Michael, Michael, Michael…

The Bobcats are losing the most money because they have a bad team in a small market. The last time I checked, crappy businesses in small markets aren’t supposed to be successful. Stop crying and build through the draft like the Blazers and Thunder did. Oh, wait. M.J can’t draft.

Couldn’t have said it any better.

Man, I’m dissappointed in MJ for saying this and doing this.  The players union needs someone to step up and become the "voice for the voiceless" (WWE fans might get that reference) and try to get back on track because they are losing a lot of power now.  We just want some basketball!  

I don’t look at him as being greedy, rather than wanting a chance to be able to compete in a smaller market. I’m quite frankly sick of these players actually thinking as though they have made incredible moves in these negotiations, when they haven’t done anything. The fact of the matter is, waht they fail to recognize is when the prior CBA expired both sides started back at square one with 0%, the prior cap and it’s restrictions were forever abolished. Both sides had to come together and build this thing again from the ground up, and the reason they had to do this was because the prior system was completely broken. The players are so out of touch in this whole thing it is just riddiculous, as they have had the mindset going in of the owners digging into their wallet from money they have even yet to earn.

Assume for a minute that what the league put out there at first that 20 some teams are actually losing money. If this is definately the case, the way that the business world works, or at least i know with my carreer is that you are talking major layoffs in the event of a company losing substantial money. If I was approached with an ultimatum of earning less or getting laid off, I know sure as hell which way I’m leaning.

This combined with other stupid things the players have done and said during the lockout has just been so completely ludacris, that just further proves how out of touch they are with the entire system issues plagueing the NBA, and the current economic state of the U.S. When players like Dwight Howard makes comments of "I don’t feel as though I can compete in a small market like could in a large market" comments DURING the lockout, who’s side is he supporting? Or to have Carmello Anthony making countless comments about trying to "lure" CP3 to New york, or Lebron James talking about " Brining in steve nash to help each other win a ring". This is about the goddamn dumbest thing you can do when your side is trying to negotiate a deal, and you are providing the opposing side with more ammunition. At least the NBA was smart in the ordeal and forbid their owners from even talking about the lockout to avoid this idiocy, and let the proper individuals handle subject at hand. Then to add more fire to the flames when you hear players like Kevin Garnett being the most vocal person in the room…. Really, KG is the most vocal person in the room? The guy sporting a highschool education is one of the guys the players are rallying behind. I don’t know this just sounds idiotic to me. They just need to get all these goddamn clowns from both sides out of the negotations, and let the people who are getting paid for this hash it out until there is a resolution. But the truth of the matter is the players are going to have to accept a deal they don’t neccisarily like.

By the tittle I was sure this was a Michael Owalicandi post, lol. 

@IndianaBasketball

 It hasn’t in past labor agreements, but the state of the NBA has never been in the position it is today. I think it’s fair to say that this many teams have never lost this much money, and Superstar players have never been so eager to force teams hands to make superteams.

With the initial idea the owners had to begin with non-guranteed contracts, and adopting a cap of the NHL or NFL variety, and ditching the luxury tax is pretty much a rebuilding process. Granted current exceptions stayed in place for the most part, but changing a system entirely like that is a pretty big thing to do, then to negotiate a deal lower than what the Player have ever had is a big step as well. I agree with you that the players shouldn’t have to shoulder the entire load and be held 100% accountable, but it also sounds as though the owners are trying to get a better revenue split going amongst themselves, and a 50-50 split is still going to keep nba athletes the highest paid in American Sports by a large margin.

I have no problem with Jordan trying to get the best deal for the owners since he is a owner now. Just like I’d have no problem with a drug dealer who made a lot of money suddenly becomes a cop and wants to lock up other drug dealers. If the Players could they would have stayed with the 57percent so i have no issue with a owner wanting to get 52%.  i do think the players should get more since they are the product but i don’t fault the owners trying to do whats best for the owners

for a long time…  15 teams said they were losing money in ’99 and the BRI still remained at 57%…

In 2011 23 teams said they are losing money so the Players are giving them a total of $700 million a year so far…  Bringing it down lower is ridiculous…  Why should you put the blame on someone else because you overrpaid for Eddy Curry and Rashard Lewis?  Really? Also, owning a team is not suppose to be an iron proof investment because NO INVESTMENT is…  In this poor economic climate the owners shouldn’t expect to be making $100 million a year per owner…  It seems to me that’s what they are doing… Dan Gilbert lost money in the LeBron James deal right?  Basketball wise he did, but outside of that he was the biggest winner of them all…  He secured 4 total casinos while owning 3 of them…  One of which will be built into the Q…  Which Quicken Loans is his company…  Owning a NBA team creates so many other means for these owners…  Some people use it for a short time to get other deals done…  The old owner of the 76ers did that…  The owners are being greedy because they understand they hold the power…  And its not fair or good faith on their part…  Its too similar to Wall Street…

 comparing this to wall street is just insane…

but when i heard that even the Spurs (the poster child for successful small market teams) were losing money, i knew there was a real problem here…the owners arent asking for an NFL type system, just one similar to the NHL…because more teams are losing money than making money.

