FROM THE MIND OF THE OMIS!
Volume 33
By: Old Men in Sweats! ™
NBA VS. NBAPA
That’s the NBA vs. the Players Association or the owners vs. the union. Anytime you delve into battles between owners and worker unions there’s going to be problems. In any business in our society for the last 100 years, when the owners are fighting with the union that means trouble. In our sports world today, the unions are pretty powerful. Although the concept of the workers’ union wasn’t really created to “protect” an employee who is earning millions, the professional sports unions still take on the us vs. them mentality. Each sport has varying degrees of power dispersed to their union. MLB has a powerful union and was basically the first union, setting up all the other sports in relation to free agency. Without Marvin Miller, Curt Flood, and the MLB players association we would never have true free agency, or any type of free player movement. The NFL players’ association is the weakest of the three major sports. Failing each time they’ve tried to walkout or strike in the last 40 years. Therefore, the NFL doesn’t have true free agency, or it’s very rare at best. With NFL owners possessing the dreaded “franchise tag”, to stop players from reaching true free agency. And the NFL players’ union is the only one whose professional athletes do not have guaranteed contracts. Oh, you’ll read about a lot of huge guaranteed money during the current NFL free agency period this week. But don’t believe a word of guaranteed money. All that talk about guaranteed money in an NFL player’s contract is just smoke and mirrors. Ask any NFL player and they will tell you.
But nobody does it better than the NBA and the NBA players’ association. The NBA players enjoy guaranteed contracts, true free agency, almost complete player power, while even doubling as player/general managers with the advent of the super teams in the last 20 years. And this has come to be while most of the great NBA players barely attend college. Most star players making a one-and-done appearance on a university campus, while even the current rookies choosing to play overseas for a year or two before declaring for the NBA draft. I point this out because you wouldn’t think young men in their late teens, early 20s with very little education and very rich bank accounts would be level-headed visionaries, and able to steer their union to such great heights. But that is exactly what LeBron James, Chris Paul, Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant, and James Harden have accomplished over the last 20 years. And make no mistake; the players wouldn’t have been able to pull off such power without the aid and assistance of the ownership group and their leaders, the late great David Stern and his protégé Adam Silver. The NBA owners deserve a great deal of credit for relinquishing so much power to their young partners, the players. When Adam Silver describes the players and owners as “business partners” he’s not simply providing lip service. He’s describing the true philosophy of the NBA business model. There is a great pie of wealth and the NBA splits that pie between the players and owners in an almost seamless fashion. The NFL talks about their players as “partners” and a splitting of the pie, but again there is more acrimony, distrust, and player investigations initiated by the NFL ownership group and commissioners office.
The recent NBA all-star game once again highlighted how the NBA truly does business. Once the all-star game was announced the players immediately began voicing their disapproval. I believe Trey Young, the new superstar for the Atlanta Hawks, went first when he called the announcement “stupid.” Yeah he called it stupid. Or dumb. Or something so immature and millenial-ish that I can’t remember the exact wording. Then Lebron soon chimed in his disapproval. LeBron is the face, voice, and most of the time, the moral compass of the NBA. I agree and support Lebron on nearly every social and humanitarian issue that he trumpets. Lebron is a great leader in professional sports. But this time I didn't agree with Lebron chastising the NBA for having an all-star game.
Then other players soon followed. Kevin Durant, another voice of disapproval, came forward to say it was a bad idea. But we didn’t hear word one from any NBA owners. Until a couple weeks later when Adam Silver started making the interview rounds. And nobody is more adept, transparent, and sincere than the NBA commissioner. Silver reminded everybody of the NBA’s philosophy on dealing with the corona virus when it first attacked the world. He reiterated what he, the owners he represents, and the players agreed upon a year ago. To do their best to conduct business as much as possible while making every adjustment necessary for the health and well being of everybody involved. And Silver made these points in a conciliatory fashion, not in a confrontational manner. That’s how Silver addresses all the NBA issues, and there have been countless issues and obstacles over the last few years. Lebron stopped his beefing, showed up for a truncated all-star weekend, and even chose his players as team captain in a very entertaining fashion. Silver even commended Lebron on his passion during the player acquisition process. Then they played the game, had the dunk contest and the three-point shooting contest, and everything came off without a glitch. Without any embarrassing moments. The game was a success beyond the 170-150 final score, because the NBA was able to satisfy their television partners. And isn’t this what it was all about to begin with? Making money with their television partners.
That’s what the NBA does better than anybody. Like the line from the Godfather, “Hyman Roth always makes money for his partners.” Well the NBA always makes money for their partners. The players make so much guaranteed money that every July during their “free agency’ period all the NFL players are tweeting a storm of jealousy and admiration for their NBA brethren. The NBA owners continue to make money during this horrible pandemic, as the league was able to pull off the ridiculous “bubble” playoffs last season when nobody thought it would work. And of course their television partners always make their money as evidenced by the recent controversial all-star weekend.
You may not like the NBA because you think their players are a bunch of uneducated, overpaid, immature primadonnas. You may not like the power the players possess and the way they set up their super teams. And you may think the owners and Adam Silver are emasculated leaders of a rudderless ship. You would be wrong on all fronts. The NBA players are wise, mature beyond their years, and more socially conscious than you can imagine. The owners and their commissioner are the smartest businessmen in professional sports and should be emulated at every turn. This is the way you run a billion dollar entertainment business. This is the way you make everybody happy. When I see the NBA battling an issue with the NBAPA I know everything will turn out cool. Because the guys running the show, the players, owners, and commish, are all the coolest cats in the sports world.
-Thomas Tallarino | OMIS
“PREACHIN’ SPORTS KNOWLEDGE FOR A LIFETIME!”