| "Lockout Update..." (July 12, 1998)
I said I would write about the owner's lockout of the NBA players and I don't want to disappoint. Here's the 411. The owners want a hard cap, like the NFL. The player want the Bird exemption, so the owners can go over the cap to sign them. This is the sticking point. The owners are too stupid to use something called a budget. The players are too greedy to help the owners run their businesses. Last time I checked, when the business shuts down, no one gets paid.
Have I chosen a side? Yes, I'm for the fans. The ones who don't care. The ones who are happy that the US basketball team going to the World Championships will be CBA players and college players. Even though, I'm a bit pissed off that Dominique Wilkins is not going. I think this whole thing is stupid. Make a hard cap, don't make a hard cap. Put a cap in their collective asses, I'm sure Patrick Ewing will still make $15 million a year. It just means that players like Steve Kerr and Tyrone Corbin will be making the league minimum when the contracts come due. That's what the union should take notice of. Players under three years getting traded away because they want $100 million over 7 years. Now that's scary.
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