SBN: David Stern Cancels November Schedule, Rules Out 82-Game Season As NBA Lockout Talks Break Down
It was probably only a matter of time, but Friday it became official: for the first time since 1998 there will be no NBA basketball in November. David Stern delivered the news in his now customary dour tone shortly after two days of negotiations between the players and owners again failed to reach a breakthrough on how to split the NBA's basketball-related income (BRI). There had been some progress on a new amnesty provision (with a two-year grace period) and other smaller issues, but the BRI elephant eventually reared its ugly head yet again. The players reportedly won't go below 52%,which would itself be down from the 52.5% they offered last week, except they haven't actually offered it to the owners yet. And then there is the league, which continue to demand a 50/50 split and seem resolved to wait the players out until they get it.
On the one hand that could seem like some continued progress (glass half full!), though Stern made a veiled threat in his post-meeting press conference suggesting that the owners' future offers might get worse--the rationale being that owners would be losing revenues they wouldn't be able to make up. Rings a bit hollow for a league that claims it loses money even when it does play games, so it will be interesting to see if it's just talk. And if it's not? Then things could get really ugly.
For the Bucks this means the loss of an additional seven games: home matchups against the Blazers, Bulls, Nets and Raptors as well as trips to Toronto, Minnesota and Boston. It's not clear how the schedule will be modified if/when an agreement is reached, but at this point a total of 14 Bucks games have been canceled (seven each home and away). Presumably the league will try to cram additional games into the schedule once a deal is done, but a condensed 82-game schedule has now been taken off the table.
Dime: Rookie Diary With Tobias Harris
When I was in college I spent most of my time going to class, playing Perfect Dark and eating our dining hall's sub-par chicken fingers. I mixed in pickup basketball a couple nights per week, but I can safely say Tobias Harris' new life as a regular, non-varsity basketball playing student at Tennessee is still a far cry from the "regular" you or I would be familiar with. And as someone who's hoping he does big things in the NBA, that's fine by me.
A typical weekday of mine starts out at 6 a.m. in the gym for a shooting workout with NBA great Dale Ellis. Being able to workout with Dale has been an amazing experience. Between the number of shots I get up daily, his vast knowledge of the game and attention to detail, I am no doubt getting better daily. Dale’s workouts are pretty intense and serious except when Tupac starts playing on my iPod and Dale starts loosening up and nodding his head.
Paschketball: Fred Roberts embracing life after basketball
Cool interview from Jim Paschke, who catches up with former Buck Fred Roberts about his new career as a sixth grade teacher. True story: when I was 10, Fred Roberts came to the Homestead High Hoop Camp and talked to us about...I don't know, whatever stuff NBA players talk about when they're around fifth graders. He might have dunked a few times for us, too, but for some reason what I remember most is that he offered to race us all the length of the court and back, a challenge we all enthusiastically accepted. Shockingly: NBA basketball player Fred Roberts beat every last 10-year old in the gym. Ah, memories.
Bucksketball: Ray Allen the best of a bad situation (and part II)
Jeremy and Josh complete their countdown of the Bucks' best of the past twenty years with the one guy whose legacy seems to have emerged unscathed. I was actually never a Ray Allen "guy"--for some reason I always gravitated more to Glenn Robinson--but objectively it's tough to argue with his combination of all-around numbers and the leading role he played on the '01 squad that still stands out as the best of the past two decades. His professionalism and success after leaving the Bucks have no doubt contributed to the rose-colored glasses through which most view his time in Milwaukee, and understandably so.
We're Bucked: Stephen Jackson As The Third Milwaukee Bucks-kateer
Jake McCormick considers how Stephen Jackson will fit in as the Bucks' latest attempt to complement Andrew Bogut and Brandon Jennings with a veteran wing scorer.