Dr. Sternlove, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Lockout

by

illustration and photoshop by Jesse Blanchard

The players have chosen the so-called nuclear option, but make no mistake, it is David Stern and the owners gleefully riding the bomb as it descends upon the 2011-2012 NBA season. By disbanding the union and entering into a lawsuit with the NBA, the players are risking the loss of this NBA season.

That whistle you hear, the one that every cartoon plays right before a bomb explodes, that’s Michael Jordan’s new means of trash talk.

  • Tyler

    I have to believe the players will bring the owners back to the bargaining table. A lost season is certainly bad for the owners financially, but potentially catastrophic for a large amount of players. I don’t see how they can’t understand this.

  • http://profiles.google.com/lordxar Ray Briggs II

    The players are showing a lot of backbone here even if it is foolish and stupid. The players have to know that actually going through with this ends this season and probably puts next years in danger also. It makes way more sense to go back to the owners with some tweaks to the deal on the table and call Sterns bluff about this being the last deal for the players.
    All the money they lose from this season, gone forever, just to get a percentage point back on BRI or make it so 3-4 teams in the Luxury tax can still use the MLE. That is so damn asinine.

  • Titletown99030507d

    Would we be one of those using the MLE while in the luxury tax?

  • Titletown99030507d

    Whose got the bigger balls now Stern? This season is not over by any stretch there’s going to be a quick minuscule tweak before the lawyers get their slimey hands on this opportunity and fleece both sides of the fence. The owners will give slightly only so that the players can feel that they won but it wont be significant. The players are embarrassed at this point and need some sort of victory and are shitting bricks hoping the ownership gives in with a tweak. They look more scared than the owners. Stop it already the two of youz! And get it done before the lawyers take all your money!

  • Titletown99030507d

    Agree. Nuclear snowflakes won’t fall on this season. I can’t believe for a moment that anybody on this list really want’s to lose their paycheck this season.

    http://hoopshype.com/salaries.htm

  • Bry

    I don’t get why the players didn’t send a counter-offer BEFORE decertifying? Can anybody explain that to me? In fact, I don’t get why the players have never made an offer of their own, and then publicized all that they are giving up. They never forced the owners into a choice. They never forced the owners to appear to be the ones abandoning the season over a few percentage points or clauses. I don’t get it. By the way, for the record, I think Jordan was correct in both cases. He was correct in telling Abe Polin he should sell his team, and now he’s correct in demanding rules that will decrease the built-in advantages of big-market teams. There was, and is, a world of difference between owning a team in the DC area, and owning a team in the Charlotte area; just ask Bob Johnson.

  • NYC

    Love the graphic, but come on, man, you gotta get the title right. It’s only my favorite film of all time:
    Dr. Sternlove OR: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Lockout

    And I’m not understanding how Stern would love the lost of a season (i.e., the bomb). Please clarify.

  • Anonymous

    Tyler, I have the same opinion… If it’s all about the money, why don’t they end the lockout? At this moment, I believe they are losing more than money, they are losing fans… And, everyone knows that fans bring money.
    As a fan, I hope they will resolve this as soon as possible, and we will watch some basketball this winter…
    Check out my profile at It’s My Play:
    http://www.itsmyplay.com/staff/activity/254291