Over the past 70 years, the NBA has become one of the most successful professional leagues in the world, with the league earning more than $7 billion each season starting in the 16-17 season (except the 19-20 season). Exploring its successful experience, in addition to the top competitive standards, each with its own unique team culture, there is also a mature system in this league, the players' union representing the interests of players and the NBA league representing the interests of the boss have entered into a detailed agreement on matters such as revenue sharing, player contracts, trading rules, etc. The two sides have fully cooperated on this basis for mutual benefit and win-win results, which is generally referred to as the labor agreement. At the time of the rapid development of the NBA and the continuous expansion of the territory, the live bar launched the column "Explanation of the Labor Agreement" to look at the various contents of the labor agreement with the bar friends to enhance the understanding of the NBA.
As a product of the compromise between the labor side (players) and the management side (boss), the conclusion of the labor agreement is never simple and bland, and there is always a shadow of the sword behind it.
In the last issue of Law, we talked about the 1999 league shutdown. In this issue of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, let's take a look at the 2011 alliance shutdown.
The 1999 version of the collective agreement expired in 2005, six years after it entered into force. The players' union at the time, led by Ewing, successfully reached a new deal with the league and avoided a shutdown. Overall, the collective agreement has won more benefits for the players, and the proportion of players' income to the BRI (basketball-related income) has increased by 57% from 55% in the previous agreement. Don't forget, the main reason for the shutdown in 1999 was that players earned 57% of the BRI that year, far exceeding the 48% stipulated that year.
Players' income as a proportion of the BRI is too high, which lays the foundation for the next shutdown. The agreement, which also took six years to come into effect, expired in 2011.
In early 2011, negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement began, and the president of the players' union was Fisher. This time the league is clearly prepared, hoping to revise the way the cake is cut again, as it did in 1999. The league claims they lose $300 million a year, with 22 of the 30 teams losing money last season. They proposed a 40 percent reduction in player salaries and a hard salary cap (45 million) to replace the then soft salary cap (58 million).
Xiaobian Note: The hard wage cap refers to the absolute salary cap, and the excess wage cap can only be signed with a special case; the soft wage cap refers to the luxury tax line, and the soft wage cap can continue to sign people, but it needs to pay taxes.
The unions expressed strong opposition to this, appealing directly to the National Labour Relations Board, accusing the coalition of lacking sincerity in the negotiations.
One. A game between labor and capital
1. Bosses are not monolithic
There are 30 bosses in 30 teams, and the opinions of these 30 people are not unanimous. As early as the second year of the last collective bargaining agreement, eight bosses had jointly written to Stern asking him to reconcile the imbalance between the Mets and the small ball market.
Fisher once sent such an email to more than 400 players in the league at the time. He said the recent meetings between labor and management had been fruitful and that the failure to reach an agreement was not due to differences between the players and the bosses, but between the bosses.
Players offer to take 52 percent of the BRI, and some bosses think it's fair and willing to make compromises, such as linking players' future earnings to the NBA's revenue growth. Bosses willing to compromise include lakers Jerry Bass and Knicks James Dolan, and determined opponents include Robert Saver of the Suns and Dan Gilbert of the Cavaliers.
But overall, for the sake of the long-term healthy development of the league, they still stand with the bosses of the small ball market.
Surprisingly, michael Jordan, the boss who supposedly best understands the players, is the representative of the hardliners, speaking for the owners of 10 to 14 teams. He wanted players to take 50 or even 47 percent of the BRI; he said in an interview with the media that the league's business model was already in ruins at the time, and the bosses wanted to share more revenue.
And 10 years ago, when the labor agreement was negotiated in 1998, Jordan said to the Wizards owner at the time: "If you can't make a profit, you will sell the team." After 10 years, the Wizards boss finally found the opportunity to pay back, saying that Jordan himself "saw the pearls" and wasted a lot of high-level signings, but asked the players to pay for his incompetence.
2. The atmosphere is tense
At a meeting on September 23, 2011, Stern reportedly pointed his finger at Wade's nose; the latter, not to be outdone, shouted furiously that the players almost lifted the table.
3. Players take the league to court
After negotiations on November 9, 2011 failed to reach an agreement, the players' union dissolved and the players' union became an industry association. As a result, players can take antitrust lawsuits against the league as individual employees of the NBA.
On November 15, NBA players including Anthony, Billups, Kawhi Leonard, and Lyon Bowie filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NBA in California federal court; NBA players including Anthony Tolliver, Ben Gordon, Caron Butler, and Derrick Williams filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NBA in the federal court of Minnesota.
On November 26, 2011, the two sides finally reached an agreement.
Two. Adjustment of the new collective bargaining agreement
Three. The phases of sentient beings in a standstill
During the shutdown, the players' union encouraged players to go overseas for development, show bosses more options, and try to increase their voice in negotiations.
According to statistics, during the shutdown, more than 90 players went overseas to play. Among them, Yi Jianlian, Aaron Brooks, Earl Clark, Wilson Chandler, Josh Powell, JR-Smith, Jermaine Taylor, Ken Young Martin, Gazurrick and several players came to the CBA, opening the way for many big-name foreign players to join the CBA in the future.
When Xiaobu played for Hongyuan, O'Neill's teasing with Barkley has now become a famous meme
Like the UAE, French players Parker and Dior, Spanish players Fernandez, Russian player Kirilenko, Brazilian player Barbosa and others have all chosen to return to their home countries to play.
Delon Williams, the only 2011 All-Star among players who traveled overseas, signed a $1-5 million contract with Turkish side Besiktas. Delong's contract came with an NBA jump-out agreement, and when the shutdown ended and the NBA season began, Delon left Turkey and returned to the Nets. At Delon's farewell ceremony, Besiktas retired his No. 8 shirt.
Of course, the big stars who have not gone overseas cannot hold back their loneliness. Several big stars, including Kobe, James, Durant and Anthony, have appeared on field courts everywhere; Durant scored 66 points in Rock Park. The president of the Drew League said at the time that "the NBA shutdown has taken the amateur league to a higher level."
(Bacchus, Dionysus)