The Basketball Jones… TONIGHT. The Jones guys found their way to OKC and also a lovely meal at one of the finest eateries in town: “Now maybe this will end up being the pinnacle of our OKC adventures — cruising in a white stretch limo after eating at an old-timey steakhouse is the epitome of 1970s high class ballin’ — but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the Sooner State’s capital. I am not sure what you guys do all the time, but this was a nice little excursion. Keep it up and we can reevaluate your not-so-great national image.”
Tom Haberstroh of ESPN.com on KD and LeBron working out together: “LeBron James and Kevin Durant worked out together in LeBron’s hometown of Akron last month, a development that has generated polarizing opinions. Some think these rivals shouldn’t be so darn friendly. Some think it’s great that the best in the game are pushing each other to new heights. Whatever your opinion, it’s clear that your workouts are nothing like the workouts of professional basketball players.” Read more…
When Billy Hunter, Derek Fisher and 60 some-odd players stood behind a podium Monday afternoon after a players’ meeting, most expected them to announce they’d be putting the league’s proposal to a vote. Or at least, announce they’re making a counter.
But that didn’t happen. Instead, it was doomsday.
I think you, probably like me, were left wondering one thing: Why? What are the players thinking? The chances of them actually winning a lawsuit are slim. The chances of them recouping their losses in a new collective bargaining agreement are probably even slimmer. And yet instead of pushing forward and trying to push the pressure back on the league and owners to accept their revised deal, they decided to blow it up. They didn’t even try and mask it. During their press conference they even said that. They wanted to completely detonate the current negotiations.
Matt Moore of CBSSports.com on the difference between a disclaimer of interest and decertification: “Collective bargaining was established to protect employers in their negotiations with unions and vice-versa. Subsequently, it was established in U.S. law that employers are exempt from antitrust litigation, provided they stay within the framework of collective bargaining. So if you want to sue your employer for antitrust, you need to dissolve your union. You can do that two ways. You can decertify, which involves what we’ve been talking about, where union membership petitions for a vote to decertify the union; the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) verifies that petition; and then a vote is held to decertify, needing a simple majority to pass. Or you can disclaim interest — which means union leadership dissolves itself. Decertification is bottom-up; disclaimer of interest is top-down.”
The players have filed a lawsuit against the league with KD being a plaintiff. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “The crux of the players’ argument is that, absent a union relationship to shield them from antitrust law, the 30 NBA owners are engaging in a group boycott that eliminates a market and competition for players’ services and are in breach of contract and violation of antitrust law. The players are seeking to be compensated for three times their lost wages as permitted by law, plus legal fees and any other relieft the court deems necessary and appropriate.” Read more…
There’s not an NBA season right now. But that doesn’t mean everyone is just packing up and going dark.
Everyone’s favorite podcast, The Basketball Jones, is hitting the road to bring their show to the people. They’ve already had stops in Chicago, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
This Thursday, they come to Oklahoma City. Where? At Tree and Leaf’s store (8405 N. Rockwell Ave. STE #13 Oklahoma City). When? 7 p.m. Why? I don’t know. But I can tell you one reason maybe not to come: I’m their special guest.
RSVP on this Facebook page. Let me say this too: Portland had more than 100 people show up. Right now, OKC has 23 people RSVP’d. And we think we’re the best fans in the league…
So come on out and try and forget that the league we love so much is basically imploding right in front of us while watching some people talk awkwardly in front of you. Trust me, it’s going to be good times.
An agent to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “This is honestly the last thing I would’ve done,” one moderate agent said of the union’s disclaimer. “I can’t imagine these [players] truly know what they’ve gotten themselves into. … I don’t know an agent, including the decert agents, who are happy with this move.”
Ian Thompson of SI.com: “But 20 years from now, when the emotions have boiled away and they can see this breakdown for what it is, the owners and players will also blame themselves. The wise people on each side of this argument will think about what they might have done differently, and they will realize the needless harm that was done. There was no natural disaster at play here. Nothing beyond the control of the owners and players forced them to push this season to the edge of cancellation. They did this together.” Read more…
The NBA and its players have basically started hovering over the big red “DO NOT PUSH” button that would detonate an entire season. It’s ridiculous. Stupid. Outrageous. Infuriating. Frustrating. You pick the angry word you want to use and it fits.
We’re all mad. I know I am. I’m mad at Billy Hunter for waiting until now to pull this stunt. I’m mad at him for pushing and pulling the union in a directions I don’t think the majority of players are comfortable with. I’m mad at David Stern for backing the players into a corner and forcing them to take a stand or fold. And knowing the players — you know, professional athletes with an incredible amount of pride — they weren’t going to back down.
I’m mad at the owners for getting their coveted BRI split down to 50-50 and a system that favored them but yet they kept pushing and pushing for more and more and more instead of just calling it a win and moving on. I’m mad at the players for not understanding that they make a hell of a lot of money to shoot a ball through a hoop.
I’m mad at myself for getting my hopes up that both sides would use reason and common sense to come to a deal so they didn’t risk to future of the league over dollar signs.
The National Basketball Players Association has decided not to accept or extend the opportunity to vote to all players after meeting for almost three hours in New York Monday to discuss the league’s latest proposal.
