Stern on Cowherd
David Stern appeared via radio on the Colin Cowherd program on ESPN this morning. Stern commented on his stance that the current level of player salary is unsustainable, and at the same time somewhat defended player salary levels by saying, "Let the season begin and let's see him in earnest. I don't want to say anything bad about Darko...Judgements are made and that's why they play the season." of the uber-rich, not so talented Darko Milicic (17.6 mpg for his career), who signed a 4 year $20 million deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves faster than he'd sign a pre-nup this summer.
Stern also numbers the teams sharing a $300-$400 million loss at "more than half the league." Talk of contraction may turn into action; more likely Stern is trying to reign in losing owners overpaying for loser players on the one hand, while reigning in player salary levels on the other. I agree with Stern that player salary, as an aggregate, is too high. The minimum rookie salary this season is 473,604; and in the NBA's economic system (revenue-sharing, unionized, set minimum salary spending levels) it makes sense to me, as a fan, that these guys should earn just a bit more, but the highest paid stars, and even the class of players below them, should earn a good deal less.
The minimum amount of salary a team could spend on players this season is $43.533 million, the salary cap at $58.044 million, and the luxury tax threshold at $70.307 million. 11 teams were over the luxury tax line last season, the New York Knicks the only team on the list not to make a playoff appearnce. Now, Stern is even mulling the option of a hard salary cap in the model of the NHL system. The hard cap in the NHL led to less players and lower salaries. It also means owners won't take so many seven figure foolish risks on players.
A team spending $43 million could not compete in the NBA today, almost literally. In 2008-2009, the lowest spending team in the NBA was the Memphis Grizzlies, whose player salary expense totaled over $55 million, spanning a roster with 15 millionaires. Systems are out of whack, and Stern wants more control over the situation.
Sheepishly, Colin Cowherd spoke of Stern as a capitalist, himself as a capitalist and his audience as all capitalists when bringing up the issue of owners making suspect choices with millions of dollars. The truth is, the NBA economic system incorporates a good deal of control. The market is closed to begin with (teams cannot just open on their own accord), and also, the forementioned unions, minimum spending levels, revenue-sharing, luxury tax levels, player salary ranges, etc., are all functions of controlled economics.
Boston loses at Cleveland
The Boston Celtics lost a game to the Cleveland Cavaliers last night, one night after defeating the Miami Heat at home to kick off the NBA regular season...in front of the largest cable audience in the history of NBA regular season games. While the Cavs did look like a playoff contender against Boston for their home opener, the Celtics were due to have a let-down game after the Miami debut. It was also the second night of a back-to-back, and the Celtics are old. Kudos to the Cavs, I can see them starting the season well before falling to the middle of the pack.
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