Changing the Locks

Matt Rose gives his thought on the NBA lockout.

(AP Photo/Michael Pugh, Sprite)

The United States is on the verge of slipping back into a Recession. The current unemployment rate is at 9.1%, which—excluding the latest recession—is higher than it has been since 1983. Even worse, those who are unemployed are remaining unemployed for extended periods of time. As of 2010, the median household income was $49,445. On average, a family spends about $23,000 on just food and housing amenities. Before taxes, gas, car and insurance payments, ect., families have an average of just over $26,000 dollars to spend.

Now, let me put the NBA lockout into a little more of a perspective. The NBA does not disclose commissioner David Stern’s salary, but reports place in anywhere between $10 and $23 million dollars a year. As of 2010, the average NBA player salary was $3.4 million dollars a year.

No, I am not going to go on a tangent about athletes being overpaid. In fact, I think they deserve every penny. They have a specialized skill that can be marketed. The average player’s career only lasts 4.82 seasons, and many do not have a college education. They take a risk to make it in a highly competitive field that offers no job security. They deserve the money.

However, based on the fragile economic situation in both America and the world, coupled with the fact that the NBA does not have nearly as high of a loyal fan base as many of the other major sports, means that the current lockout could cause irreconcilable damage to the league.

The NBA was on a major upswing. The 2011 players attracted more viewers than any other in playoff history. Now, the owners and players are in a dogfight. The players have made several concessions, including agreeing to a 52% division of revenue, down from the previous 57% split, but the owners want 50%. The owners claim to have made concessions, but dropping their plea for luxury tax and the removal of guaranteed contracts cannot be considered concessions, as they were never before include in the collective bargaining agreement.

Ultimately, the NBA cannot afford to lose much more of this season. The star players are attempting to demonstrate their ability to survive without the owners by organizing world tours and pickup games, but sooner or later the average NBA player is going to get tired of working in a paint store (Delonte West) and push to get the deal done. The owners, meanwhile, must wake up and stop being greedy. If they do not, it will not matter how they divide revenue; there will not be enough fans to even generate revenue.