Could it be labor strife for the NBA? A recent article in the Sunday paper and the frequent courtside attendance of Ed Schneider, the Chairman of the Philadelphia Flyers and Sixers, got me really thinkin' how easily the NBA could be heading for a quagmire like the National Hockey League. The NBA is far more popular than Hockey, but the fact is a new collective bargaining agreement must be negotiated (or the current CBA can be extended) and some of the same issues are the table.
I'm talking about the cap. The NBA pioneered the idea of a ceiling for how much a team can spend on players. The goal is to level the playing field and spur competition. Thus avoiding the scenarios where a large market teams with deep pockets can buy a championship (Yes were talking Yankees here). Okay everybody has heard of the salary cap. So the hockey players are saying "we don't want no stinkin' cap, ah". Why? It puts a limit on the salary pool. But does it? That depends whether you talkin' about a hard cap or a soft cap.
The NBA salary cap is $43.87 million this year. A team with say an Allen Iverson who makes $20+mill a year should be pretty strapped, right. Well not exactly. The Sixers payroll is $70 million. The Knicks payroll is $103 million (huh!). So after closer inspection we realize that the NBA has a "Soft" cap. Which means there are "exceptions" to the rule. These exceptions were designed to allow players to stay with their current team. To address the player disloyalty fact common in baseball. You can exceed the cap to sign your own players when they become free agents. The "Larry Bird" exception is a little more complicated that, but that the jest of it. There are other exceptions also and a luxury Tax. The luxury Tax allows a team to exceed the soft cap if they are willing to pay for exceeding the cap dollar for dollar.
So NBA owners can suffer the fate of the NHL and spend themselves into the poor house trying to be competitive. Houston we have a problem. But that's not my concern as a fan. The real issue that has a strangle hold on competition is the guaranteed contact. Exhibit "A" Bigg Dogg. A player that can't play or won't play or doesn't fit your team earning big bucks for several years ... Guaranteed!
The players union will covet such contracts. GM's fear it. We fans HATE IT! In a year that may find the NHL season canceled. The NBA could fall prey to the same issues.
What evil lurks on the horizon? See (NBA Salary Cap FAQ) for more info than you every want to know about the cap.
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