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November 9, 2011
N.B.A. Needs Drastically Different Approach
The New York Times
by William C. Rhoden
Brooklyn Nets ad whiz Steve Stoute — who recently called Bruce Ratner "our generation's Robert Moses" — has a plan for ending the NBA stalemate: have the 1% partner up with the other 1%.
Commissioner David Stern likes to talk about partnership, but in the rough-and-tumble world of stalled labor negotiations, the fundamental relationship is anything but.
...The N.B.A. and the players are engaged in another season-threatening battle over the distribution of what has become about $4 billion a year in revenue. This is not what a partnership looks like. If the N.B.A. and the players were actually partners, with players having an ownership stake in the league, we might be watching basketball instead of owners against players, owners against owners and players against players.
The concept of players’ equity would probably be met with great resistance from the owners and take years to work out. But given the tangled state of current negotiations, why not strategize now for the next contract?
“There’s not a better time than now,” said Steve Stoute, the founder and chief executive of Translation Consultation and Brand Imaging.
NoLandGrab: Actually, there was a better time than now — before now. With 88% of the public saying "really, there's an NBA lockout?", would anyone care if the Nets never played a game in Brooklyn — or anywhere else?
Posted by eric at November 9, 2011 9:08 PM