When did everything in the NBA get so complicated? The wild and wacky free agency period we all knew was about to go down just got a lot wilder and a lot wackier. The Chris Paul trade to LA rumors ignited a frenzy in the league over the last few days…and just as quickly things went and took a very bizarre turn when the trade was blocked by the NBA itself (who is also the owner of the Hornets franchise). The reason given was vague at best and rumors of the small market owners complaining to David Stern to block the trade “or else” abound. A lot has been made recently in the media about the collective bargaining agreement and “competitive balance” between the smaller NBA markets and the larger ones. Forgive me as I begin what will only be seen as a rant for the next bit but I have to get this off my chest.
To start, let’s be real about things - small markets are always going to be at a disadvantage to big markets in the NBA - period. There is only one thing that that can negate the extra money, glamour, fame, and amenities that big markets can offer NBA free agents, and that’s winning. Winning cures all ills. Especially in the NBA. And it’s a proven fact that small market teams CAN and WILL keep their superstar players if those players feel like they are having a measure of success. Case in point - San Antonio and the Spurs. More on this later.
A lot goes into being an NBA owner, but the bulk of the job is this: you gotta be smart. To succeed in any business you have to have savvy and a shrewd sense of talent for your field. Professional sports is a guessing game with talent more than most, but there are ways to hedge your bets and take strategic risks on certain types of players. But if you build a culture that puts team first, keep an eye out for the right type of players, get a coach who knows how to win, and get a little lucky, you will be just as successful as the team that throws a ton of cash at every free agent name in the market. Yes, I said you have to get a little lucky, but luck is largely a by product of doing everything you can to put yourself in a position to be successful. Not everyone is going to get a Tim Duncan or Kevin Durant in the lottery, but those teams that did were in small markets and were ready and willing to build around what they knew were “can’t miss” prospects. Both San Antonio and more recently Oklahoma City have taken the small market model and made it wildly successful. How they did it was through hard work and prudent planning. Evaluating and scouting talent correctly. Bringing in guys with character and strong work ethics. Paying contracts to the right players for the right amount of money. Never overspending or taking on too much payroll for the wrong reasons. Not making a big splashy signing just for the sake of making a big splashy signing. Hiring the right coaches, assistant coaches, scouts, and executives. Take care of your veterans and get rookies that know how to play the “right way.” Take chances with some measure of solid information to back why you did it. And THEN and ONLY THEN when you get lucky enough to sign or draft the right guy, you are ready to do the one thing that will keep that player there for the long haul - and that’s win ballgames.
Small market owners complain they don’t get a big enough share of basketball income, and yet they overpay millions to players who under perform or under achieve. They hire “big names” with no track records of success, or worse, have track records of spectacular failure. They make emotional decisions about players and their money and then compound it by making cost cutting business decisions on players they should be trying to keep. Towns like Cleveland and Minnesota are never going to have the sunny beaches and nice weather and lavish lifestyles that places like LA and Miami do - so you have to realize this and fight with the only weapon you have at your disposal that will cut through all of that to the core of most NBA players REALLY want: to win. To be around a culture of winning. And to be a part of the best of a league that boasts some of the greatest athletes on the planet. When you build and keep a culture of winning, no one is really going to care how many nightclubs you have or how many bars you sport or what the weather is like. If you build winning, they will come.
LeBron didn’t leave Cleveland because he didn’t like the weather in Ohio, or because Cleveland didn’t have enough bars or nightclubs, and anyone who thinks otherwise (I’m talking to you little Danny Gilbert) is fooling themselves. LeBron grew up in Akron; he knows what the weather is like. And he wasn’t even old enough to drink legally when he was drafted - so I’m pretty sure the nightclub scene wasn’t on his radar. LeBron left Cleveland because in successive years the Cavs went to the Eastern Conference Finals (lost), the semi-finals (lost), and the first round of the playoffs (lost). LeBron left because in all his years with the Cavs, the best player they brought in to help him as a free agent was Antawn Jamison. LeBron left Cleveland because the ownership, executives, and coaching staff were not committed to building a winning franchise, even though they claimed they were. And that’s it. There’s a reason Tim Duncan never left the Spurs and Kevin Durant signed a recent extension to stay with the Thunder, and you can damn sure bet it didn’t have anything to do with the Riverwalk or Oklahoma City’s nightlife.
And this brings us full circle to the recent unpleasantness that is the current NBA free agency period. For David Stern to block the trade of a player like Chris Paul to a team like the Lakers is nothing short of sheer lunacy. And for the reason behind it to be nothing more than petty vindictiveness on the part of small market NBA owners is even more lunacy; that is to say, these owners and the commish that represents them are lunatics, i.e. crazy. And the only reason given is that its “what’s in the best interests of the Hornets team” and “basketball reasons.” Really? That’s all the media and the rest of the fans get, in a day and age where we have access to the internet, players direct Twitter & Facebook feeds, and an enormous wealth of information in general? Did Stern really think the story about him caving in to petty owners demands and the letter from little Danny Gilbert himself wasn’t going to find its way into the public’s hands? The league offices must really think the public is gullible, stupid, or both.
Here’s my open letter of comment to all the parties involved with blocking the Chris Paul trade debacle: smarten up. Instead of blaming your woes on outside influences, try taking a look in the mirror instead. If you’d paid the right guys the right amount of money, and put smart people in charge of your franchise instead of people with no clue on how to run an NBA business, maybe you wouldn’t be complaining so much. Maybe you wouldn’t be complaining so much because instead of what you have, you’d have a franchise that was actually winning. And when you’re winning, you bring in fans. And fans buy stuff, like t-shirts, players jerseys, and food and beer at your venues. And when you have fans buying merchandise, you can bet your bippy they are also watching your team on TV when they can’t come to the stadium. And when they are watching TV and buying merchandise, you get television and merchandise revenue streams that make you even richer than you already are, and it DOES affect your “basketball related income.” And one other thing happens when you win - you have good, great, star, and superstar players that want to come to your town, and more importantly, they want to stay in your town. Like Duncan did in San Antonio, and Durant did in Oklahoma City. And when your stars stay in your town, they bring their friends with them. And when your stars stay and they bring their friends with them, you tend to win even more. And winning brings in the fans who buy stuff…well, you get the idea. Hey, it looks like I just figured out the business of the NBA, and I’m not one of the dozens of overpaid executives sitting in front offices all across the U.S. I guess at the end of the day, the question is this - if a nobody blogger fan like me can figure out this business, why can’t they?
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