HoopsVibe’s Very Quick Call: John Wall, the first overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, had an up-and-down rookie season with the Washington Wizards.
For what it’s worth, Wall has impressed during the Pro-Am series. Click the video, watch the highlights of Wall, and get at HoopsVibe News in the comment box below.
O.Sandor
NBA players and owners are hoping to meet in a small group on Wednesday and/or Thursday of this week in New York City, according to sources.
"They've been deeply involved in the meetings we've had. I know Kobe is intimately involved in interfacing with colleagues and sharing in a pool of revenue to help the others get through this. Kobe has volunteered to do that in the event others need, he and others are prepared to loan money if necessary."
HoopsVibe’s Very Quick Call: The Bank of Kobe Bryant could be coming.
Union head Billy Hunter told the press superstar Kobe Bryant is willing to lend his union brothers money during the work stoppage.
This is a nice gesture by Bryant, but shows the need for NBA players to learn how to manage their money.
Take Eddy Curry. The puffy post turned one good season on a bad Knicks team into an exorbitant 5-year, $55 million contract.
In the last three years, Curry suited up for 33 games. While injured, he accumulated debt, overhead, and high-interest loans like a European ‘P.I.G.S.’ nation.
Now Curry, who will receive a massive pay-cut as a free agent when the season does begin, must honour those financial obligations.
I have a feeling Curry’s situation is not unique. Many, if not most, NBA players are stretched, so the owners only have to outwait the players.
Hunter should be more careful about releasing information to the public, even if it involves The Bank of Kobe Bryant.
--Oly Sandor.
Got thoughts? Well, get at HoopsVibe News in the comment box below.
The Los Angeles Lakers superstar told The Associated Press on the sidelines of a youth basketball clinic in Singapore that he didn't know if there will be a 2011-12 season and hasn't ruled out playing abroad. "I could," Bryant said Saturday. "I'm playing abroad right now."
HoopsVibe’s Very Quick Call: Will he stay state-side or go abroad?
This was the dilemma facing Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, who could earn millions of dollars per month playing outside the NBA.
However, the rumours, speculation, and gossip teetered off once the Chinese leagues restricted the escape clauses and talks heated up between the players and owners on a new collective bargaining agreement.
Currently, the two sides are nowhere near a deal, which means Bryant is again considering his options abroad.
Perhaps he’ll tour Asia. Perhaps he’ll link up with a top squad in Europe. Currently, the owner of a prominent Italian club side is exploring ways to sign Bryant and pay the insurance on his NBA pact.
Or perhaps it’s a massive bluff. Bryant could be trying to pressure the owners, who hold all the cards and leverage in this lockout, by talking about suiting up in another league.
If so, it’s a Hail Mary. It may be the union’s best shot of getting some owners to move off their hard-line stance.
--Oly Sandor.
Got thoughts? Well, get at HoopsVibe News in the comment box below.
“You sign me to a deal, you think I’m going to say, ‘No, I deserve $50 [million] instead of $80 [million]?’ I’m like, ‘Hell, yeah.’ I’m not going to turn it down. You can’t blame the players. If anything, we don’t negotiate the deal. We’ve got agents that negotiate the deals with the team. Y’all need to go talk to the teams and the agents.”
HoopsVibe’s Very Quick Call: Two words for Rashard Lewis. Save it.
The stretch four-man for the Washington Wizards may have a point about the owners' spending habits, however, the ‘Average Joe’ has little time, interest, or sympathy in millionaire players and billionaire owners point the figure and blame each other.
What they want is a season. And now.
Lewis needs to step outside his bubble, consider the American economy, and reflect on what a fan must think hearing him complain.
After all, Lewis is an overrated and overpaid. He’s a decent scorer raking in superstar money and could be the poster boy for the NBA's current state of fiscal mismanagement.
The league’s middle class makes too much. The list of decent-to-average players earning tens of millions of dollars is a problem.