Its funny you would say that because the current CBA for the NHL is 54% for the players…  Bringing it to 52.5% is a lot…  

Also, Wall Street?  Must I really break it down for you?

AIG made faulty investments in the realestate market, but who cleaned up their bad loans?  We did while we still owe on our loans…

The owners made faulty investments via contracts (I’m incline to think including their outside ventures with the team’s finances, the L.A. Dodgers owner did it) and want the players to bail them out… Giving back $700 million is enough already…  Now giving you Billions a year because you decided to give Kwame Brown $9 million a year makes no sense to the NBA players…  No investment is bulletproof, it seems to me the owners are trying to get wealthy regardless of the economy…  

 im not talking about the BRI im talking about how they want the system set up as far as contracts go, and salary cap issues

not their issue… The BRI is…  You talked about the Spurs losing money well that’s BRI and team to team sharing… 

I can’t believe some of you believe it is OK for the owners to lose money!!  That’s ridiculous, if you owned a team and were losing money you would be doing exactly what the owners are doing, trying to fix things, so losing wouldn’t continue. If I’m the owner I would be determining the conditions of employment not the workers (players). If the players want to play they need to accept the offer the owners are making, it will still result in the players making millions. The things the owners are wanting to do, are the things necessary to make the league better, more competitive and profitable.  If the players continue to hold out and we lose the whole season the players will lose alot of fans and do irreparable damage to the game.  It will be done for greedy purposes not for the  good of the game.

I agree that the owners have some responsibility for the bad contracts they have given many players but there is plenty of money to go around and the owners don’t need to be losing money. The players are going to do much more damage than good by holding out.  The players want to be free to go where ever they want and the owners want to have some control over keeping the players they have drafted and developed.  Allowing the players to conspire to create super teams with star players like Miami did is not healthy for the league and the future of basketball. 

His H.O.F. speech shows that he really does not like how ownrs have treated the players in the past. The way I see it MJ seems to feel like he has paid his dues. Mike seems extremely bitter. He created this whole thing, just think about all the revenue the league made off of him alone. Seems like he feels now is the time for him to get paid through this all the proper way. G.O.A.T., x Cockyness, x Bitterness, x Power, = Greed?

Also lets not forget this is a buisness, and nobody was more successful than Micheal at being a player/buisnessman. It is obvious he cares about his success first and foremost. back in the 90’s he would do anything to win, so why would it change now that he is in an owners position. Of course he is going to keep trying to win, successful people dont just stop after accomplishing some goals…they accomplish goals and immediatly create new ones.

^ Actual headline on SI.com this morning (Morning Jolt, I guess is what it was called). I am the only one who thinks they maybe should have thought this one through……..

Besides the weird double entendre, I think that Michael Jordan has always been out for Michael Jordan. I do not recall him doing much during the last lockout, other than wanting to get the most out of it he could. I really have no idea what players could do for leverage at this point. I do remember LeBron James saying he wanted them to take no less than 53% with Dwyane Wade, but what else could LeBron say to influence the owners otherwise? I really think that the major issue seems to be amongst the owners and the players are caught in the middle of a rock and a hard place.

You have one group of owners that would be alright with the players only losing 7% of their split of the BRI. You have this group of hardliners that want them to lose at the very least 10%. So, how are the players not making concessions to these guys by the fact that they are realizing they will have no chance of maintaining the original 57%? I still feel this is very much an issue amongst the owners rather than the players being unwilling to cooperate. The players just do not want to get screwed on the deal, they have every right to fight for their share of the pie as the owners do. The thing with the owners right now, is it seems their is a contingency that is very much NOT united with the intention of getting the NBA season started. It seems like they are still very much at odds over revenue sharing, and the word is that Michael Jordan and the other small market owners comprising the hard liners are using this to get a better deal for themselves as far as that is concerned.

Their ploy? Either the players get significantly less or the owners making money share it with everybody. My ultimate thinking is, how is this the players fault that this is happening? The apparent 8 owners making a profit, I feel, are making enough to make the other 22 owners losing money happy if they shared revenue. But, seeing as these owners are not willing to part with this, they want that to come out of the players share rather than their own pockets. This, in turn, would make them even more money, and make the small market owners hopefully turn a profit. The players, however, would be making significantly less. I guess the majority of people see this as people getting paid millions of dollars to play a game, so they think that the players are greedy, while it is the owners job to be greedy so it is not really their fault. Well, it does indeed take two to tango, but the owners seem to have no real urgency on getting this season started, and they are the ones that have that ability. The players, meanwhile, are just trying to lose as little as possible, which does not exactly give them much bargaining power.

Michael Jordan…

Hell of a baseketball player…

Apparently, also one hell of a douchebag

Thanks for posting that vid IndianaBasketball.  Chamillionaire seems like a cool ass dude. 

My thought on Mike…

Growing up, I loved this dude as a competitor.  And you always saw him competing and working his ass off, so his image was revered b/c that was the one side of him we really saw.  While the ongoing off and on retirements hinted towards a red flag, I thought it was more of him having a love for the game combined with a realization that it is probably his time to move on. 

