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msgkings322
I come in peace
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Players don't have the same control over where they end up anymore. From Zach Harper at The Athletic:
| Gone are the days of player empowerment |
| When LeBron James held a television special with ESPN in 2010 to announce he was taking his talents to South Beach, a good portion of the NBA-watching collective seemed to be very angry. I will always vividly remember that night: I was working for ESPN, running a chat on the website. It was called Daily Dime Live, and we were essentially live-watching “The Decision” together. The buildup was obviously massive, but I’ll never forget the surge of people who joined the chat after LeBron publicly chose Miami. At one point, there were over 300,000 people in the chat, which is an unreal number of users to have in one spot. The software could barely hold it together. But what I saw was a lot of vitriol. A year later, the NBA was in a lockout, which is usually what happens when there’s a major labor-dynamic shift amid the negotiation of a new collective bargaining agreement. For the next 13 years, NBA players were incredibly empowered to steer their own ship. Athletes from other sports marveled at how much power NBA players held over their own careers while also making more guaranteed money than most. There are seemingly countless examples of players from 2010 to 2023 finding their way to wherever they wanted, whilst also getting that big-time pay. Carmelo Anthony found his way to New York in a trade. Kevin Durant has taken his talents to multiple teams via free agency. Jimmy Butler ended up on the Heat when the team had no cap space and not much to deal for him. Anthony Davis managed to get traded to the Lakers when he wanted to. Fast forward to this current CBA with the second apron acting as an unofficial hard cap, and while players are still getting paid (they’re entitled to half of the Basketball Related Income, per the CBA), we’re seeing less and less control over where they end up. Jaylen Brown was not looking to be moved from the Boston Celtics at all. Damian Lillard never wanted to get traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. Anthony Davis never tried to get himself moved to the Washington Wizards. LaMelo Ball had no control over being moved to the Minnesota Timberwolves, nor did he ever truly request out of Charlotte (especially not after things were turned around midseason). Even with Giannis Antetokounmpo making it to Miami, player empowerment doesn’t feel like a thing anymore. The players union is lamenting the deal it took with the owners. There is a mutual opt-out date in October 2028, and from there, things could get pretty gnarly. Owners love the way the current CBA is working. We know because Adam Silver has stated as much. The owners will want to grab even more power in the next CBA negotiations. We know that because that’s how ownership and management works. While player empowerment was being celebrated by so many parts of the sports world, the owners were patiently chipping away at the hold star players had over the NBA. Eventually, they seemed to cut down on the majority of leverage players had in choosing where they’ll be. In today’s NBA, it’s about finding a spot that will give you that next contract extension (Butler with the Warriors, KD with the Rockets and maybe Kawhi Leonard with Toronto). And you don’t fully get to figure out if that’s where you want to be next. You still get your money if you’re a star, but you’re trying to be happy with the destination, rather than pick the perfect setup. I don’t know if the players union can ever find that power again. It’ll be up to the agents to help figure out how to exploit the next system for their clients. That’s usually the case anyway. But for now, players are at the mercy of a lot of these teams. That’s probably fine, as long as they’re getting paid. |
