As fans across the country know, the NBA lockout could be lengthy and painful for fans of professional basketball.
↵Jared Dudley spent some time with Alex Kennedy at HOOPSWORLD to discuss the lockout, and from the looks of things this could take a while to sort out:
↵↵↵Dudley and his peers are adamant that they won't accept this latest proposal. In fact, they would opt to miss multiple seasons before giving in to the deal that the owners have put on the table.
↵"If they refuse to change their views, we would lock out the whole year, maybe even two years," Dudley said. "That would be better for players than agreeing to their deal."
↵"My contract would be cut back 40 percent under their new deal," he added. "Every contract that has already been signed would be different. LeBron James and Kobe Bryant have signed contracts, but their deal would be rolled back 40 percent. Players can't accept that. We might as well just forfeit the season because losing 40 percent of my whole deal is more than one year of my contract."
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I'm not generally one to discuss the NBA, but the content of this interview is absolutely absurd. Guarantee owner profits while not even guaranteeing player salaries? Drop down salaries without adding stability? It's unreasonable and will not be accepted by the players, as evidenced by Dudley's hard-line stand.
↵Professional sports have gotten away from reality, paying their players far too much and charging their consumers a hefty premium to see the sport live. While it is admirable that the NBA appears to be attempting to move towards affordability for the fans, there's little to say that the fans won't pay the same price for a depreciated product.
↵If all we're doing is causing professional sports to cost more and more with negligible return for the average fan, I hope the NBA lockout lasts forever.