NBA Optimistically releases 2011-2012 Schedule

David Stern

Who says David Stern doesn't have a good sense of humor. And after all, isn't the Boy Scout motto "Always be Prepared"?

With that in mind, despite the current NBA Lockout and general view that there will be no season, the league has released their schedule for the upcoming season.

And yes, if you look at the e-mail, the announcement is even sponsored.

We do have to add, they qualified it in the official release by saying "In the event the NBA is able to reach a new collective bargaining agreement with the NBAPA in a timely fashion."


So NBA fan, if you were to be allowed to see your games this year, despite the tension between warring rich people and lawyers, here's what you'd see:

Your season "Would" open with the Champion, Dallas Mavericks squaring off with the Chicago Bulls, followed by the Oklahoma City Thunder playing the L.A Lakers on a T.N.T doubleheader.

Mostly, the release goes on to blather about the games their "T.V Partners" may or may not get to telecast this season. To which we say, "Good for them".

Truly the question is will any of these games actually happen? The answer is, "Who knows?" Much like the beginnings of the NFL Lockout, most everyone is subscribing to the "Sky has fallen" theory, saying they won't play this season and possibly next.

True, the differences here are even more stark than the NFL, the NBA is asking for a pay cut essentially by its players and is pleading poverty. And while we don't necessarily blame the players, the owners are right, the pay scale has gotten way, way out of hand. (Hmmm..., wonder who's fault that is?)

So, you can take this for what it is worth and go check out the website of your favorite NBA team to find out their alleged schedule for the season. And you can then go back to your daily lives complete in the knowledge that you may be looking at a piece of paperwork, that might be worth something one day, because it probably will never happen.

Hahaha! This goes out to you, NBA Fan!:

NBA Lockout: Day 1--Will anybody notice? (Stupid is as stupid does)

Billy Hunter of NBAPA and David Stern

Well, it's official, we now have two professional sports leagues that are now in the midst of labor strife.

As you saw yesterday, the NBA decided it was time to make a stand (albeit kind of against themselves), by locking out the players until a collective bargaining agreement can be reached and lower salaries paid.

We wish them luck with that, for they (the owners) are trying to slay the monster that they built themselves.

And while both sides are saying nice things...at least publicly about each other, it is going to be a long, nasty process here, much worse we believe, than anything the NFL has gone through.

Read a brief summary from the Boston Herald RIGHT HERE

The two sides have agreed to resume negotiating in a couple of weeks, but we are pretty sure it won't change anything. The dysfunctional pay-scale and revenue scale the NBA has been operating under since their last strike in 1998 has exacerbated the problem and neither side is willing to admit it.

Yes, there are solutions. And according to many, they aren't complicated. Mark Heisler of the Los Angeles Times offers up a pretty good one, though we suspect it ain't gonna happen.

Read Heisler's story RIGHT HERE

When push comes to shove, this still boils down to a couple of things and while we aren't necessarily siding with the players, we place a lot of the blame here on the owners.

In their endless pursuit of an NBA title, many owners just got stupid. They started paying guys who in no way shape or form deserved it, way too much money, thinking they could buy a title. You can't.

Yes, we know, there is plenty of money to go around and we don't fault the players for taking what the owners were willing to offer them. But the players and the players association should be realistic that they are going to have to give in a little in order for this to work. We just have a hard time wrapping our hands around the premise of anyone, never mind a basketball player, being paid $25 million plus a year...to do anything.

We know, the players do have options and can go play overseas, but do they really want to do that? Do they really want to go play in say, Greece, where gunshots and riots sometimes break out during games.

Sorry, NBA fan, there is a really good chance you are going to have to survive on a steady diet of College Basketball this year.

Oh, if you want to know how petty this already is, try clicking on any NBA.com or team website, you won't find any mention of any current players...

CBSSports.com gives us David Stern announcing the lockout:

NBA Lockout could start today

David Stern

Yes, you heard me right. Although there are some that will say "So what?", this is somewhat of a significant deal. Never mind the fact it would mean 2 professional sports leagues dealing with lockouts at the same time.

The reason for the NBA Lockout is a little different:

The NBA owners and Commissioner David Stern want to clamp down the upward spiraling salaries they keep paying because they are losing money. However, the obvious question there is "Who started the upward spiral?" If an owner offers, say a Joe Johnson (good, not great player) a 6-year, $129 million dollar contract, the player would be insane not to say "Sure, I'll take that".

There are reports and quotes out there saying the league wants to break up the "Superstar" teams, such as the Heat. Uh...no. That, we believe has nothing to do with it. It's about rolling back salary costs.

We don't disagree that the league needs to control costs, the do. But again, who's to blame for it in the first place? And do you really think that even if they succeed in controlling salaries, they won't zoom right back up again in a few years when an owner gets impatient and tries to buy a title?

The league and its players union, headed by Billy Hunter, will meet again today to try and come up with terms at the very least of a collective bargaining agreement. Nobody really believes it will happen. If it doesn't a lockout could effectively start tonight at Midnight est., the time the current agreement expires.