So the owners have decided they’ll get cost certainty with a hard cap and better split of Basketball Related Income, which, by the way, still guarantees Lewis a luxurious life.
--Oly Sandor.
Got thoughts? Well, get at HoopsVibe News in the comment box below.
HoopsVibe’s Very Quick Call: Finally, we have some sort of basketball.
The Impact Basketball League featuring various NBA players kicked off in Las Vegas last week. There were highlights. And we have them for you.
So watch the video and get at us with thoughts in the comment box below because it might be the only basketball we see for some time.
--Oly Sandor.
Just when you thought the NBPA decertification talk had died down...two sources say prominent agent Leon Rose has joined that crowd. (Sam Amick, CNNSI)
HoopsVibe’s Very Quick Call: LeBron James, no matter how much he tries to keep a low profile, always makes national headlines.
Take the lockout. In an attempt to gain leverage over owners in the ongoing labour strife, James’ agent Leon Rose is encouraging his client and other high profile players he represents to vote to decertify their union.
This is not James. This is his agent. But it doesn't matter.
Decertification would kick off a series of complicated lawsuits that would make it impossible for the season to start on time or be played at all.
This would be like dropping a nuclear bomb on all the gains the NBA made last season.
To be fair, James may have good reason for supporting this option: he and fellow stars are frustrated with the owners’ negotiating tactics and the concessions union head Billy Hunter is making.
The tension mounts as fans want a solution and an NBA season. James could take a hit if the union decertifies.
--Oly Sandor.
Got thoughts? Well, get at HoopsVibe News in the comment box below with thoughts.
Just finished a long day of negotiations. Unfortunately we are No Where Near a deal! It's def disappointing!
HoopsVibe’s Very Quick Call: They learned hope is not a strategy. They learned this the hard way.
Heading into Tuesday’s meeting with owners, the players were optimistic they would begin the process of negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement.
There was no reason for optimism, though. Both sides weren’t budging off the lines they drew in the sand several months ago.
The owners still wanted a hard cap. The players still would not agree to this.
The owners still wanted a 50-50 split of Basketball Related Income. The players still would not agree to this.
The owners still wanted to change the league’s financial landscape. The players still would not agree to this.
Now union leaders like Roger Mason and Derek Fisher are changing their message, warning the players that training camp won’t start on time and that the season could be cancelled.
This is what they’ll tell their fellow players when they meet today to discuss the lockout. Buckle up, the labour impasse is just beginning and getting nasty.
--Oly Sandor.
Got thoughts? Well, get at HoopsVibe News in the comment box below.
Following another long meeting on Thursday, the owners and players have agreed to bring full committees to the negotiating table on Tuesday. David Stern said there is nothing formal to present to larger committees. Time was right to see if there will "be a deal or shouldn't be a deal."The two sides met on both Wednesday and Thursday this week."We think it's getting to be an important time and it was a good idea to have larger committees," said Stern.
What is the status of Nate Robinson, who wanted to resume his career as a football player? Aaron Goodwin: The NFL is an alternative but he did not say he wanted to play in the NFL. He just wants to play basketball for now. He is interested in coming to Europe during the lockout. Which teams are interested in getting him? Aaron Goodwin: We talked with many teams but we have never been close to a deal. I can't name the teams but we have been in contact with teams playing in Greece, Russia, Turkey and China. There will also be a clause in his NBA contract. I won't let any of my clients come abroad without a return clause in the NBA.
HoopsVibe’s Very Quick Call: The NFL is out. Is Europe or China in?
Apparently Nate Robinson will not pursue an NFL career during the lockout, and is instead looking to sign with an overseas club in China or Europe.
China would be best as teams would see Robinson as a short-term marketing gimmick, and would be far more tolerant of his bravado both on and off court.
European coaches would struggle to integrate the flashy combo guard into their rigid sets, methodical schemes, and two-a-day practices.
