Tuesday, November 8th, 2011 at 9:00 am  |  79 responses

Kobe Bryant Wants Owners, Players to Avoid ‘Nuclear Winter’


by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

Every day that passes without a labor agreement in the NBA is another day that Kobe Bryant can’t play for the Los Angeles Lakers. That, as you might imagine, does not sit well with the self-proclaimed Black Mamba.

Bryant, rumored to being agreeable to the owners’ proposed 50/50 split of basketball-related-income, tells Yahoo! Sports that he wants both sides to meet again prior to Wednesday’s deadline, in order to save the 2011-’12 season:

Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant also has urged owners to resume talks with the players union and complete the labor agreement. “We need for the two sides to get together again before Wednesday, because we’re too close to getting a deal done,” Bryant [said]. “We need to iron out the last system items and save this from spiraling into a nuclear winter.”

The owners are threatening to pull their current offer at 5 p.m. ET Wednesday and return to proposing a 53-47 revenue split in favor of the league, as well as a hard salary cap and contract rollbacks. This act would almost certainly move the players to decertify the union, and could cost the NBA the entire 2011-12 season. The Players Association offered to drop its revenue split to 51 percent on Saturday, but wanted several system items – including sign-and-trade deals and full midlevel exceptions for luxury-tax paying teams – as part of a new CBA.

For Kobe, this lockout has to be particularly tough to deal with.

He’s clearly entering the twilight of his career, and there’s not a lot of time left to reach the personal milestones he’s set his sights on, to say nothing of his championship aspirations.

The decision to accept or reject the owners’ latest proposal, for many NBA players, will come down strictly to dollars and cents. However, for guys like Kobe Bryant, there are other overriding factors at play here.

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  • http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

    By Any Means Necessary.

  • Mburb321

    Its not only about having the courage, a lot of guys simply cant afford to lose checks which is ashame because they knew this was coming. Allenp is right they need to start preparing for the next labor deal. Making a stand now will achieve what…..NOTHING. Courts ruled in favor of NFL owners and they were MAKING money why wouldnt they side with nba owners? Yes the players are worth much more then 50% but bottom line its a lesson learned,theyll still do just fine under the new system. Hopefully during the next negotiations they are MUCH more prepared and unified!

  • http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

    LA, HA! Don’t disrespect clowns like that, those guys have more “talent” than NBA players.

  • One

    I really hope Kobe gets the best chance possible at getting the 2nd best scoring title and some more rings!

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    ^They won’t be.
    And, let’s keep it real. The average fan thinks NBA players should be happy with whatever they get because :
    1. Most Americans have been trained to be happy with a decent slice of the pie and to not pay attention to how big the pie actually is.
    2. Many Americans believe that NBA players would be flipping burgers, robbing folks, selling drugs or in prison if it weren’t for the NBA.
    Those are the two mindsets driving many of your angry fans, aside from the general selfishness that they can’t get what they want, which is NBA basketball, and a tendency to lash out at those folks they respect the least as human beings.
    It is what it is as this point. Players either nut up, or they fold. It’s on them.

  • http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

    ^The realest sh*t I’ve ever read.

  • Heals

    Gotta agree with nbk’s assessment of “average” fans. That “they don’t try” argument makes my brain turn inside out nowadays…

  • qasclk

    Kobe:”Start the damn season, I am getting my sixth”
    Jordan:”No you don’t, no you don’t”

  • LA Huey

    One @ 4:30 must not know about the owner’s proposal of the salary cap and added restrictions to free agency. If they don’t budge from that, Kobe’s running in place for the rest of his career and the Heat will be good place to “invest” your money.

  • http://nbasobrietystrike.blogspot.com/ CoolWhip

    Look, the players voiced their concerns and their demands early on. The current proposal doesn’t come close to meeting what they wanted so the union reps have to sit on it.
    Stern has to appease the owners – both big and mid market owners. Sure, the Jerry Buss’s of the NBA are fine with this deal, but the Dan Gilbert’s aren’t. This isn’t a bluff, this is the best offer the players will see. Look how much friction there is in the union already. The owners will crack them.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    I can understand certain players wanting to hold their pride and get that next paycheck for their families, but ultimately in the long run they are screwing the future players. I suppose that doesn’t mean anything to most of them, though, because the average NBA career is what, four years?
    It’s similar to how we know 100% that the planet’s resources and sustainability are constantly threatened, and that our grandchildren will inherit an environmental (and economic) sh!t storm, yet we do nothing to stop it. It’s their problem, right? Meanwhile Big Brother gets richer and richer.

