be ousted if the claims are true.

Derek Fisher & Billy Hunter

As David Stern spun the misinformed yesterday, he mentioned that upon hearing that the league's stance at a 50/50 split that Hunter ended the negotiations.  If Stern was counting on his improper relationship with Fisher to be his trump card, Hunter proved him wrong ending negotiations abruptly.  After yesterday's negotiations ended, no new negotiations are scheduled to take place, but we've heard this story before.  The owners want a BRI split of 50/50 and the NBPA wants a split of 52.5/47.5; this is where we are and before negotiations can start again Derek Fisher and Billy Hunter must bring their ideologies together and not just stand together at pressers.  The time is now to get this deal done but it has to be the right deal for both parties, no selling out, no me first mentality, this deal has to be done on good faith and not on undisclosed preconditions.  The players union must stay strong, must stay united because a union divided will usher in being conquered by David Stern and his minions.

Update:  Fisher responds to Whitlock's Claim

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50/50: The NBA Lockout of 2011

Film 50/50

   What does one think of when they hear the phrase 50/50?  Do they think of the percentage that 50/50 represents, yes or no, right or wrong, or even life or death?  Do they think of the film that opened on September 30th that featured the likes of Joseph Gordan-Levitt and Seth Rogen which was based on the life of the film's screen writer Will Reiser who had a bout with cancer?  At this point in time neither of those things come to mind if someone were to ask me what 50/50 represented and yes I do acknowledge that this month we are celebrating Nation Breast Cancer Awareness Month as both of my parents have had their own bouts with that terrible disease.  What comes to mind when I hear 50/50 is the owners of the NBA forcing the players of the league to accept a 50/50 split when it comes to Basketball Related Income "BRI" in exchange for allowing the players to resume their careers in the NBA.

One thing that I would like the casual NBA fan to understand is that this isn't a player strike.  The players of the NBA would rather
be out playing basketball as evident by the number of exhibition games that have taken place throughout the summer.  A few months back when I wrote Perception or Reality I had every reason to believe that the owners, the caretakers of the game, would come to an agreement with the Nation Basketball Players Association "NBPA" without any form of significant blood loss but I just found out how wrong I was.  The majority of owners are driven by the urge to turn a profit rather than supply the fans with the game we love.  The reality is that this lockout is about Greed as the Closer so eloquently stated with his piece The Lockout is Called Greed, but it is the greed of the owners and not the players.  Instead of the owners taking personal responsibility for their own actions by just showing restraint, they have painted this picture of the greedy player who'd rather sit out a season than take a 50/50 split.  At this point in time where 22 of 30 NBA franchises allegedly incurred financial loses, the players earn 57% of BRI and they have offered to lower that percentage to 53% during recent discussions between the Owners and the Players union with each 1% representing about $40 million dollars.  With that said, the players have already given up about $160 million dollars.

Adam Silver

Just a mere hour ago, word broke on twitter via Ken Berger of CBS that the NBA has refused to meet with the Players Union before Monday's deadline of having regular season games lost if the players don't agree to a 50/50 split of BRI beforehand.  In many facades of life, a 50/50 split may sound fair but consider this for a moment, how fair is a 50/50 split when it is being divided between 30 owners and 450 players?  The Players  Union is trying to set a meeting up at this very moment but the owners are being extremely closed mind at this time, again they are the supposed to be the caretakers of the game we love but there's more.  The average career of a player in the NBA is 4.5 years and to that player, the non superstar, the lockout means even more;  a 50/50 split would represent about $280 million in loses for the players over the course of their playing career.  As of now, the first two weeks of the regular season are scheduled to be canceled Monday when the league office in New York reopens and NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver recently commented on today's news:


“What we told the union was that we were not prepared to negotiate over the B.R.I. split beyond the 50-50 concept that had already been discussed.......the league was prepared to continue negotiating over the many other issues that remain open”

The issues that remain open are the salary cap system, the length of future contracts, and the luxury tax.  

Perhaps the saddest thing of all in this situation is that the owners of the NBA are taking advantage of the public interest, most of the casual fans could care less about the NBA and there's more sinister causes behind that at play but in a time where America is facing it's largest economic crisis in decades, public interest in the plight of the players is vacant.  The sentiment is that players should sell their collective souls to the wants and desries of the owners and gravel at their feet, begging for their jobs back.......I think not!  Just a week ago during a negotiating session it was widely reported that Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat had a heated exchange with NBA Commissioner David Stern and asked him not to speak to the players as if they were his children.  

Derek Fisher & Dwyane Wade

As insignificant as it was to some, it was a power statement for the players.  In all my years of following the NBA, I've never seen nor heard of someone firing back at Stern, especially to his face as Wade had done.  After news of the exchange broke, Media Personality Bomani Jones tweeted that D-Wade is a G because he knows as do I that no one has stood up to Stern during his tenure as NBA Commissioner.  What made Wade's stance so powerful is that he represents the selfless NBA player who'd sacrifice for the benefit of winning.  Wade could have earned the "Joe Johnson" contract of $119 million over six years but instead he made the sacrifice of around $19 million to allow the Miami Heat to sign Lebron James as well as Chris Bosh in an effort to win another NBA title, a title that Joe Johnson is still searching for.  Wade is arguably the third greatest shooting guard in the history, only behind Kobe Bryant and of course Michael Jordan and there he was standing up to perhaps the most powerful commissioner in sports.....David Stern.  In a room with players Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Paul Pierce, it was Wade's voice that resonated the loudest, coincidence, I think not.  Wade was not only protecting himself, a franchise player but he was also protecting the role players of the NBA, the little guys, the hard workers such as teammate Udonis Haslem.  His voice needed to be heard, his passion needed to be felt.  

In various life situations I often ask myself, What's the endgame?  As of now we know, the first two weeks of the regular season will be canceled come Monday if some miracle doesn't happen between now and then and it's widely believed that the players are willing to sit out the season rather than take a deal that they are being strong armed into accepting.  So how will this all end?  At this point in time I only have one answer; as Al Michaels once famously asked "Do you believe in miracles?", my answer would be a resounding yes I do!   

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