Posts By Panos: The NBA . . . Where Nothing Happens

I have had my heart broken multiple times by the NBA. Whether it was Reggie's antics or Patrick's missed layup in 1995 or the infamous Starks 2 for 18 in the 1994 finals, I have shed a tear or two in regards to the NBA. There are been moments of glory, whether it was Allan Houston's runner in 1999 to the failure of the 2010 Heatles. But the bottom line is that regardless if my heart was broken or not, there was always next year. There was always another season, another game, another quarter and another shot. Now, there is nothing.

This is not supposed to be a sob story. Sports are just that, sports. While many grown men and women take sports way too seriously, and I will be the first to tell you, I was in that group . . . we must remember that this is just a game. It took me a while to reach that point . . . well actually it took me a certain Super Bowl loss and a room of scared and frighted friends for me to acknowledge just how far my passion had gone. When my friends start cleaning after each other in record time, then I knew I had a problem. Honestly, in less than the time it takes to have a cigarette my condo was empty and smelling like Mr. Clean. Little did I know, that I would begin my own transformation towards Mr. Clean, but that is for a different time and place.

At the end of the day, the NBA is making a huge mistake with this labor dispute. This is not the NFL, where an entire continent plans its Sunday around twelve games of chance. And that is the NBA's very mistake. It cannot compare itself to the NFL. NBA owners don't have nearly the same bargaining power that their NFL counterparts have. While the NFL and its players are arguing over an ever expanding pie, the NBA and its players are merely trying to ensure that its pie stops shrinking. There are fundamental economic cracks in the NBA right now. The problem is that we, well the six of us who are NBA fans as Mr. Simmons so often claims, have not really offered a plausible solution, so here are my suggestions. Some are simple, some are unattainable . . . but all of them represent an improvement, in my opinion, on the current system.

CUT SIX TEAMS

I have no problems cutting the following teams: Sacramento, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Minnesota, New Orleans and Cleveland. Why Cleveland? Dan Gilbert is the only answer to that question. Enough said. That leaves the league with twenty four teams. Here is a breakdown of how the league would look:

Atlantic Division

Atlanta

Boston

New Jersey

New York

Philadelphia

Washington

Central Division

Chicago

Detroit

Indiana

Orlando

Miami

Toronto

Pacific Division

Golden State

LA Clippers

LA Lakers

Phoenix

Portland

Utah

Mountain Division

Dallas

Denver

Houston

Oklahoma City

Memphis

San Antonio

BRING IN THE SPONSORS

It is time for the NBA to take a page from its ugly sister, the WNBA, and begin selling sponsorship opportunities to companies who are looking to advertise on jerseys. While this is a fairly new development in North American sport, this has been going on for years in European football. Part of the beauty about buying a new kit every year is to see if the sponsor has changed and whether the jersey has changed. For example check out the following timeline of Manchester United's jersey since 1986 at the end of this post. (Source: Historical Kits http://www.historicalkits.co.uk)

From a commercial windfall, think about the possibilities of selling a different jersey every year to your fans. If there is one thing that football teams did well, it was the yearly cycle of creating and marketing a new kit.

IT'S AS EASY AS 50-50

No one side, whether it is the owners or the players, deserves more than 50% of the revenue pie. By positioning the owners and players as partners, it is much easier to bring back the fans because there is a sense of collaboration. Also, from an economic standpoint, it makes too much sense to split something in the middle.

RE-INITIATE THE DISCUSSION

Almost to a tee, the NBA and its players are acting like they are in high school and they are going through their first of many break-ups. The silent treatment might of worked with the head cheerleader or perhaps you were a fan of the tough guy approach, but in this labor strife it is not working. Get both sides back to the table and encourage dialogue. Remember you can't go to bed angry, or else you will be angrier in the morning. Ahhh, the facts of life.

THE MANCHESTER UNITED KIT TIMELINE

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