SAN ANTONIO - It's the most popular question in my email box... How long? Just two weeks? A month? Maybe 50 games like the 99 season? When will the lockout be over?
The answer is simple. As soon as players get tired of missing checks. Players need paychecks to live. Owners don't. Some believe that the majority of owners will lose less money this year if they don't play at all. The bottom line moves dramatically when you don't have a 75 million dollar payroll to meet.
The players have this to lose: Tim Duncan makes over $21 million. He loses $1.7 million every 2 weeks. Tony Parker? He makes $12 million a year. That's a loss of a cool million every paycheck. But it's more about the lower wage earners. Matt Bonner, who makes over $3 million, will lose $275,000 every payday. Gary Neal, the Spurs lowest paid player, makes over $788,000 a year. He loses $65,000 with each payday that comes and goes.
Kobe and Lebron can afford to sit out. However, most of the 450 players in the union are more like Bonner and Neal. Soon the majority of players will bend. They will start to wonder about this stand. They will need to go back to work. Afterall, they have bills to pay. The owners don't.
NBA teams are their owners' toys. Luxury items. Paul Allen in Portland started Microsoft with Bill Gates. He has yachts worth more than the Trail Blazers. In fact, if the Blazers are worth $350 million dollars, then that is less than 3% of Allen's reported $13 Billon net worth. His Yachts are worth more. Seriously. Mickey Arison owns the Miami Heat, but also Carnival Cruise Lines. The NBA is simply a hobby. The owners can afford to hold out as long as they need to. The players? Start the clock now.
