Money or winning: Where should NBA teams draw the line?
Ron Artest
There’s a big difference between knowing everything and knowing too much.
For years as a kid, I collected football cards. I didn’t know enough about the business of collecting — I kept my cards unprotected in paper grocery bags and spent hours on the floor organizing them in every way imaginable — but I knew everything about the NFL. I could rattle off the stats and starting lineups of every team in the league, including the linemen. I was almost as savant-like about basketball: I knew most of the players in the NBA and I knew everything about the Sonics.
But what made that time great is that I didn’t know too much. I knew I liked Ricky Pierce because he could shoot; I didn’t know how much money he made and who his agent was and whether or not he was in a contract year. I knew about basketball, while happily staying ignorant about the business.
Today, I know too much. Player salaries are just the beginning; I also know which teams are under and over the cap, I know who’s getting fired and who’s pretending to resign, I know who’s tanking and who’s really trying to win, I know who’s going pro too early because they’re getting bad advice. I know the business now, and it makes the basketball a little less fun than it used to be.
But it feels like everybody knows the business now more than before. Fans of every team in the NBA know first-hand about trades made strictly for money reasons that have nothing to do with basketball. They know which players the team won’t even try to re-sign to save money. They know which players the team won’t go after because they can’t afford them. And especially in a down economy that goes beyond sports, I think we all understand it to an extent.
Still, as a fan, where do you want your team to draw the line between fiscal responsibility and trying to win?
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March 25th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
bubeezy says:
True, but back when i was younger the players weren’t getting ridiculously unjustifiable contracts like they do now. Com on who the hell pays Jerome James that much money? One big game in the playoffs vs the kings shouldn’t make u an instant millionaire.
March 25th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
stefan says:
then maybe you can share some betting tips
March 25th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
sweetv0mit says:
Damn Austin. You’ve been killing on these articles! Great job!
March 25th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
RC says:
Winning and money goes hand in hand. Winning fills the seats and brings in the cash for the team. Bringing in a marketable player who has admirable skills that can make the team win and same time can make serious cash for the organization and NBA. Bringing in the best medical staff is also part of spending money and same time can determine player’s performances, health, longevity. Sometimes it’s just cool to find out how gm’s work trades and how they can make it look like the trade is nonsense from a fan standpoint, but if you look at the details it’s actually a turning point for a franchise. How teams rebuild and how much talent they can acquire with the money they have.
I’m pretty sure most if not all of us enjoy and appreciate the game of basketball with or without knowing the money facts. Doesn’t matter what we know and what we don’t know, in the end it’s all about basketball the game not the business.
March 25th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Heckler says:
how much do you really think you know about (nba) basketball and the business of basketball?
probably not as much as you think. which MAY make most of this article irrelevant.
can any of you (not named Austin or associated with the Dime crew) explain the difference between the NBA salary cap and luxury cap?
what happens if a team exceeds the salary cap, but doesnt exceed the luxury tax?
can you explain the collective bargaining agreement WITHOUT having to research?
what is the gilbert arenas provision?
and if you think it has to do with guns, then you donw know shit
do you really know the difference between a hard salary cap and a soft salary cap? if you (think you) do, whats the difference?
whats BRI? and whats included in it?
how long must a player be with a team to receive their larry bird rights?
what is the over 36 rule?
truly, what are waivers?
whats the difference btwn inactive list and injured reserve?
how does base year compensation effect trades?
….
i got several more for all of you.
so, before any of you start co-signing on “You Know Too Much”; first make us believe that you even know ENOUGH to begin with….
March 25th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
dmitry of jersey says:
I know when someone is trying to hard to look smart….. ^^
March 25th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
SparkyJ23 says:
Put the best product you can afford on the floor.
But do not make your product worse to save money
that is all
March 25th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Heckler says:
@ Dmitry
nevermind me. im not important.
how many of the questions can you safely answer?
March 25th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
Dapro says:
Heckler,
you’re proving the whole point of the article. Is it really necessary to know all of the things you mentioned as a basketball fan? Unless your on the business end of the NBA it has no value.
March 25th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
GoEasy says:
You know what AB, you are right in the fact that the NBA is not as “fun” as it was when I was a youngster. I was the same kid that knew all the players all the stats and nothing about the business side of things. However, I have to say that as a recently graduated Liberal Arts student, I have only become more interested and appreciative of the other side of basketball. Looking at basketball through the lens that I have acquired through education has helped basketball remain relevant to the person I am today. Thus, as a college player who has exhausted his eligibility I find myself able to relate to the game on a deeper level without being a player. I see it through an economic, business, and political stand point that has legitimized it as a personal interest as I have matured. And the best part about this is that I get to stay close to the game. So while I pay close attention to the parts of basketball off the court, it has allowed me to stay close to what happens on the court. And that has salvaged much of that naive fun and enjoyment that I remember from when I was younger.
March 25th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Heckler says:
players, coaches and fans care about winning.
