Stern smarter than Goodell

[bobblehead]

I just saw the report that David Stern and the NBA have taken legal action to avoid a decertification. His lawsuit is exactly as I said I would have done if I were NFL commissioner. He has asked the courts to immediately void any contract negotiated under the CBA if the union decertifies. Be prepared for an ugly one....which is cool by me since I hate the NBA.

[Scott Campbell]

I just saw the report that David Stern and the NBA have taken legal action to avoid a decertification. His lawsuit is exactly as I said I would have done if I were NFL commissioner. He has asked the courts to immediately void any contract negotiated under the CBA if the union decertifies. Be prepared for an ugly one....which is cool by me since I hate the NBA.

If contracts negotiated under the CBA were voided, would that also mean that teams rights to players drafted under the CBA would also be voided?

[ThunderDan]

I just saw the report that David Stern and the NBA have taken legal action to avoid a decertification. His lawsuit is exactly as I said I would have done if I were NFL commissioner. He has asked the courts to immediately void any contract negotiated under the CBA if the union decertifies. Be prepared for an ugly one....which is cool by me since I hate the NBA.

Unfortunately, unlike the NFLPA the NBAPA (?) stated they were never going to decertify their union. They wanted to negotiate a deal with the owners.

All this did is make Stern look like an ass and the players look better.

The players knew already that by decertifying that would lead to the end of basketball for 2011-12. Players with guananteed 5 year,$14,000,000 per year contracts are a lot more motivated than NFL players to keep playing.

[bobblehead]

If contracts negotiated under the CBA were voided, would that also mean that teams rights to players drafted under the CBA would also be voided?

I would assume all "rights" would be voided.

[smuggler]

Stern is a much worse commish than Goodell (from the owners' perspective) and the NBA a much weaker league than the NFL. Under Sterns reign, the league has basically fallen apart and the players have an amazing amount of control.

[TheRaven]

Stern is a much worse commish than Goodell (from the owners' perspective) and the NBA a much weaker league than the NFL. Under Sterns reign, the league has basically fallen apart and the players have an amazing amount of control.

So Stern wasn't at the helm during their most successful stretch the NBA had ever seen?

[smuggler]

Was Stern the commissioner during the 1980's? I guess he was. Look where the league has gone since then. The league is bad. Stern is bad.

[TheRaven]

..and the 90's, where business boomed even more.

[Tony Oday]

Who cares? Does anyone watch the NBA? I guess I am in MN and I think we put a team out there

[mraynrand]

The decline of the NBA is directly attributable to the retirement of Paul Mokeski

and the hiring of Charles Barkley as a color commentator
.

There's only one thing that can restore dignity and pride to the NBA: More Fan interaction!

[pbmax]

Was Barkley really 6' 7"?

This is Stern's third lockout and it seems to be about the only way he can do business. Unfortunately, he also seems to be bad at it.

The NBA at least actually has teams that lose money, but you won't see contraction as an option. The financial picture for the NBA, even after it reached its zenith with Bird/Magic and then Jordan, cannot seem to find a sustainable business model. They ought to let teams fold that sign players to ridiculous contracts and then cannot afford them.

Its too bad because the NBA today, with its current crop of players, zone defenses, and multiple styles of play, is as much fun to watch as the Bird-Magic years and better than the Jordan years. Not because anyone is a good as Jordan, but because one team cannot dominate as easily, though Kobe was close.

[King Friday]

A parakeet could've successfully run the NBA during the days of Magic, Bird and Jordan. I don't get all the hype for Stern...he's presiding over a product that is losing money in bushels, and where many of the league superstars have some kind of negative aura attached to them. How does that make him a genius?

[pbmax]

A parakeet could've successfully run the NBA during the days of Magic, Bird and Jordan. I don't get all the hype for Stern...he's presiding over a product that is losing money in bushels, and where many of the league superstars have some kind of negative aura attached to them. How does that make him a genius?

Many post Jordan stars seemed to be near criminals, but today's crop is pretty clean. Remember it was somewhere between 2007 and 2009 that the NFL took over in arrests per play from the NBA. Remember Florio's "Days Without An Arrest" meter? And that increase in negative attention led to the Player Conduct Policy, which is possibly the only thing that could still hold up football this season. The players want someone other than Goodell to hear appeals, and Goodell isn't budging.

And that parakeet still had a tape delayed championship game on as late as 1980, Lakers vs. Sixers.

[mraynrand]

Its too bad because the NBA today, with its current crop of players, zone defenses, and multiple styles of play, is as much fun to watch as the Bird-Magic years and better than the Jordan years. Not because anyone is a good as Jordan, but because one team cannot dominate as easily, though Kobe was close.

It's not terribly worse than it was, but I think it used to be a lot better. The team concept, shortie shorts, players who could hit a midrange jumper - like the Ice Man Geroge Gervin, A Tree that bites Danny Ainge, Red Auerbach calling Don Nelson a whore, and Nelson getting fined for it, Kevin McHales' arm pit juice smeared in your face, hook shots from your big men, broken backboards from Chocolate Thunder - That's my NBA!

[mraynrand]

The players want someone other than Goodell to hear appeals, and Goodell isn't budging.

NFL players should consider themselves lucky - in the NBA years ago, Red Auerbach was in control of that.