Billy Hunter: ‘Maybe We Can Start Our Own League’

LeBron, Wade, Howard, Bryant, Dirk, Durant, Rose, Paul, Williams.

Good point. Our definitions overlap. I consider superstars to be franchise players. Amare can go, but Melo has argument. (Though Amare kept the knicks in the playoffs this year). I take Blake back too

Yeah I agree. Blake was premature but I was thinking for the future. Melo and Amare can be ranked on that same level as Pau and westbrook. Borderline lol. Those other 9 are bonafide

Hey shutup, while your giving out history lessons do your self a favor and look up who the first black coach was and also examine the rest of those early Bos rosters. The C’s were not representative of Boston’s racial tolerance. If anything those early C’s teams helped many Bostonians realize their racial ignorance and the absurdity of rooting for blacks on the court, but treating them like shht off it…

for other “superstars” refer to slams top 50 start at 30 and work your way down

Well your definition of “superstar” is about the same as everyone else’s common definition of “all-star” – and if you think there are 30 “superstars” enough for 1 per team, then Toronto has just as much of a right to be in the league as anyone else, considering their huge market and close proximity to all of the Eastern conference…. What you seem to be clamoring about doesn’t make sense under your own argument.

well then im pretty sure someone in your family looks down on you for it. and if not im sure youve felt racist pressure from some source from either side. oh and i dont have a jheri curl, im white/canadian, i wear a denim suit and have a mullet
and my point being one superstar per team isnt enough for really competitive season long schedules, that teams that can secure two or three are seen as super teams ie boston, miami, some consider nyc the or lakers with kobe and pau. so if there were less teams that pool of 30 gets split between 20. would you rather split a lottery winning with 20 people or 30 people.

lol, i just play ignorant on tv

right but magic and the showtime nickname were portrayed as flashy, even with kareem abdul-jabbar he was a vigilant protester and stood for black power not just equality. Russell played the game very well not just basketball, he influenced change by being accepted and once established he could do what he had to do. honestly i think the celtics did a smart thing by making him player coach, but even though his long standing in celtics green i dont think the community supported the decision. This coming from someone who is mixed growing up in an all white neighborhood in queens.
and for anyone that thinks racism is dead, take your white or black ass down to a court occupied by a different demographic.
see it was a problem taking black friends to my neighborhood to play because of their color or my white friends to play in the black neighborhoods that i frequently played. racism cuts both ways, and ive seen enough to speak on it even if its just a glimpse, its like an iceberg if you see a little be damn sure theres a whole mountain of it underneath.

I’m really, really late. Hopefully someone sees this…
Z: Thanks for the invite to keep posting. I will. It just might be a bit after the fact. Not on purpose though.
I was excited to see y’all discuss the possibility of a player-owned league and then there was that regression again – an off the cuff cba! Focus, focus. No, it was actually pretty impressive just the wrong way to go in my opinion.
AllenP: How many millions does a man need! Owners are only necessary if we want to maintain the status quo. The issue is that the status quo is not working. Why not take this opportunity to DRAMATICALLY change the way professional basketball is run as a business – ways that detract from the positive energy of the game. Clearly a player-owned league would involve sacrifice for players with huge contracts. As has been stated before, the owners made a bed that they no longer want to lay in with these huge unfront contracts and thats why were here (among other things of course).
I think the new league pay structure should be completely flat with incentives added. At the beginning of the season, everybody is guaranteed the same amount of money. A players spot in the salary distribution is elevated first and foremost based on revenue. If its split evenly and there is no money left after the guaranteed salary, everybody needs to do better. When there is greater revenue (and there will be) the championship team gets the most money, then the other championship contender, then the MVP, then the points champion, Defensive Player of the Year, Rebounding chamption, etc. However they wanted to do it. If they have an amazing season like they did last season folks will make more than enough and the incentive is to continue to produce amazing basketball. Can you imagine what it would mean to the American people to show such a dramatic shift in doing business: get paid what you earn, value the greater good over personal gain, prioritize love for the game over money. People who have never thought about basketball will watch basketball just to see what happens. They can hold a press conference tomorrow and its on a poppin’.
BTW, I don’t have a dick.

@ shutupallenp: Yes the Raptors have had an infatuation with European players but that has little to do with the city of Toronto. Brian Colangelo just has a thing for signing foreign/overseas players. He did the same thing in Phoenix.
You do realize that Toronto is not a freaking small market, right? You also realize that Toronto is not 100% white and actually has minorities, right?
Toronto is more culturally/ethnically diverse than Los Angeles, Miami, and even New York. Around 50% of the people living in Toronto were born outside of Canada. Please check your facts before you start spewing your nonsense.

Congratz to nbk.

Appreciate it Phantom.

I have faced criticism for my situation now, as has my significant other. We are both as prepared as first time parents can be for whatever our child will face. Other people’s racism and personal issues are not EVER going to reflect on me. And your insistence on bringing up race in conversations (2 and counting tonight if I’m not mistaken) is pretty clear proof that you have some kind of racial bias that you apparently need express, resolve, or to get over. Once you stop making ignorant assumptions and just focus on basketball than I won’t really have a problem with you. and changing your name would be cool, just because it would be less obvious that your a pathological hater.

You perceive racism when it isn’t their. And put race into opinions and analogies where it shouldn’t be (if your not racist, or looking to start conversation, after conversation, after conversation, and so on, about race). And I didn’t say I don’t confront people. I do as I did with you, would have said things along the exact same lines. I am not going to insinuate racism onto people though, or intentionally bring it into a conversation like you have consistently done. Its ridiculously ignorant, especially with some of the assumptions you have made. – and on the basketball front, I didn’t argue against contraction, I argued against Toronto as even a candidate for it. The only teams that would be considered for contraction would be New Orleans, Minnesota, Sacramento, & Milwaukee. But I would only support NO & SAC and that’s only if the plan is to add expansion teams in San Jose, Las Vegas (not gonna happen), &/or Seattle (if they can get an arena). I would rather them compromise on the BRI at 50-50, keep the soft cap at 60M and instituting still luxury tax penalty’s (if that HAS to happen, which it does). The rest is not really that important (imo).

and not ignorance on my part but that of the poster

The Raptors problems had nothing to do with the exchange rate. They were still getting paid in American dollars. It was harder to go out and get top free agents because they charge in Canadian dollars obviously for tickets but pay out American to the players. It’s also why, in the NHL, Quebec and Winnipeg had to leave for Denver and Phoenix. Thankfully Winnipeg is back where they belong

uggghhh comment won’t show…

Nothing to do with it, really Justin? Thanks for talking out of your a$$, but it’s not necessary. That’s exactly what an exchange rate is. For some reason my cut and pasted comment won’t post so feel free to google anything about the US-Can exchange rate and it’s impact on Canadian sports franchises. Most the articles refer to the NHL but it still applies It’s been true in baseball and hockey as well. What compels an individual to comment without any factual support for their POV is beyond me, but more power to ya. Convincing American born players to sign in Tor or Van was going to be difficult to begin with let alone when their contract would only be worth .82 on the dollar (1995 rates). Now the Canadian rate is 1.05 to the USdollar, so it’s a slight advantage. So was it the main reason, no, but it’s been widely known around sports circles and those owning Canadian teams that they have to overpay players to lure them away from American contracts. Justin, in the words of $$$ Mayweather “Step your game up!”…

one last point i never said toronto was racist just said they have an affinity for signing caucasian players, maybe they have taken this “european” influx to far, maybe their scared to miss out on the next Dirk.