is this supposed to be #208?

Look at you, paying attention...I changed it.

ET

I need that Scal jersey.

Brian Scalabrine: proof that ANYONE can become a champion in the Association!!!!

was that ncaa game on the USS Carl Vinson the most american thing that EVER took place? obamas speech, the jets, camouflage-jerseys. from a european point of view it seems like the USA parodized itself.

AMERICA! FUCK YEAH!

Could someone give me a list of good NBA related blogs and online reading material to keep me occupied in this time of need? Please and Thank You

Scalabrine is wearing Kobes #24?

Some stole Shawn Bradley's custom made bike. Greg Ostertag, and Mark Eaton are suspects.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Someone-stole-Shawn-Bradley-8217-s-impossible-t?urn=nba-wp10481

Welp, NBA is doomed. Fuck everybody.

Kiss the season goodbye.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/sports/basketball/players-reject-nbas-offer-and-begin-to-disband-union.html?_r=1&hp

I know. Working on the backup plan...

ET

It's funny how the media reports "players" reject offer, when in reality, the union leaders rejected the offer. The players didn't even get to vote. While I understand that it's union leader's job to negotiate on the players behalf, I'd have thought they would at least consider voting since some players like Kevin Martin were vocal about taking a vote and trying to get a deal done. I'm not saying that would have necessarily changed the outcome, but I think it'd have been worth a shot.

Owners are being greedy, but obviously the players are as well. It takes two to tango. Thanks for nothing bastards.

Can someone explain this mess in a way that's not to legal or espn-like? Because I think I only understand half of it.

The offer that the union rejected, was it really a lowball offer or were they just giving the owners the finger? And why are they talking about disbanding the union? Do the players want that, or the union itself? And what good will disbanding the union do? Wo will talk to the owners? Or will it be up to the individual players to workout contract issues and stuff?

Please, explain this to a non-American in a basketbawfull way.

That's fucking sad. NO NBA. Who will make me stay up to 5 am now?

@adrià: skyrim. It's working here, actually it's 7 am. And I think a saw a Nord that looked kinda like Dirk...

Geert, if you believe the small-market owners were really losing money like they claimed, then maybe the offer wasn't really lowball. At least, I think 50/50 profit sharing offer was fair. But, owners also wanted to cut back on many other things like the salary by instituting a "hard" cap, less mid-level exception, etc. In the end, it all depends on your perspective.

One issue I have though is that they made a "take-it-or-leave-it" offer to players (with a threat of making an even lower "offer" if players don't take it). That is NOT negotiating. They claim it's because they had to draw the line somewhere. But, you only draw the line with someone if you're prepared to cut off the relationship with that person in case it doesn't work out. And I'm sure NBA wasn't quite ready to cut off their ties with LeBron, Wade, Chris Paul, etc. So, in my opinion, issuing an ultimatum in that situation was really not negotiating in good faith.

Regarding decertification, I'm not an expert. But, I think the point is that it allows the players to take the owners to the court and sue them for the lockout and negotiation issues. But, the owners also are countering by saying they will then void current outstanding contracts because those were negotiated by the union, which would no longer exist.

And individual players would negotiate contracts through their agents just as they're doing now, except the contracts wouldn't have the guidelines set by the collective bargaining agreement (like min/max salary). Players Association claims they'll still help the players to try to get the best contracts possible.

I guess maybe someone can clarify on anything I missed.

In the end it's the owner's fault. If someone offered you 10 million you are not going to say well i'm just a role player and in the past I only played 50 games so you should really pay me less.

People say well the owners are footing the bill and taking a risk. Wait that sounds like owning a business. Owning a business IS high risk high reward.

The players need to stop negotiating and start talking to the MILLIONS of people who are affected by the lockout. Talk to arena workers, restaurants/sports bars, security, (etc.) they are the real losers and neither side even cares about them.

Fans are not as important because most of them sit at home and pay zero dollars towards the NBA.

There was an article saying that Kobe Bryant was worth 90 million to the LA Lakers. Well Kobe makes like 20 million leaving 70 million to pay for the rest of the salaries.

NEWS FLASH SMALL MARKET TEAMS YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR PLAYERS THAT ARE WORTH MORE THAN THEIR PAYCHECK. That's how all companies make money. They produce a product that's cheaper then it is to make. That's not even business 101 that's common sense.

Been watching some classic games, and it's funny how the network keeps using biased language to spin the lockout situation. Both in the crawl and occasional commentary in a faux "news" bit. They're using subtle language changes that I haven't seen elsewhere in the press. David Stern, spin master.

Watched him play last night in the Eurocup game against Bayern Munich! True basketbawful! 4 points in 36 min and 5 Turnovers, including a five-second closely guarded violation. Spectacular!
After the game he was interviewed by a german journalist and asked what it feels like to be an NBA champion, to which he responded "Great! Only Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen may have been better players than me"
I kid you not!

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/13/imag0188qu.jpg/

Geert? spreek jij NL? ik volg alles op de voet en kan gerust meer uitleg verschaffen

@TheNick: I read that and I see irony. I don't think Scal is of the opinion that he is a hall of famer. I think the dude has a sense of humor, and you have to give him that possibility when you see quotes. If he were a humorless drone, OK, maybe you couldn't expect irony. Not the case here.

please, more content, amigo. How about a "best of Bawful" recounting the best of the worst from 2006-now? Create a vote for "most bawful-est year"? there are slim/zero bball stories on espn, so u have very little competition right now for your readers' attention. Capitalize!

lockout time for NBA bloggers is like a business recession-- sucks but its a great time to pickup marketshare.

@sixtyeight:

I live in Barcelona, Spain, that's why I said I was awake until 5 am. I use not to be a fan of games like skyrim :(

Anyway, did you have to kill Dirk in the game? How did you stop his fade-away? Did you have Olajuwon in his prime to smack him? Did you play as Stern?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMTQ_r6R-I0&feature=related
Best Brian Scalabrine video!