After all, Europe is about the collective, and, fair or not, Robinson is often accused of being about one individual: himself.
--Oly Sandor.
--Got thoughts? Well, get at HoopsVibe News in the comment box below.
The site will be the Impact Basketball gymnasium, about two miles from the Strip. The unofficial commissioner will be Joe Abunassar, a longtime trainer of N.B.A. players. More than 40 players, locked out of N.B.A. facilities because of a labor standoff, have committed to play. Chauncey Billups, John Wall, Zach Randolph and Stephen Jackson will be among the headliners.
HoopsVibe’s Very Quick Call: You want basketball. You got it. Well, sort of.
Reports indicate up to forty NBA players will suit up for the Impact Basketball League which is set to begin in Las Vegas in mid September.
The big names include Chauncey Billups, Stephen Jackson, Zach Randolph, and John Wall, who will use the Vegas run to prepare for training camp and the upcoming NBA season.
And there’s the catch.
Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee we’ll have a season in 2012. So this, ‘the lockout league’ as some have dubbed it, may be the best we can hope for.
--Oly Sandor.
Got thoughts? Well, get at HoopsVibe News in the comment box below.
Impact Basketball is reportedly planning to organize a league in Las Vegas comprised entirely of pro basketball players.
HoopsVibe’s Very Quick Call: It’s a short term solution.
Reports indicate Impact Basketball is organizing a league for NBA players displaced by the lockout, and games are slated to begin in Las Vegas for mid September.
Chauncey Billups, Paul Pierce, and John Wall are a few of the 70 NBA players who could make their way to Sin City for a run.
This seems well intentioned, however, no start up league will change or move owners off their position of a hard-cap and 50-50 split of Basketball Related Income.
And while Impact Basketball may satisfy fans and players desire for hoops, it hopefully won't distract all involved from drafting a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
--Oly Sandor.
Got thoughts? Well, get at HoopsVibe News in the comment box below
“One thing that might give some comfort to Orlando fans is that one of the thoughts in the new collective bargaining agreement is to give an advantage to teams who are trying to keep their incumbent players,” Dyer says. “That would allow the Magic, for instance, to offer Dwight more money than any other team and (entice him) to stay home.”
HoopsVibe’s Very Quick Call: They have hope.
The speculation has been that Dwight Howard will opt-out of his contract next summer and walk on the Orlando Magic, sending the South Florida franchise back to the stone age.
Some expect Howard to join the Los Angeles Lakers, even though the purple-and-gold has post Andrew Bynum. Others expect Howard to partner with a top table-setter like the New Jersey Nets’ Deron Williams.
Either way, Howard was thought to be gone. And Magic GM Otis Smith was getting ready to reserve his seat at the NBA’s annual draft lottery in the spring of 2013.
Until now.
Apparently, the new Collective Bargaining Agreement will help teams retain their own stars by increasing the amount they can pay, and essentially outbid opponents for, their own free agents
Other clauses will make it difficult for stars to join forces. Salaries will be reduced; there could be a hard cap without a luxury tax or exemptions; there may even be revenue sharing. (Call it ‘The Miami Clause’.)
Expect the post lockout NBA to resemble the NFL. There will be greater parity. There will be greater balance. There will be less have-not franchises.
All of which should help Orlando keep Howard. This, it seems, is the best they can hope for.
--Oly Sandor.
Got thoughts? Well, get at HoopsVibe News in the comment box below.
Just hours after Shanxi Zhongyu announced their deal with Kobe, the Chinese basketball league decided not to allow players who have deals with NBA teams to play in CBA. The league lists 108 players who have no deals with NBA; only them can register in CBA.
HoopsVibe's Very Quick Call: Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Dirk Nowitzki, and Dwyane Wade won't be playing for a Chinese club come fall.
Today, the Chinese Basketball League banned NBA players from signing with Chinese clubs if they have an NBA contract.
NBA free agents can still sign in China; however, getting an opt-out clause to return to America when the lockout ends may be difficult.