“We’ve arrived at the conclusion that the collective bargaining process has completely broken down,” Billy Hunter said.
Hunter announced the players have decided to file an anti-trust disclaimer against the league and its owners. The NBPA will be transferred from a union into a trade association. So really, this skips a step in decertification as the union is disbanded immediately.
“This is where it stops for us as a union,” Derek Fisher said. Read more…
Darnell Mayberry talked with Scott Brooks about what he’s up to: “‘With all the coaches, the goal is just to have no injuries,” Brooks said. “I was the first injury. I hurt my hamstring. And then the next day, Coach (Mark) Bryant hurt his calf. It was like every day we were losing guys.’ Asked how he injured his hammy, Brooks admitted he overexerted himself after constantly getting beat off the dribble by the team’s video coordinator. ‘My mind still thinks I can do things that my body can’t,” Brooks said. “And I didn’t like Coach Vinny (Bhavnani) going around me that easily. When you get to your mid-40s, you think you’re still in your mid-20s.’”
Nazr Mohammed has been a star of the lockout in terms of players having a strong voice. But he whiffed over the weekend on the incorrectly reported D-League clause. Matt Moore of PBT: “If that proposal did make it in, it would be used only for players who clearly weren’t ready. When they were, they would come up. If you draft a top draft pick, you’re not sending him to the D-League for five years to keep costs down. You want him up. The guys this would impact would likely not be part of the union long-term anyway. And we don’t know any of the surrounding details of the proposal. Oh, and what’s that? One more thing? Oh, yeah. It’s not in the proposal anymore. It’s gone. It’s dead. It’s over. But players are still reacting to it.” Read more…
The players haven’t responded all that positively to the league’s newest proposal. It’s basically been met with the type of reaction a 3-year-old has when mom tries to get him to eat his veggies.
“I know it’s not a good one,” Durant said of the proposal. “It’s not the one that we want. …If it’s not a good deal, I don’t see why we should take it, especially this late.”
Here’s a reason: Because the season could be lost if you don’t. I’m not advocating that you do take it nor am I saying that you shouldn’t, but reality is what it is. Don’t take this new proposal and you’re almost certainly looking at the league’s “reset” offer which is something the players never would accept. Read more…
Kevin Durant is concerned. The NBA’s new proposal could potentially have a great affect on his team staying together.
One reason, among many I’m sure, that he’s not a big fan of this new proposal.
The Thunder, a small market club without deep pockets, has a lot of young players to re-sign. Durant’s already locked up to a max extension, but with Russell Westbrook due one along with James Harden, Serge Ibaka and even Eric Maynor, Oklahoma City could have a difficult time keeping its young group intact.
Morning Thunderers. Thank you for your support of Daily Thunder. Be sure to call your player representative and tell him to vote YES on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
KD owned the summer in about 50 different ways. Between making movies, playing flag football and hooping in about every city and every gym he could, Durant took his already sparkling reputation to another level. But it all starts with the Goodman League for KD. It’s his summer home, his blacktop vacation where he plays as much as he can. And via the good folks at the Mars Reel, here’s KD’s ultimate summer Goodman mixtape.
As voted on by players and fans, James Harden was pretty much the unanimous selection for the league’s biggest hipster. Harden himself voted for big beard brother Baron Davis and Kevin Durant picked Chris Anderson, but Harden was awarded the distinction in the end.
No deal, part two. But the league presented a “revised” proposal to the players and they’re going to look it over before making an official decision. Billy Hunter said, “It’s not the greatest proposal in the world,” but that also means it’s not all bad. So hold until Monday for something more. David Stern said if the players were to accept this offer, there would be a 72-game season starting Dec. 15.
Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “Another outcome likely will begin to unfold Friday before the union even decides whether to accept the proposal — and would continue to progress regardless of the outcome of next week’s player rep meeting: Agents dissatisfied with the deal the union has negotiated and the intransigence of league negotiators already have more than 200 signatures on decertification petitions which are ready to be submitted to the National Labor Relations Board requesting a vote to dissolve the union, according to a person familiar with the plans.” Read more…
Oh, my bad. I guess I didn’t think that first part of the headline out that well. But anyway, big news! LeBron and KD are going to play flag football against each other Nov. 30.
LeBron tweeted Thursday afternoon, “Its all set people! Nov.30th Team @Kingjames vs Team @KDTrey5 in Flag football. Its going down. Can’t wait (Bart Scott voice) Lol.”
As for what the rosters will look like or where it’ll be at, that info hasn’t come out yet. I would imagine a good amount of friends and teammates will be involved. And knowing KD, he’ll probably just invite his buds from Sigma Nu to be his team.
The Basketball Jones… TONIGHT. The Jones guys found their way to OKC and also a lovely meal at one of the finest eateries in town: “Now maybe this will end up being the pinnacle of our OKC adventures — cruising in a white stretch limo after eating at an old-timey steakhouse is the epitome of 1970s high class ballin’ — but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the Sooner State’s capital. I am not sure what you guys do all the time, but this was a nice little excursion. Keep it up and we can reevaluate your not-so-great national image.”