Looking back now, I am pretty damn sure those were more ego-boosting marketing moves where he could entrap the media and NBA, holding them by the balls.  Kind of like the LBJ "The Decision".  Combine that with the way he throws people under the bus, the way he apparently treats ones who idolized him, and the subtle jabs he takes at todays and yesterdays greats.  For instance when he was asked about where Kobe ranks in todays game and he said "If you are talking about guards, I would say he has got to be in the top 10." (http://prometheantimes.com/2010/11/02/the-continuing-doucheification-of-michael-jordan/).  Def. seems like a douche to me.

While my admiration and appreciation for him as a competitor and unreal talent will never change, my opinion of him as a man certainly has.  And when his final days comes it will be interesting to see the scenario.  I think people clearly will never forget him and his legacy will live on.  People will continue to talk of him and argue for him as being the GOAT.  But how many people will truly miss the man outside of his family.  I don’t think the man himself will be mourned, but more or less his legacy and the icon he became as an athlete.  

M-Dymes and Indiana…  This is the reason I always come back to this site because the real good posters don’t accept what they are being told… REGARDLESS if it is the Greatest of All-Time… I was one of the biggest Jordan fans and I still am…  The only problem I had was with his fans, yall didn’t realize this while he was playing?  Don’t get me wrong he really didn’t say anything when he was a player (The LeBron commercial, "What, you just want me to sell shoes?" was aimed at MJ and its fawking true).  Jordan seemed like a great guy in the videos and commercials, but that’s through smart marketing from David Stern/Nike…Him saying he will win game 6 versus the Pacers or closing his eyes and shooting a freethrow shows how cocky he was…  I just think its amazing that people PRAISED MJ for that, but when Kobe do it all hell breaks lose…  Jordan always been this way, but his greatness masked his faults… The ish with Bill Cartwright and Horace Grant?  Not to mention the gambling?  Breaking Steve Kerr’s nose?  MJ was a controlling a$$hole… It’s also the reason I don’t respect Skip Bayless, he forever on LeBron but he spent majority of his career around MJ and saw all this…  A couple years ago after the famous Jordan HOF speech he semi came out and said Jordan was a womanizer/prick…  Michael wanting more money has everything to do with penalizing bigger market teams for having a better situation… Instead of David Stern saying well F’ it and making the league smaller (and better) he allow this ish to go on…  I hate that little small bastard…

My underlying thing is, most of these guys seem to be. "The Decision" was lame, but I truly believe had LeBron sent every Cleveland fan a letter of apology, and came to Dan Gilbert’s house with a bouquet, sobbing and begging for his forgiveness, than everyone would still be pissed off that he left. "The Decision" just gave them the right to say he did things like a d-bag. Michael Jordan is just as egomaniacal and petty as the next person. His HOF speech was funny, because it showed that he is for the most part, a petty psychopath who wanted to "get the last laugh". Know what I think would have been cooler? Not mentioning all of those things everyone mentions as motivation for you and perhaps, I don’t know, acting like you are over them.

We all know you were the best player on the planet for a number of years, and more than likely the best of All-Time (In my opinion and in the opinion of many). But, Michael Jordan off of the basketball court, seems to be a gigantic schmoe. I cannot say that Kobe or LeBron would not be the same way if they were in Michael’s shoes, but I would like to think they might not be. We may never know, but either way, Michael Jordan certainly seems to be showing a fantastic example of why many find the owners more so than the players to be tremendously greedy. These are guys with incredible fortunes, who want to take money from people who do not have close to as much as they do. It is multi-millionaires/billionaires versus millionaires, so it is hard to totally empathize with the players, but I think it is way harder to feel sorry for a former NBA player who made more money off of the sport he played than anyone else in history (His endorsements came from his being a NBA superstar as well). So, just the way I see it, and I do not think I am alone.

I think that people need to remember that Charlotte is a relatively small franchise and being one of the newer ones it will need time to develop it’s own identity away from the old Hornets team. MJ has over half his net wealth invested in the team and even if he is worth over $500 million he is not as rich as a lot of NBA owners so has to look to protect his investment so I do have more sympathy with him than other hard line owners who have a much smaller percentage of their wealth tied up in their teams.

A lot really depends on whether teams are looked at purely as a business or almost a rich person’s play thing perhaps like the new Nets owner for example or are part of a wide ranging sporting empire like James Dolan owners or the Kroenke family who also own the Rams and Arsenal F.C as part of their business empire.

 As a Michael Jordan fan, I am pretty disappointed with him because of all the owners in the NBA, I felt that he would be the one to understand what the feeling goes through the players yet now I fully understand, where was he during the 1998 lockout???… I always thought and pictured MJ as a philantropist and a role model for kids and I still think he is but what he’s shown to the kids is way different compared to how he’s dealing with NBA playersand I kind of get that now… Yeah, he might be a generous guy giving back to the community and all but I also realized now that he can be a hipocrite in terms of dealing with the NBA players… I just thought that of the 30 owners, he’d be the one to show at least a little bit of sympathy with the guys because he has been there, done that kind of stuff… Pretty disappointing on my part and I’m really shaking my head right now.