The Lockout is Called Greed

The Lockout is here, the beginning of a tug of war between NBA players and owners.  As fans we sit and watch this fight go on and it's irritating to know that this is even happening.  At this very moment we have   two major sports, the NBA and NFL being devastated by Greed.  For the record, I am not biased to either the player or the owners, but as a fan of the NBA I don’t like the fact that we could potentially lose an entire season over money bickering when I know the players are earning more than enough money; in fact, much more than the average Joe in the real world.  Just the idea of the players and the owners sitting back and arguing over money issues does not make any sense to me. 

First, as far as the player go, Fans support the players because they are drawn to the many talents of the players and the love for the game, and I do not wish to take that support away, but if one were to look at their lifestyles they would come to the conclusion that the players earn more than enough money as is. Now this is my opinion and I feel this way because we all see what professional athletes make, we see the cars, the houses, and the girls.  The so called baller lifestyle supports a large amount of money being wasted on living way beyond the means of an average person.  When we have a chance to see up close and personal player interviews, we hear similar life stories of growing up in single parent homes and not having much.  Like the saying goes “if you don’t know how to make a million dollars you will not know how to keep it”, which is very accurate and that's the reason some players don’t understand how to handle the millions being thrown at them.

Some players often become the next victim to the vultures out there waiting for them to sign the dotted line so they can move in and attack their prey...the players.  I pity the players that don't know what they're getting themselves into but at the end of the day each individual has to take ownership and control of their own lives and be aware of the dangers out there.  The players need to be responsible enough to take a more in depth look to what they are getting into. We often hear of players that go broke and while others keep their statuses, I often ask myself  "with the amount of money given to them, why are there players who are financially responsible and then others who are not?" and I don’t think many of these players even think about that.  Maybe they are too busy thinking about the number of cars they will drive, how many homes they are going to be able to afford, or the sizes of those homes to make sure they have plenty of closets for their colossal wardrobes ad for the many parties they are going to host.  Shall I continue?  It seems as if they have lost the true feeling of “Love for the game” and that they are more concerned about being a celebrity rather than an appreciated player.  Have they lost touch of all the things they all thought about when they didn't have money?  That's why they become very easy targets, because at the moment they’re only thinking of what they want to do with the money rather than how to keep it.  It’s like taking candy from a baby and I think the baby will give a bigger fight than the players. In reality bad financial decisions not only afflicts the players but it happens to many Americans that don’t know how to handle their money in the modern world as we call it a (ponzi scheme).  Let’s get back to point, the problem is the players earn too much money whenever they buy themselves too many things that they really don’t need.  Take vehicles for example, we all need some type of transportation to get around and back and forth but does one really need 15 exotic cars or one the cost as much as a house, a large house.  They say you’re not a baller unless you have a Bentley, well I say you're not a baller unless you can buy a Bentley and afford to keep it well after your 15 year pro career.  My advice to the players would be to stop spending money on the unnecessary and then you wouldn't have to earn so much money to support the baller lifestyle.  If the players can minimize the baller lifestlye then they can play the game they say they love for the fans (the ones that make your paycheck possible) and your legacy, the same game they played for long hours in their youth and by the way ( for FREEEEE). 

Joe Johnson's Truck

Secondly, the owners are very greedy as well and they have the same issues the players have with the spending of money but the difference is that they are the boss, and most of you them didn't depend on a 10-20 year athletic careers.  The owners are the bosses for a reason and that’s because they have money and many owners understand how to make more; in fact even in a lockout many owners are still earning large sums of money through other investments and many of them will own the Bentley a lot longer than the players but that’s why they are more Greedy than the players because like many corporations, anytime the company says they're losing money the first thing they do is cut the payroll and they're still paying out big bonuses to the CEO (OWNER).  The owners brought these issues on themselves because they started giving out crazy max contracts to players and to get the best they feel they have to pay top dollar.  Once one crazy owner decides to go AWOL, the others follow and then they get a league full of overpaid athletes that don’t know how to spend their money but want to keep getting paid top dollars to support their extravagant life styles and angry owners because they have over paid players and bad team results, like the Gilbert Arenas, Grant Hill on crutches, and my new favorite joke of the decade the Joe Johnson contracts, WTF!  Did you have the chance to see the big 200 gallon truck Johnson has?  It's another example of bad spending.  The owners have created Frankenstein's Monster and now they are having a hard time taming it, and that’s they're problem.  I don't feel as a fan that I have to suffer because of they're ignorant decisions; this makes me feel like it's Wall Street all over again....we pay for rich people's bad decision making. I say enough of the foolishness and both parties needs to get their acts together and let’s make the upcoming season a reality.  Don't lose a season over the bickering, give the fans basketball and stop being greedy.