This appears in the Monday 27, 2011 edition of the Business Mirror.
How a fan looks at the NBA’s labor issues
by rick olivares
I don’t follow the NBA Draft that much because I hardly get to watch US college basketball nowadays. Unless you’re in the United States and actually follow the NCAA, how do you know that Jimmer Fredette or Kyrie Irving is this and that unless you read that off ESPN or somewhere? It’s preposterous. So I keep to pro hoops that I can watch and is way more accessible for me to formulate opinions.
But will I be watching anything this 2011-12 NBA season? There’s an impending lockout, the second one since the 1998-99 season that reduced an 82-game sked to 50. I’ve followed both sides and well, while there are points here and there, I cannot empathize.
When I was working for a Las Vegas communications company, I was making $15 an hour. That’s $120 a day, $670 a week, and some $3,000 a month. The minimum wage at the time was $5.35 an hour. Later, while I was working as waiter first in Señor Swanky’s* in the Upper West Side and later at Burger Heaven (East 49th and 5th and later East 86th and Lexington), I was getting $10 an hour but made up for it in tips or through hosting parties. That was some $3,500-4,000 a month. So if you round that off that’s at least $42,000 a year gross (not counting bonuses). Word here – do not convert to pesos because I was not spending in pesos but in dollars and that meant really hustling hard as well as working through sickness and pain. You went to work whether snow was 10 inches thick or not. You gutted out cheapskate British tourists or those who ran out without paying the check. You dealt with crap, some racism, and all sorts of weather conditions (you know what it's like to go out and deliver pizza when it's snowing). But you had to go through all of this with a smile.
While I was living in Jersey City, I was renting a room for $275 a month (discounted because the landlady was a friend of mine) and spent roughly $300 a week on fare to New York, food, phone cards, comic books, groceries, watching sports events or concerts, and buying miscellaneous stuff.
Later on, I made that amount coupled with several hundred dollars more working as a brand manager for a Midtown Manhattan marketing company while working fewer hours and getting some terrific benefits. But moving across the Hudson was much more expensive in terms of rent and food. I didn't mind because I was back in the Big Apple and that meant a lot to me.
The salaries, of course, are different and depend entirely on the profession one chooses. While at times, I missed the extra money I'd make from doing my odd jobs, it was the security and less hours that afforded me time for other things that I appreciated. I listed down everything that I made and everything that I spent. I was conscious of my earnings.
Around the early 2000s, the NBA had arrested its declining ratings that fell for three straight years following the 1998-99 lockout-shortened season. The average NBA player’s salary then was $4.5M. If you divide that by seven months – the pre-season to the six-month NBA grind (excluding the playoffs), that’s at least $642,000 a month ($39,000 at the minimum). At least.
In a season’s worth, that’s 82-games and upward to 100-games when you factor in two teams going all the way to the Finals. And that's where the bonuses kick in.
During this time, the Minnesota Timberwolves offered then-player Latrell Sprewell a three-year $21 million contract extension. Sprewell angrily rejected the offer by saying, "I have a family to feed. If (T-Wolves owner Glen) Taylor wants to see my family fed, he better cough up some money.”
I totally understand that comparing my then-pay scale to a NBA player’s is just like apples and oranges as it is a different industry. But how is $21 million not enough to raise a family and live comfortably? My father always told me to live within my means. Living abroad further reinforced that.
I lived on what I earned even as I switched from renting a room to having an apartment. If I lacked some money, I worked harder at it. I took extra jobs so I wouldn't have to touch my savings. I ran pizza delivery on a bike or on foot in Midtown even when it was snowing. I worked in Virgin Records in Times Square three times a week (at night) to get some CDs. I baby-sat my boss’ kids if I needed a little more cash to go to Coachella or the Vans Warped Tour. If we needed to go out of state, I did more odd jobs on weekends such as helping people move out of their apartments for a couple of weeks. Hahaha. At least it was an honest living. I could buy stuff I wanted. I could travel. And more importantly, I had savings. But I sure as hell wish I made $39,000 a month.
I cannot understand these battles between NBA players and team owners. It’s basically small guys with the biggest wallets and in suits against tall guys with big wallets and in sweats. For what -- more money? There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make more money. After all, who doesn’t?
We’ve all heard arguments about hard caps, revenue sharing, drug-testing, maximum salaries and guarantees, draft age limits, and personal conduct. I’m not a lawyer so I am not going to pretend to defend or debunk the arguments. But seriously, you have dumb owners offer humongous contracts to undeserving players. You have players who do not deliver on their end of the deal. You have players living beyond their means (buying yachts or several garage’s worth of cars or even paying for the upkeep of illegitimate children).
They say that they are fighting for job security? I can respect that. But I was taught to save, save, and save not spend, spend, and spend. And that brings me to the crux of the matter that is money, mo money, and even mo money.
I find it hilarious that NBA Players’ Union Director Billy Hunter who says the CBA problems between the owners and the players boils down to markets. Said Hunter: “If you look at the big markets -- Chicago, L.A., New York -- they're making tons of money. So it's not an issue with them, it's an issue of the smaller markets.”
You think that for the longest time (before last season’s team) that New Yorkers were happy to fork out cash for stupid managers, clueless coaches, and lazy players on underachieving teams? They supported their team because they were devoted to their team. But they sure as hell were pissed at the situation where players were making a ton of money while they kept losing. Worse, those players played with no pride whatsoever. You do not need to come from Oklahoma to have an issue with underachievers, Billy Hunter. You ever sit up in the stands at Madison Square Garden? I have and not just there but in New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Chicago. If you do, make sure you have a sign indicating who you are and what you do for a living. I guarantee you’ll hear it from the fans.
You constantly hear owners and players say they do it for the fans. Really now?
At the end of the day, it’s the fan that loses (not to mention the concessionaires affected by the jacked up rent). It is the fan that has to pony up the cash to watch live games, subscribe to cable television, buy expensive arena food, pay for transportation and parking, and the ubiquitous merchandise. It is the fan that has to bear the burden of suddenly disinterested and out of shape players who all of a sudden do not seem to know anyone. It is the fan (I am not going to forget talking to Tim Duncan’s agent who asked if I was willing to pay to interview the San Antonio center) that pays.
One of the NBA players’ arguments about bad contracts is for owners not to offer them. On the flipside, it is the fan’s choice whether to buy tickets or merch or not at all. Sure I want to see how the Chicago Bulls reload after their meltdown in the Eastern Conference Finals. Sure I want to see if the New York Knicks will fare much better with everyone in for camp. And sure I want to find out how the Miami Heat rebound from everything. But if there's no season, then there's no season.
You’ll not find me sympathetic to their lockout. After all, in this age of the internet, there are so much more choices to pro basketball. And it does save me some money.
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* One time, Friends star Matt LeBlanc walked in with this pretty girl (he wasn't married at this time). He was engrossed with the girl and paying no attention to what was going on around him. Tip he left? Twenty bucks.
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