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Michael Holley On No Good Answers In The NBA
[The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
[Boston Globe Online / Sports]
No good answers in NBA
Situation a mess? Unquestionably
By Michael Holley, Globe Staff, 01/06/99
You have awakened on a historic sports morning. Don't waste your time
looking in an almanac for this date's historical significance. We
are talking about current events. We are talking about history that will be
made today in New York City. And by the end of this week, we could be asking
ourselves: Where were you the day the NBA killed itself?
Ah, but maybe I have been presumptuous. You do remember the NBA, right? It
is the most successful corporate league in the country. It's the only place
you can talk the game without having to prove you have game. It's where they
talk basketball during teleconferences and in hotel conference rooms while
never referring to an orange sphere, a rim, and a hardwood court.
But I am not here to vent. I am here to answer questions on this historic
date, the day of NBA elections. I am here to tell you how we got to the
point that we are now hearing NBA news from the king of political scoops,
Larry King. I am here to tell you what the significance is of players going
to New York today and voting. I am here to be the Lockout and Beyond Answer
Man. Have a seat. Relax. Get yourself into an NBA state of mind. And hand
over the questions ...
It's about time. You're too wordy. Enough with all that noise you're making.
I want to know this: Are they going to play basketball this season or not?
No.
Would you care to elaborate on that?
Yes.
OK. Elaborate. Basketball this season?
Heck no.
Why is that?
I am constantly amazed that one side thinks the other is bluffing. I don't
know anybody who bluffs for six months. The players say the owners are
bluffing about canceling the season; the owners say the players are bluffing
about being unified and sitting out an entire year rather than snatching a
piece of a $2 billion (and growing) pie. In the meantime, the sides continue
to stare at each other. It's like two friends in a restaurant arguing about
who is going to pay the bill. Both figure that somebody will pay it, so they
keep sitting there hoping the other will give in.
The NBA players are voting today on their future. How do you think the
Celtics would vote, assuming most of them made the trip to New York?
I bet it would be nearly unanimous.
For or against playing?
For.
Why?
The Celtics are the youngest team in pro basketball. With the exception of
Pervis Ellison and Dana Barros, those guys have not been drawing NBA
paychecks for a long time. There has been a lot of talk about union
solidarity, but young guys who haven't gotten into a habit of saving their
money tend to feel the pressure of those bills.
My point exactly. Young guys aren't the only ones. You don't have to be
young to hate missing a paycheck. Don't you think most of the players will
vote in the affirmative?
Yep.
Cool. So I should hook up my DirecTV for the games, right?
Nope. I'm not saying the vote is fixed, but I don't think it has power. I
can't get over the six-month thing: If the feelings of the little guys in
the union were so important, Billy Hunter and Patrick Ewing could have
called for a vote six months ago. Not one day before the league's
''drop-dead'' date. If the majority votes to play, that doesn't mean the
lockout is lifted.
Why is '' drop dead '' in quotes?
Because it's not a genuine phrase. The league's first so-called drop-dead
date was Thanksgiving. And then there was Christmas. Now it's Jan. 7. If
they say there will be no basketball tomorrow, they can still play.
NBA killing itself? Don't you think that's a bit overstated?
Nope. If the owners cancel the season, the NBA will never recover. Not in
five years. Not in 10 years. Not in 20 years. It will be a league for our
subconscious. Guaranteed. The NBA is not part of American sports ritual like
baseball or football. Those sports are made for television. The NBA exploded
into a television sport only because it was marketed that way. How do you
market a lockout and no Michael Jordan? Many of the league's most loyal
supporters watch tons of games without spending a dime, which is also to say
they watch at home.
You're crazy. David Stern said there will be basketball in 1999-2000, no
matter what. And there are always great players to see. What about that?
Yep. There were great players in the 1960s and 1970s, too. But ask the great
Bill Russell how many people watched his non-marketed, non-gimmicked games.
I'm talking about the '99-00 season. What about that?
I heard the commissioner mention replacement players.
So?
So maybe I should quit this job, go to Merrimac Street, and try to become
the next Tyus Edney. Scab Celtics? Please. It's amazing how people are for
the commoner in their own lives but take a pro-management view when it comes
to pro sports.
Hey. Do you think Rick Pitino would call you his best point guard and then
waive you the next week?
I don't know. But I do know that if a team of replacement Celtics won a
championship and a banner was raised next to the other 16, I would go on a
hunger strike outside the FleetCenter.
I don't want to think about that. You're already too skinny. If they do play
basketball again, whom will the Celtics sign as a free agent?
They really like Matt Geiger.
Nooo! Why?
As one member of the team said, are the Celtics a better team with Andrew
DeClercq at center or Matt Geiger?
I'm psyched. So we'll have basketball in about a month?
No. Not until October.
I don't agree with anything you say. But whom do you blame for the lockout?
Pete Carroll. He's being blamed for everything else, so why not this?
This story ran on page F01 of the Boston Globe on 01/06/99.
© Copyright 1998 Globe Newspaper Company.