I'm mocking FavreFan who seemingly thinks that David Stern is failing because the season didn't start on time. Now, the most influential players are literally leaving the country for weeks and yet he'll probably think it's no big deal. Oh, but David Stern calls in sick one day and he's ruining the NBA.

It's clear that both sides are not interested in a serious deal.

I don't hate the players. I just don't think that the NBA owners should cave because the players offered some give backs for a system that is severely broken. Trust me, this lockout is doing nothing but hurt two players I really want to succeed in Boston, but I don't see the need to hate David Stern for doing what he thinks is in the best interest of the long term viability of the league. You just can't have a league where over 50% of the teams are losing money and don't feel like they can compete.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

The lockout hurts the players but it also hurts the old owners who are making money hand over fist. The newer owners are making a shit load of money doing other things and their NBA franchise is just a toy in most cases. I still believe the biggest fight is owners vs owners. Once that's decided then the players will get fucked royally in return. It's the natural cycle of all of these negotiations.

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You're either very misguided or misinformed if you think David Stern and Kobe Bryant are supposed to have the same role in this lockout. Like I said before, Stern is pretty much inarguably not doing a good job this year. But you're Rick so you want to argue it.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I don't think they have the same role. I think they both have roles. One is missing for a day, for something which could be valid. The other is missing a few weeks, for something that clearly is unnecessary.

I also think that missing one day because you aren't feeling well when you are there non-stop is different than taking a 2 week vacation during a fairly important negotiation.

As for Stern, "inarguably" not doing a good job this year, can you explain exactly why? Please do not cite the fact that games have been cancelled. People expected that for over a year.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

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Stern has one job to do right now. To get the owners and players to agree to a new CBA that is good for the long term health of the league and to get it done as fast as possible. It is quite obvious he isn't at all concerned about the latter part of that. You think it's because it was impossible to take negotiations seriously before now. I can't understand your view there. As for getting a good deal done, I'm not sure what he's even contributing. There's leaks coming out every week from the Association's side, and they aren't very favorable(TrueHoop, Slam, Bill Simmons have all referenced this). So clearly there's many individuals in his top circle that are disappointed in his performance so far. Now that the players have come down enough on their demands to be within striking distance of a reasonable goal he's letting the owners fight amongst themselves which is now more of an issue than the players vs owners battle. A good leader would've been out in front of all these issues months ago and force the owners to at least have an agreement in place amongst themselves. He's apparently belittling the players in negotiations, which even if it is deserved, is unwarranted and harmful to the negotiations. As the commissioner and unequivocal leader of the Association he needs to be above that and focus on the CBA, not personal insults.

During all of this he has not even thrown a PR bone to the fans. He doesnt seem to give a shit about them or how they feel about all this. That is most likely why he didn't care about the negotiations back in July and why he still isn't displaying any type of urgency or commitment to getting a deal done. I know you aren't a big NBA fan but those of us that are and have invested a lot of time and money into the league in the past are pretty pissed off over this, and rightfully so. You say it's been expected that games would be cancelled for over a year which just reenforces my point about his complacency this summer. Before the playoffs even ended he should have had an organized plan for the lockout. What exactly has that plan been?

I'm not excusing the players in all this. The "Let us play" media campaign was stupid and disingenuous. Billy Hunter has come off just as stubborn and arrogant as David Stern has. But David Stern's job is to improve the NBA as much as possible and to be a leader during contentious times like these. He's failed massively with his lack of urgency, leadership, and commitment to the fans. You say he has to make sure the CBA is good for the long term health of the league, but refuse to acknowledge that a cancelled season following one of the most popular seasons in modern history is about as destructive to the league's image and popularity as you can get.

Your turn. What about his job performance the last six months has impressed you enough to call it a good job?

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

That he wasn't concerned about getting a deal more than the long term health of the league. He could have led a rushed conclusion to the lockout and they'd be playing right now.

I don't know if he's doing a good job. We won't know about that for a while. His #1 job is to ensure the financial and competitive stability for the future. It was not to make sure that this was a full season. If he is able to institute a system where most teams can feel they can compete both financially and on the floor then he'll have done a good job. That could not have happened over the summer. It's possible that it won't happen this year.

