LeBron James is in favor of the NBA eliminating teams to increase competition. As the Players Union moves deeper into negotiations to create jobs and maintain salaries, one of their most talented members is speaking out against the cause. Way to be a team player, LeBron.
"Hopefully the league can figure out one way where it can go back to the '80s where you had three or four All-Stars, three or four superstars, three or four Hall of Famers on the same team," James said. "The league was great. It wasn't as watered down.
"Imagine if you could take Kevin Love off Minnesota and add him to another team and you shrink the (league). Looking at some of the teams that aren't that great, you take Brook Lopez or you take Devin Harris off these teams that aren't that good right now and you add him to a team that could be really good. Not saying let's take New Jersey and let's take Minnesota out of the league. But hey, you guys are not stupid. I'm not stupid. It would be great for the league."
LeBron is wrong; he is stupid. As the U.S. battles a severe unemployment crisis, LeBron James is calling for the elimination of more than a dozen player jobs and hundreds of team & arena staff in any given NBA city.
From a basketball standpoint, very few teams in the '80s had three or four All Stars, superstars or Hall of Famers. The Lakers and Celtics come to mind. Maybe the Sixers for a couple years with young Charles Barkley, Dr. J and Moses Malone. Teams that managed to defy the odds and fill their rosters with superstars often won championships. The Lakers, Celtics and Sixers all drafted some superstars and acquired others through trades and free agency to assemble legendary teams. A combination of luck, good scouting and good negotiations led them to having historically deep rosters.
The same is true in today's NBA. The Lakers and Celtics have multiple superstars and they are the premier teams. They both drafted well (Kobe, Paul Pierce, Big Baby), traded well (Shaq with Lakers, Pau, Garnett, Ray Allen) and signed good free agents (Artest, James Posey, Shaq with Celtics). Good front offices find & develop good rosters regardless of the number of teams in the league.
NBA Players Union leader Derek Fisher must be displeased with LeBron's ill-advised comments. As Fisher leads the players into negotiations in the face of a lockout next season, LeBron is making arguments to cut back on jobs for players.
Imagine going into negotiations for more money and better working conditions for you and your co-workers, and one young hot shot dumb ass publicly says, "It would be better if we just fire some people and stop doing business with small market cities." That probably wouldn't go over so well with the average worker struggling to keep a job and feed his/her family.
Fisher's role as a union leader includes making sure players are on the same page and keeping any loose cannons in line with the program to help all employees achieve more success in their careers. Before tip off of each Laker game game, he casually meets with opposing team leaders to catch them up on the latest negotiation plans and strategies.
The Lakers battle LeBron James and the Heat on Christmas Day. Maybe Fisher should seize the opportunity to give LeBron a "Shut up" message with a body check like he gave Luis Scola in this clip from 2009.
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