Commissioner Adam Silver, the players' union is not worried about the competitive imbalance



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LAS VEGAS – First came the backlash. Then a backlash to the game.

On Tuesday, much of the competitive equilibrium – or more accurately, the imbalance – as the NBA's problem reaching the crisis level had calmed down. Yet the powerful voices of the league's nervous summer center could not dismiss it entirely as a matter for closer scrutiny.

"I am not here to say that we have a problem," said the NBA commissioner Tuesday after the meeting of the Board of Governors. "And I love where the league is right now. [But] I think we can create a better system."

Neither Silver nor Michele Roberts, the executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, have rang the alarm at their separate press conferences on what many see as a growing gap the haves and have-nots of the league. Roberts, in fact, seemed to feel that everything is fine and that the inequality of talent is in the eye of the beholder.

"Competitive balance, it almost depends on what your favorite team is," said Roberts, who was rehired at the helm. of the players' union in another four-year contract announced Tuesday. "I do not hear anybody in the Bay Area worry about competitive equilibrium." Nor do I hear the people of Philadelphia worry about the competitive equilibrium. , or Houston.

"We have great teams. As far as I am concerned, I have never been able to predict which teams would be in the final.

Michele Robert was reinstated as Executive Director by the NBPA for The subject was raised specifically in this context before the finals last month when Silver was asked about the Golden State and Cleveland meetings in the championship series for the fourth consecutive year, a first in one of the leading professional sports leagues.

He took the lead this month shortly after the opening of the free agency on July 1, with conspiring events for insiders to question about growing disparity between the teams. LeBron James' signature with the Los Angeles Lakers was the biggest action in what appeared to be a continuous shift in strength in the league's Western Conference.

Who was followed by the news that DeMarcus Cousins, All-Star center of New Orleans, had boarded the Golden State train for what appeared to be a ridiculously easy seizure at a ring.

This signing triggered the initial backlash, a rich scream that was getting richer than Cousins' one year contract for $ 5.3 million. 2018-19 salary but the fact that warriors will spend more than $ 20 million for this when luxury taxes are counted. Golden State had the largest payroll in the NBA in 2017-18 of $ 137.5 million, despite a $ 99 million salary cap, thanks to various exceptions in the "soft cap" system in effect.

"I do not necessarily think the Warriors are so dominant," Silver told reporters shortly after discussing the "competitive landscape" with the owners. "As I've already said we are not trying to create a kind of forced parity. What we are really focusing on is equal opportunity. And a good point could be made in the tax system, when some teams spend a lot more than others, that it is not equal opportunities. "

The feedback came from people who rushed to the defense of the Warriors and Cousins ​​He rightly noted that neither one nor the other had committed any damage. error in carrying out their activities in accordance with the rules specified in the collective agreement between the owners and the players.

Commissioner Adam Silver spoke about the possibility of changing the age of eligibility. The ABC is the subject of an endless study and an imaginary revision, with possible modifications if negotiated before the end of the current agreement after the 2023 season. -24. Filming a "hard cap" would probably be difficult to sell to players accustomed to the freedom of movement they currently enjoy.

"This is not necessarily a 19459023 question," Silver said in response to the union director's description. "I think it's up to me and our labor relations committee to sit down with the players and their committee to convince them that there might be a better way to go." [19659002] Silver mentions the owner of Charlotte and the legendary NBA superstar, chairman of this labor relations committee, as a valuable resource to address the competition concerns of owners and players.

Both parties have valid arguments. Interest in the NBA has never been higher by almost any chosen metric, since selected TV ratings and licensing revenues to scale growth of the game World. Attendance at the MGM Resorts Las Vegas Summer League – for an insignificant and irregular basketball – continues to grow higher, with fans eager to see the best rookies, sophomores and relative strangers chasing their dreams. Estimates of the 30 NBA franchises, of course, all exceeded $ 1 billion, according to Forbes.com, with the Knicks, Lakers and Warriors all estimated at more than $ 3 billion.

The NBA's Longtime Observers Like David TNT David Aldridge wrote a column this week that argued on behalf of the dominant teams, anyway, saying that they actually drive rather than depress the interest of the fans.

As for any inability to win games or titles, for that on the mismanagement of the franchise. The Knicks and Clippers have all sorts of advantages over the big market, but have not won any championships lately (or at all in the case of Los Angeles).

For Roberts, whose players reap 51% of NBA-related revenue The business figure reaches $ 7 billion a year, business is good, period.

"I'm excited about this new season," she said on Tuesday. "This free agency, there have been many things to write, so we are all, I think, eager to see what will happen in October." As far as people predict the end of the game, I just do not think so. I would be surprised if Adam would call me to say, "What the hell are we going to do?" I think he's as happy as me. … I think we are in good shape.

Critics note Golden State's dominance on the field by winning the last two league championships in nine games, one above the minimum, while still facing the league's best player LeBron James

Ce It's not good that, out of the 10 teams that have been in the back at home in 2017-2018, seven of them ranked among the last 10 the previous season and seven also in 2015 -2016 When the real NBA champions for next June will be virtually crowned in July, selling the game – at the current ticket price – must be difficult, if not downright disheartening.

"I recognize what Michele said, "said Silver." But at the same time, if you talk to the league players, and I've also talked to a lot of individual players, they also want to be in the league as competitive as possible. "[19659024] [ad_2]
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