Lockout: Blame it on Stern

Nobody deserved more credit for the phenomenal growth of the NBA in the last decade than David J. Stern.

The commissioner's leadership and ingenuity helped transform a frog of a league into a prince.

But now that the NBA won't begin its regular season on time, and at least two weeks of games are going to be lost due to the owners-imposed lockout, nobody deserves more blame for the league's inevitable decline than Stern.

It was Stern, after all, who pushed for this silly lockout. He too advantage of an escape clause in the old collective bargaining agreement from 1995 that allowed owners to terminate the NBA if players salaries exceeded 51.8 percent of basketball-related income.

Well, the players' share during the 1997-'98 season was 57 percent. But instead of letting it slide, and waiting to see what might happen after this season when the players' portion could conceivably plummet, especially if Michael Jordan and his $33 million salary aren't around, Stern and the owners overreacted. They made a mountain out of a mole hill.

And then they exasperated the problem. They began nitpicking about other aspects of the NBA, like the Bird exemption, which has been a savior to small-market teams like Milwaukee because it gives them a legitimate chance to re-sign its own free agents, the rookie scale and drug testing.

In other words, the old NBA wasn't working out the way Stern and the owners envisioned. At the time, though, the owners were ecstatic about the sweetheart deal Stern had struck. With no “hard cap" on a commissioner's salary, they quickly rewarded him with a contract in excess of $45 million. It easily made Stern the highest-paid commissioner in the history of sports.

But now, just three years later, Stern makes it sound like the NBA is on the brink of financial disaster. Who's he kidding? The NBA isn't struggling, like he's pontificating; it's flourishing.

If you don't believe it, ask yourself this: How many times in recent years have you seen any of these poverty-stricken NBA owners put up a “For Sale" sign? Closer to home, when was the last time you heard any talk of Bucks owner Herb Kohl wanting to dump his franchise?

According to sources, Kohl has had a couple of opportunities in recent years to sell the team. And for a handsome profit, I might add. After purchasing the team from former owner Jim Fitzgerald in 1985 for around $18 million, sources say Kohl could have unloaded it for at least three times that amount. And, that might be a conservative estimate.

Financial World Magazine reported in 1995 that the Bucks were worth $97 million. Last year, the same publication reported the Bucks were worth $112 million.

But Kohl has repeatedly said he's not going to sell the Bucks. Now, do you think he would be saying that if he was taking a solid hit financially? Of course not.

Perhaps just as interesting was Kohl's recent decision to hire George Karl as coach. Karl's four-year contract will likely exceed $22 million, making him one of the highest paid coaches in the league. If Kohl's team was in dire straits, would he have made such a hefty financial investment when he could have retained Chris Ford for another season at $1 million?

And Kohl doesn't figure to stop spending, either. He has promised Karl he'll do anything in his power to help him build the Bucks into a title contender. If that means shelling out big bucks for potential free-agent Terrell Brandon, so be it. If it means shelling out more big bucks for potential free-agent Ray Allen, so be it. To his credit, Kohl wants to put out the best possible product. He covets a winner.

But Kohl isn't the only owner with such commendable aspirations. Just look at how badly Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glenn Taylor wants to win. Taylor agreed to pay 20-year-old Kevin Garnett an absurd $126 million last summer, not because of what he's done for the franchise, but what he “might" do for the franchise. To make Garnett the richest player in the game was just moronic.

The $126 Million Man isn't even one of the NBA's 10 best players. If he was, the Timberwolves wouldn't have bowed out so meekly in the first round of the playoffs last season.

It should also be noted that not once during the Garnett negotiations, or any time thereafter, did anyone from the Players Association get down on there knees and beg Taylor to pay Garnett $126 million.

Of course, cynics will respond by saying Taylor didn't have an alternative. If he didn't pay Garnett such an outlandish amount, he would have bolted Minnesota. And maybe Garnett would have.

But Taylor still had a choice. He could have traded Garnett just like the Bucks opted to do with Vin Baker when they were reluctant to pay him and still got some quality players or draft picks in return.

It was the Garnett deal, though, that has the owners in a tizzy now. They're scared salaries will go through the stratosphere. They're now saying, “If Garnett is worth $126 million, what's Tim Duncan going to be worth? What's Keith Van Horn going to be worth? And, Lord knows, what's Shaquille O'Neal going to be worth?" Try about $150 million or more.

And, you know what? Those aforementioned players will get their money because their owners fully know these “star" players will help them earn even more money. They already have. Even with the spectre of losing the inmparable Jordan to retirement, NBC and Turner are banking on the NBA becoming an bigger and better product. That was clearly illustrated last summer when they signed a mind-boggling $2.6 BILLION contract to televise NBA games.

And that's just TV money.

But the NBA also collects untold millions from licensing products. How much is anyone's guess. But consider this: When the players union sought and received a $25 million guarantee from licensing products revenues in the last NBA, the owners hardly protested. Obviously, the players are only getting a small slice of the pie.

And then there's the revenue from ticket sales. In the minor markets like Milwaukee, the profit margin on ticket sales isn't overwhelming. These franchises have little choice but to keep ticket prices reasonable. But that's not true in the big markets. The Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks and L.A. Lakers all reportedly earn more than $900,000 per game in ticket revenue. The Knicks sell what's called VIP seats. They're $1,350 per game. One Knicks official told me this summer that they can't sell them quickly enough.

So, when Stern talks about how his league is in peril, I can't help but laugh. Anyone who closely follows the NBA knows that's malarky. What this lockout isn't about remaining solvent; it's about greed. Sickening greed. The owners are making plenty of money. the players are making plenty of money and advertisers are making plenty of money. And so is Stern.

But the question remaining now is how long Stern will continue to lock the players out. He talks about bargaining in good faith, but that's all it is: talk. Case in point: Last month when the players union was more than eager to negotiate, Stern went on a vacation.

Since then, he and his minions haven't made any concrete concessions and actually have increased their demands. The players, on the other hand, have made several concessions, including marijuana testing, percentage of salary increases and revision of the rookie scale.

It's amply apparent that Stern believes the fans are in his corner. He's dead wrong. Most of the fans I've talked to don't care who's right or who's wrong in this NBA labor dispute, although a recently-conducted poll by Gallup, USA Today and CNN said the majority of the fans they interviewed 44 percent sided with the players on the lockout issue.

If that aforementioned group was even more informed, it would have - and should have - been 100 percent.

mmm

Having already hired a top assistant, Terry Stotts, Karl is on the verge of hiring two other assistants.

“I have interviewed some guys, and I think within in the next week we might have something," Karl said Thursday. “Right now, I'm just looking for the right fit."

Karl wouldn't divulge the names of the coaches he has interviewed. However, sources said Karl will likely retain Mike Woodson, who was an assistant under former Bucks coach Chris Ford the last two seasons.

Sources also said Karl's other choice is likely to come from one of the three following candidates: Ron Adams, a scout for the Portland Trail Blazers; Brendan Malone, an assistant coach for the New York Knicks; and Mike Thibault, who was an advance scout for Karl with the Seattle SuperSonics last season.

Of course, with the ongoing lockout, there isn't any pressing need for Karl to hire any other coaches.

Some teams, including the Los Angeles Clippers, have decided not to hire any coaches until a new collective bargaining agreement is reached.

“It's not a panic time to hire someone, but we'd like to get this settled and get ready for the season," Karl said.