In other words: if you sign in China, you stay in China.
This is fair. The government created the Chinese Basketball League to develop talent for the national team, and not to provide leverage for locked-out, millionaire superstars from America.
And now Billy Hunter and the Players Union have a problem. The game's biggest stars have maintained they'll head to China if the owners prolong the lockout with their hardball negotiating tactics.
Such a threat is now meaningless. The money, lifestyle, and branding opportunities aren't as good in Europe. Greece, Portugal, and Spain are also in poor financial shape, so few roster spots will be available.
Hopefully, this development forces the players back to the bargaining table.
--Oly Sandor.
Got thoughts? Well, get at HoopsVibe News in the comment box below.
It's official.. Pride 2 the side.. just filled out a application at Home Depot.. Lockout aint a game..
HoopsVibe's Very Quick Call: There's nothing wrong with working at the Home Depot, however, there's something wrong with Delonte West having to work at the big box reno' shop because of the lockout.
West is an active NBA player, and has earned $15 million plying his trade as a combo guard for the Boston Celtics, Seattle Super Sonics (now the Oklahoma City Thunder), and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Yet, West is (supposedly) broke because owners have shut the door on the players. So he's applying for a gig at The Dep'.
If true, this is unexcusable. West should have set money aside for the labour strife, which everyone could see on the horizon.
Somebody should be looking after West's interests. Like his agent. Or the Players' Union. Remember, West has his issues.
Speaking of the union, West's situation isn't good for negotiations. If other players are living cheque-to-cheque, they may have to settle sooner than they'd like.
There's nothing wrong with working at Home Depot -unless you're West and the Players' Union, and are in the middle of a lockout!
--Oly Sandor.
Got thoughts? Well, get at HoopsVibe News in the comment box below.
HoopsVibe’s Very Quick Call: Dennis Rodman is many things. One of those is honest.
Rodman, as you surely know, was recently inducted into the James Naismith Hall of Fame, and his speech was as honest as they come.
Watch The Worm’s emotional and genuine speech. Then get at HoopsVibe News in the comment box below with thoughts.
--Oly Sandor.
According to Obrad Fimic of Alti Sport who was negotiating with Besiktas on behalf of Kobe Bryant and his agent Rob Pelinka, the proposal of the Turkish team for the Lakers star is still too low. Kobe and his entourage decided not to accept it and give up on the negotiations with Besiktas, team who already signed Deron Williams.
Agent Aaron Goodwin told ESPN.com on Tuesday night that he has met with officials from Turkish club Besiktas and has likewise begun exploring opportunities for Durant in Spain and Russia.
Link
HoopsVibe’s Very Quick Call: Slide over George Costanza. This is ‘The Summer of Kevin’.
Clearly, Kevin Durant is making the most of his time away from his day-gig with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
A typical summer would see Durant train under the eye of OKC officials. This, however, has not been a typical summer because NBA players are locked-out.
The scoring champ’ has been free to live a Costanza inspired life of pick-up runs and you tube clips (all that’s missing is taking a bite of a hunk of cheese.)
The good press has made Durant the star of the lockout, which contributed to Besiktas floating him an offer to suit up for the Turkish club.
Here’s the question: how does Clay Bennett - the shrewd businessman and owner of the Thunder - feel about Durant heading abroad and generating revenue for another owner?
Bennett is one of the hardline owners who will sit the entire season to attain a hard cap and 50-50 split of Basketball Related Income.
Durant assuming wear-and-tear and risking injury in a second-rate league in Europe may frustrate Bennett enough to change his perspective.
It’s one thing if his prize asset, Durant, is state-side. It’s another if he’s generating millions of dollars for another league.
Hopefully, Durant joining a foreign club pushes Bennett off his stance. Then ‘The Summer of Kevin’ would have been a success.
--Oly Sandor.
Got thoughts? Well, get at HoopsVibe News in the comment box below.