Owners dont care about winning. they are in business to turn a profit. no nba owner wants to lose, but they dont care about winning as much as they do turning a profit. and furthermore, nba owners care more about NOT losing money than they do winning. once your business starts losing money, whats the point of being in business?
the candy store at the corner doesnt care about being the best candy store in the industry; the owner of the candy store is in business to make profit. thats all.
business owners dont get into business for any other reason than to turn a profit.
lets say (for instance), you own a magazine publication. as an owner, you set a standard for your business to make a significant profit; like 1 million subscribers (or more, whatever). and once you achieve that number, thats all you care about.
do you care if your publication doesnt win any awards? do you care that none of the writers may individually win any awards? would you care that your publication wont rank #1 among readers/subscribers of the content? probably not.
so….
winning is the business of the players, coaches and fans.
money and profit is the business of business owners.
simple science. nothing too difficult for even you all to understand
March 25th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
Mr. Brogden says:
The line is too intricately woven within the process of winning or trying to win. Winning increases tix sales, concession revenue, et al, basically helps maximize profit. Good fiscal responsibility is imperative to every business entity that wants to stick around. Nowadays, with digital media spitting out instant info at a 24/7 pace, the inner doings of an organization are put on blast seemingly at real time or rumors too close too the truth immediately start floating around. As with all dispersed info, aware individuals voice their opinion about it.
But c’mon, New York, for instance, has a squad full of legitimate players. Coach is a legitimate coach. Every night, they play hard. But their talent as presently constituted isn’t contstructed in a way in which they consistently win. And if they’re not consistently winning, you can bet they’re not maximizing thier profits. Why don’t thy consistently win? Players? Coach? Or you can blame it on the trades recently and other moves Walsh engaged in to cut costs or save enough to sign a max level player or whatever.
Criticize the move at liberty but its the fiscally sound thing to do, to clear up salary space so he can entice better talent. If he doesn’t cross this “line” the team sucks more for longer. If he does cross this “line”, the chances of the Knicks winning next season and seasons to come, consistently, increase with the potential signing of better talent. Winning maxes profits. See how the line is not really a line, it’s chain link.
March 25th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Heckler says:
@ Austin
i am curious, why is ron artests picture attached to this article?
what was/is the logic behind choosing his photo?
March 25th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
yoda says:
@heckler
i must disagree with you about player caring to win. in my humble opinion, these days players are more about making money and bling and all kind of shit, than they are about wining. when was the last time that some high profile player decided to sign for less money so his team can sign another quality players? last one was arenas (if my memory serves me) and he took only slight cut in his pay check. kobe bryant as fiercest competitor in nba won’t take pay cut, to help his team. i don’t think d-wade or lbj will take less money so theirs teams can sign another high profile player (or players). only time when players took pay cut to improve theirs team was san antonio few years back, when timmy, manu and tp took less money so they could all stay together. i don’t count here players at end of theirs career who try to win chip. in theirs case, diference is only couple of k’s of dollars anyway.
as for all owners not trying to win as much as to make profit, i’m not sure can you put jerry buss there. as far as i can see, he’s not shy to spend money, so his team can be best in league.
as for article it self i agree austin. and one thing i must add. before all this internet age, here in europe we didn’t had as much info about whats going on in nba, business wise, like you in states were ( trough local papers, sport shows etc.) and i must say i enjoyed nba more back than, not knowing all those greedy things that happens in nba
March 25th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
karizmatic says:
As a fan I would love for every team to be run by Steinbrenner, Cuban, or Jones-like billionaires who have deep pockets and are willing to spend as much money as possible to field a winning team no matter the market or what the luxury cap looks like. But alas that is not reality. In a more real sense I would probably like a 60-40 split. 60% about winning while measuring 40% against money, so that a team keeps winning players when they lead to a contending team, never tank, and are always looking for the pieces that make them a championship team, with the ultimate goal being to assemble a serious dynasty.
On the other hand the GM or owner has to possess enough knowledge to understand the market of players and salaries and know when a player is worth less than what he’s getting paid and be willing to let a guy go on that basis. But above all, every move should be predicated on creating a fiscally sound, but successful dynasty, with a bias toward winning as opposed to money.
March 25th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
Sweet English says:
Just be thankful that your sports are stil business, thanks to all the caps and taxes. European sport isn’t as much about who scores the most points as it is about who can find the richest Arab. Literally. And we usually know who has won by mid season. No playoffs. No college teams. Yaaaaaawn. Just be thankful your sports haven’t been entirely ruined by a few rich men getting richer. Yet.
March 25th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
Pedro says:
@ Sweet English
England is not all of Europe. There’s other countries. And yes, Premier League Football is about the Arabs, Glazers, Abramovhic or wherever the name is spell. But that’s England, for now..
March 26th, 2010 at 3:52 am
Papasmigs says:
@Heckler,
For as much as you know, you think you would’ve learned to capitalize the first word of every sentence. Just saying, correct english, ya know?
March 28th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
JoV says:
back in the day, before the internet, i was happy to watch an nba game once a week as well as nba action