Tuesday Bolts – Sad Edition
J.A. Adande put it well: “So instead of Dirk vs. D-Rose and Durant vs. Kobe on opening night we get to look forward to more long meetings that produce nothing? Great.”
Henry Abbott of TrueHoop: “There are a lot of really smart and fascinatingly subtle aspects to these negotiations. The people involve are incredibly capable. The process is in some ways rational. This is how $20 billion deals go, there is a lot of posturing and delays. However, now that the costs get real, lost revenues, disenfranchised fans, tough times for those who rely on the NBA to pay the bills, it’s worth noting that when this is all done, in addition to paying the price of change, the two sides will also have paid mightily in idiot tax. When success hinges entirely on compromise, how smart is it to build statues to inflexibility?”
Daequan Cook: “Keep supporting us and standing with us and believe that we’ll get something done.”
Serge Ibaka could return to the Spanish league, via HoopsHype: “Thunder forward Serge Ibaka is willing to sign with an overseas team and start playing right away after spending a month working on his fundamentals in Miami, one source told HoopsHype. “He wants to play at least a month or two, or the whole season if there’s no NBA this year,” the source said.”
Zach Lowe of SI: “The NBA union is already much later in the game. Its CBA expired more than 100 days ago, on July 1, and the players stand to lose so much salary over via a canceled season as to make it borderline worthless to pursue a strategy that basically guarantees that cancellation. It could still happen as a means of gaining some temporary “Holy crap!” leverage, but it would be a surprising move, even now.”
Chris Sheridan put it well: “I am disgusted and speechless. I trusted wise men to act wisely. I believed in common sense prevailing. I think the NBA owners are nuts to go down this road. They just lost a significant percentage of their fair-weather fans. Idiocy rules the day. How very, very sad. Not just sad. Stupid.”
Darnell Mayberry: “Players insist they’ll stand firm. But they clearly want to play, and when the first checks of the 2011-12 season don’t arrive as scheduled on Nov. 15 chinks will begin to show in the armor. That’s your only hope for NBA ball in NBA buildings this season. Players caving. If they don’t, the 2011-12 season will go down in the annals of NBA history as the first season to never happen.”
Lance West of Channel 4 says a lost season could cost one organization $200,000: “No NBA season means no money for “Odd Parents.” It’s a local organization that rents out concession stands at Chesapeake Energy Arena to raise money for youth sports. Joan MCurdy said, “We depend on the Thunder. I’ve got a grandson in sports and that’s how we pay for his equipment, tournaments.” From youth hockey to competitive cheer, several groups rely on food and beverage sales to buy equipment and fund trips.”