  • scholl-boi

    Look at the audience at your average NBA game. they might look like fans but..

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    ^ They’re texting instead of watching the game?

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    Who else is watching a lot of Hardwood Classics on NBA TV to curb their basketball withdrawal?

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    I have been watching an extreme amount of 90′s finals games. Last night I caught game 7 of second round Phoenix v Houston in 95, that was nostalgia and heartbreak all wrapped in one. For a week straight NBATV played the Phoenix Chicago Finals. — Basically 95% of the games on NBATV over the last month have included one of either Michael Jordan or Charles Barkley.

  • Mburb321

    Players seem ready to take 50/50 just need owners to make changes to the system. If we dont have a deal tomorrow it is all on owners now because players have given sooo much.

  • http://nbasobrietystrike.blogspot.com/ CoolWhip

    I’ve just been drinking and looking for a girlfriend to help with my basketball-withdrawal (see site)

  • DeeDre

    How about this: both the owners and players cut their income in half and create jobs in every city they’re located. That would be sure to revitalize the economy and they can still stay filthy rich. Smh

  • jeremy corbin

    i just wanna be able to watch kobe (tha black mamba) win another championship and this lockout is BS, needs to be over with and watch my favorite athlete do his thing…

  • http://slamonline.com The Philosopher

    “Alright now, you guys are really starting to f**k up my sh1t. Y’all know I’ve got agendas…”
    (Kobe)

  • One

    LA Huey, how will that effect the Lakers?

  • James Aka…

    @ allenp 1:43 pm
    I wish that statement could be bronzed as a monument. So many people in the real world fail to lay the groundwork for a better tomorrow and only lament today. Even if its a trivial matter like how many millions these guys get, strategy is important.

  • MikeC.

    NBATV’s classic games has been barely tiding me over. However, seeing Barkley in his prime again (and not the hobbled Houston version) was very nice. In the words of Chuck D “give me the lane, I’ll throw it down your throat like Barkley”.

  • http://bedotwater.bandcamp.com BE.water

    Kobe’s face for this post is comedy.

  • NR

    This is a bunch of BS, there will always be Owners and Players and when you are the Owner you get the Lions Share of the profits. These players are just to spoiled making millions for working only part time. The superstar that you say everyone comes to see should get what he wants, BS, no one forced them to sign a employment contract, not a partnership contract, do you see these players diving out money to the owners when the owner has a loss, hell no, they are just players then. So the players should accept this 50/50 and count themselves lucky they are getting a share at all. LET’S PLAY BALL, ENOUGH OF THIS B.S.

  • Justin

    I’m loving Hardwood Classics right now. There are a lot of games that are bringing back a lot of memories and I’m getting to PVR a lot of the ones I used to have on tape but got taped over. Watching Jordan vs. Magic in an ’89 game at Chicago Stadium where MJ had 42 and 8 while Magic had 32 and 12 was just awesome to watch. @AllenP, it’s not just Americans that have that perception of what the players would be doing without the NBA. Not a lot of these guys were in college for very long, if at all, and it’s pretty safe to assume they wouldn’t exactly be office execs had they not been great at basketball. Just listen to the way half of them talk.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    The players are required by contract to return money if their salaries in total exceed a certain percentage of BRI. That is what the BRI split is about.
    So yes when the League loses money the players lose money. I doubt that will change your opinion though.
    Of and it is illegal under NBA rules for a player to have an ownership stake in a team while playing. Remember Jordan had to sell his stake in the Wizards to play.

  • Justin

    I’m not sure why all the hate on MJ though either. Correct me if I’m wrong (and I’m pretty sure someone will) but when he said what he did to the Wizards owner, it wasn’t with the current deal in place was it? It was before the current deal was made? Because if it was, it makes a difference. If it was after then that’s different. Would it matter to people on here if he came out and admitted to making a mistake back then? Probably not because people on here have to hate on something (or someone). He hasn’t exactly been owner long enough to make the team as profitable as he wants either. So many seem to think that it’s so easy to just make a team profitable, or make them into a contender. “JUST get rid of this person” or “JUST trade this person”. So simple.

  • generic

    Players are on a lose-lose situation? we have to remember that their income is still higher than most employees in america, let alone the world. Plus, they are forgetting the fact that they are getting paid thousands if not millions to be doing what they love to do. As employees you cant ask for a pay rise when the company you are working for is making a loss.

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