In my opinion, any deal that would have been made before today would have been a bad job by Stern, and therefore I can't fault him for canceled games. It's not as simple as "The players are willing to give back 4% so that should be it". There is nothing to say that the previous deal was right or close. The numbers indicate that for many teams it was not. For Chicago, it was fine, which makes it more understandable why a Bulls fan would be so upset that games were canceled. If you were a Pacers fan you would want a deal that is more "fair".

I'll answer whether or not Stern did a good job the day the lockout ends, and will be more firm in that determination once we get a few months or a year after and see where the league is.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Why are you certain of this?

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

The players weren't going to accept major givebacks over the summer. They still don't seem to be willing to give up what they likely will by the end.

It's kind of amusing. I seem to remember during the NFL lockout that people said "The owners are greedy. Why won't they just agree to a straight 50-50 split of revenue?" and yet when it comes to the NBA I don't see many people thinking that a "50-50 split" would be fair because the players used to get 57%.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I wish Memphis would go away and take Minnesota with it...more talent to go around and less owners carping about not making any money, which considering the two specific above markets they probably aren't.

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

Actually, New Orleans is an NBA failure for a second time. They had the Jazz back in the day before relocating to Salt Lake City, but the Hornets now? At last check, the NBA currently owns that struggling franchise. New Orleans, Memphis despite going to the Western Conference Semifinals, the current Charlotte franchise, Toronto & Sacramento are NBA cities that should be 86th in my opinion.

It sounds like there maybe some good news coming for the NBA labor situation, just heard Michael Wilbon say there is a chance a deal could be made by Friday.

To add it could be good news that there was a report on Monday about the NBA cancelling 2 more weeks and that hasn't become official yet.

On getting rid of teams, if you get rid of Toronto or Charlotte, would it matter that those are your recent teams you have added in the past 15 years, same with Memphis.

I think New Orleans is safe untill they lose Chris Paul, once he goes there would be no reason to watch that team.

Rick if you listen to Hunter's comments the players are willing to give up another $120M a year to get down to 50%. They just don't want to give up all of the other rights they've gotten over the years in addition to taking a $280M loss. Wasn't the last labor deal supposed to take care of all of this? Is this a case where we'll find out every 10 years that the owners want a little bit more? I understand owners wanting to make money but why buy a business that you can't make a profit from? Just like in the NFL and every other sports league I don't think any CBA put in place will stop owners from making bad decisions. Football has the most friendly system to owners and they still have the same problem.

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The reason there is still 30 teams in the league is because David Stern loves to brag that no team has ever been contracted under his watch. I think two ruined seasons is worse.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

So what you are saying is that the players are attempting to negotiate the best deal they can too? I thought that was just evil game canceling David Stern. Helluva job players!

In all seriousness though, they seem to be coming closer to the reality that it will be a 50-50 split. This seems to be the first time that both sides are showing a willing to come closer to an agreement.

So now it seems to be a question of just how much teams can go over the salary cap. I don't blame the players for standing firm on that, but I also can't blame the owners for wanting to protect themselves from themselves by the way of harder rules.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I think the players should get more money in every sports league. It's different from most businesses.

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I think the 50% will be the floor based on league revenue and 53% will be ceiling. I don't fault either side from trying to get the best deal possible. That being said we all know the owners always come out on top in these deals.

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That's where I disagree. The players will never lose money. Even if a single ticket was never sold they still get the payout.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Players have a small window to maximize their earning potential. Most owners will be around for 20+ years. The players are the product.

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I guess if there any good news to save this they are talking, does anything happen, doesn't sound like it, but you never know.

I didn't realize untill I heard it today, that the season was supposed to start on this coming Tuesday.

There's talk about that there still might be a chance to have an 82 game season if a deal is struck in the next couple days. Lots of people are saying that it just isn't possible. I think it could be possible. If they can re-configure the playoff schedule so teams aren't playing a game every 2-3 days, the season will probably end around the same time.

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Or just have the playoffs go til late July, early summer is so damn boring in the sporting world anyway.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

The only problem with finishing too late is that the olympics are next summer.

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You never miss your wealth, till your well went dry
Seem like only yesterday, you were here smiling
Now you gone away, but I know you in a better place
No traces of you, what can I do?
Alone and confused

Did Kevin Garnett find his way into the negotiation room?

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You never miss your wealth, till your well went dry
Seem like only yesterday, you were here smiling
Now you gone away, but I know you in a better place
No traces of you, what can I do?
Alone and confused