And while we think the lockout will happen and drag on for a month or two, we also believe this won't drag out like the NFL's has. League owners know they have to play games and get butts in seats in order to make money. And unlike the NFL, who has a good 6 months between seasons, the NBA offseason only runs about 3 months.

We give you this story for a reason. Just as the NFL Lockout begins to wind down and we think we can stop talking...and learning legal speak, a new Lockout is about to begin.

TheBasketballJonses give us a look at what your NBA Lockout PR ads could look like. And yes, they are pretty funny.

Enjoy your NBA Playoffs: Strike/Lockout looming

NBA Union Chief Billy Hunter and Commish David Stern

((ht: latimes))

Because we now know that all Sports fans are learning the finer details of labor law thanks to the NFL, we wanted to remind you about this.

The NBA is headed down the same path the NFL is going.

Yeah, that's right. And it could be uglier than the NFL's problems.

The Los Angeles Times has an interview with the head of the NBA Players Association and if what he says is true, NBA fans, you've got a problem.

According to a memo first reported on by the Sports Business Journal and repeated by many, the NBA is looking to cut their overhead. By that we mean costs...or more specifically, salaries.

The NBA is supposedly pushing for a 22% reduction on their salary cap and get rid of the current "Luxury Tax" for those big spenders who blow past it. A big reason, apparently more than 50% of the leagues teams lost money in 2009-10.

Read the original story from the Times RIGHT HERE

Yes, you should be worried Mr. NBA fan. The players are going to fight such a drastic pay cut. Hard. We aren't shocked at the report NBA teams are losing money, we don't quite honestly see how they could be making money. The salaries paid in that league are quite honestly, obscene. Joe Johnson getting a $125 million contract--really? There are no athletes, and shouldn't be any CEO's making that kind of money. Period.

Obviously, we will keep an eye on this story because it will be developing as the summer progresses. We just wanted to let you know, in case you didn't, that the NFL may not be the only league staring down labor issues.

NBA Gives Sacramento An Extension To Keep Kings

((HT: News10 Sacramento))

The NBA has granted the Sacramento Kings an extension on the deadline to file an application for relocation. That relocation would be immediate and the team is looking at, possibly, Anaheim, California for their new home.

The league announced that the Kings will have the opportunity to discuss their options at the NBA Board of Governors meetings set for mid-April. The team will have until April 18 to decide if it plans to relocate. The team had filed for an extension last week since the deadline is typically March 1st.

Sacramento has struggled for years to build a new arena, which Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof argue is critical for the team to stay.

Period...

The larger question is: Would the local arena survive in its current form if the Kings became the Kings of Anaheim...??? Or would Sacramento survive as a market for any kind of athletic endeavor...???

Bryan May is indoors...

DEVELOPING: NBA Completes Hornets Purchase

The NBA has announced that its board of governors has given its anticipated approval of the purchase of the New Orleans Hornets.

Commissioner David Stern announced back on the 6th that the league intended to buy the Hornets from majority owner George Shinn and minority owner Gary Chouest.

Shinn had been trying to sell the club to Chouest since last spring but negotiations stalled and Chouest backed out of Round One of negotiations.

Stern says the franchise is worth about $300 million and that the league will look to sell the club to a more permanent owner, preferably one that would continue to operate the team in New Orleans.

The Hornets were founded in Charlotte by Shinn in 1988 and moved to New Orleans in 2002. According to the league, Jac Sperling, a New Orleans native and sports executive with over 20 years of sports-industry experience, will serve as the team’s chairman and representative on the league's Board of Governors.

Team President Hugh Weber will continue directing the day-to-day activities of the team.

Here's Paul Murphy's piece on the local groups trying to keep the Hornets local...
((HT: WWL-TV))

Dan Gilbert fined...nobody surprised...

The NBA acted and acted quickly...okay...sort of quickly and fined Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert $100,000 for his comments about the LeBron Center/LeBronathon.

The story, from the Cleveland Plain-Dealer RIGHT HERE

((Dan Gilbert//Courtesy: WKYC-TV))

We also hope that Jesse Jackson will now go away. Not everything is what he thinks it is. Gilbert was angry and reacted that way. It doesn't make what he said right...but at least to most, he was the jilted lover who didn't even get the time of day before being left at the alter.

Commissioner David Stern also had a few thoughts about the person that Gilbert was hammering, one LeBron James. Stern, much like the rest of us, didn't have a huge issue with the fact that James decided to leave Cleveland, rather it was the way that he did it.

We've already posted our thoughts about one of PR's worst decisions, so we won't go into it. What we do hope is that the negative PR about what James...and in particular, his entourage did, will actually register, though we don't think it will. They really never thought it seems, that people would think that the "Decision" was a good idea. Why can't you just be classy and quietly tell the Cavaliers you are leaving and then show up and do a press conference in Miami the next day?

Anyway, enough, we are done reporting on this. This will be the last we talk about it. What is done is done, you can't change it, you just have to move on...and that's exactly what we are about to do.

In the meantime, check out this story about what Cleveland fans think about Jesse Jackson adding his 2-cents worth. Big thanks to WEWS-TV in Cleveland for this:

Agent 0 Suspended...Gilbert Arenas Gone Indefinitely

*****BREAKING NEWS****

The NBA, in particular, Commissioner David Stern has suspended Washington Wizards Guard Gilbert Arenas indefinitely beginning this afternoon.

The story from the Washington Post RIGHT HERE

((Gilbert Arenas Photo//Courtesy: sacbee.com))

Arenas, who often fancies himself as a character he calls "Agent Zero", got in trouble over the weekend after word leaked out about an incident in the Wizards locker room where both he and teammate Javaris Crittenton appeared to have pulled guns on each other.

The incident is still under investigation by several law enforcement orginizations though Stern, in his statement requested the Wizards to "Refrain from taking any action".

The NBA is still investigating the incident, so don't assume that this will be the last that you hear about it.

It's been a busy day for Dave Feldman and our friends at MyFoxDC, hasn't it...???


We thought we'd end this particular update with the photo off to our right...

Arenas, we guess at the HQ, is trying to be funny or something with this particular pose during last night's pre-game introductions...

It may be very punny, but the timing couldn't be worse there, Zero...

The full text of the Commissioner's statement is here...

((Agent Zero has his guns drawn, thanks NBAE/Getty, Garrabrant))

Tim Donaghy=Lone Gunman

Lawrence Pedowitz issued his report to the National Basketball Association regarding the league’s anti-gambling rules, policies, and procedures, and its officiating program. Mr. Pedowitz, a former Chief of the Criminal Division in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, made extensive recommendations to improve the league’s anti-gambling rules and officiating program.

The overall text of the Pedowitz report can be found in black...
It's 133 pages... you've been warned...

The NBA's official response can be found in black as well...

From the official-looking release itself...ahem... quote...

"He ((Pedowitz)) found no evidence that any NBA referee other than Mr. Donaghy bet on NBA games or leaked confidential NBA information to gamblers, and no evidence that phone calls between referee Scott Foster and Donaghy were attributable to criminal activity.

He found no evidence that any referee miscalled a game to favor a particular team or player, or that the League has asked referees to call games to favor particular teams or players.

He found no evidence to support specific allegations of game manipulation or misconduct made by Mr. Donaghy and his attorney in June 2008, including allegations regarding a 2005 playoff series between the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets and a 2002 playoff series between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings.

He found that a number of referees engaged in forms of gambling other than betting on NBA games, in violation of League rules. The League previously decided not to discipline referees for these violations.

Right...whatever you say, sir...
Those findings are fantastic...

Chip Diller agrees with you and has the appropriate reaction for the basketball-viewing public...

What's Wrong With This Picture...???

What is it they say...?
One could be a mistake. Two is a coincidence. Three is a trend...

The Spanish delegation- not just men's basketball, but women's hoops, AND the tennis teams all decide to pull the same immature stunt through photography. There is a thought, from the Spanish perspective, that they were just being visually joke-ish:

"Hey, we're in China. So, we'll act as the Chinese do."

Wasn't this something we've done as fourth or fifth graders, and then we got it out of our collective systems...?

In this current day and age of over-the-top political correctness, people should be dropping the hammer on an entire athletic delegation. But, where is the outrage, or even the questioning of all this particular silliness...?

Apparently, outside of the United States, it doesn't exist.

And, actually, the traditional media here in the States ((remember them..?)) has glossed right over this, too. So much for offending other countries who will be more than happy to slam us at every chance through paper, print, or protest.

“It was supposed to be a picture that inspired the Olympic spirit,” Pau Gasol said.

Uh, sure...

Jorge Garbajosa and the Gasols are on this squad. Two of the three are, as of this writing, still on active NBA rosters. Garbajosa went home. So, what do we do as Americans about this...?

Laugh at their elementary silliness... and be sure to remind them at every opportunity. If you're David Stern, how do you handle this...? It's a bigger problem. If one of the red, white, and blue athletes did the same thing, Jason Kidd has the right idea as to how it was handled:

“We would’ve been already thrown out of the Olympics,” he told Yahoo! Sports in an interview with Adrian Wojnarowski. “At least, we wouldn’t have been able to come back to the U.S. …There would be suspensions.”

And for his European peers, well, Kidd suggested, “They won’t do anything to them. It’s a double standard.”

Sad to say, what really can be done...? FIBA won't do anything. Commissioner Stern may have a few words, but there won't be any time-out for the Spaniards when they return to active duty.

It's painfully obvious, when you're the greatest country in the world, that jealousy reigns more than common sense. If the Americans had pulled one, two, or three of those lovely pictures that we would have been roasted in the world spotlight.

Spain...? Oh, they're just being funny...
The United States...? Oh, they're the "evil United States"- they should know better.
They're picking on the little guy...
Why are they joking about the Chinese like that...?

Actually, we do know better...
And we have to show by example...
Everyone else just gets to get away with it until further notice...

Walk tall. Walk proud.
If we have to be Number One, let's just act like it.
And stick it to everyone else that way...
No pictures needed...