Re: The Boston Celtics Mailing List Digest V5 #251

[Tom Bisson <tbisson@doe.state.vt.us>]

Here is another thought about NBA salaries with my idea as to how to fix
them.

First off, salaries structures are important to the health of the
league. It's easy to say that owners are the blame for spiraling
salaries since they must make the final decisions as to who and how much
they pay. But the fact is that clubs lose value when they don't win,
therefore, owners must pay. Because of the limited number of teams in a
league and because it's a competition where for every winner, there is a
loser, owners must invest heavily to ensure winning. Owners who choose
not to compete in the salary game cannot compete for long in the real
game and will not be in business long - period. That's bad for the
league and the players. Players thrive when there are plenty of
financially healthy
teams.

Players are not at fault - they are acting like any good business person
would by making the most of their resources. Owners do the same thing,
look at ticket prices!

Owners and players need to work as a partnership to ensure that all
teams remain competitive and that players are fairly compensated. They
need a plan. Here's my plan:

The NBA Salary Ladder

In order to ensure labor peace and league prosperity while providing
teams an opporutnity to make a good profit and players the opportunity
to make market-level salaries, the following "salary ladder" shall be
implemented by all NBA franchises. Each franchise shall designate the
ladder rung (and thus salary) for each player. Contracts negotiated by
teams and players shall stipulate which ladder rung the player shall
occupy and for how many seasons.

Ladder Rung and Corresponding Annual Salary

Number 1 Player = $10m
Number 2 Player = $7m
Number 3 Player = $5m
Number 4 Player = $3m
Number 5 Player = $1m
-----------------------
Number 6 Player = $900k
Number 7 Player = $850k
Number 8 Player = $750k
Number 9 Player = $700k
Number 10 Player = $650k
Number 11 Player = $600k
Number 12 Player (and all others) $550k

Total Team Salary: $31.8m

This plan resembles current individual and team salary totals. 

The Collective Bargaining Agreement would determine salary levels for
each rung. The plan would end the "salary speculation" where teams and
players gamble with free agency and long term contracts. 

It would end "salary leap frog" where you pay a player more than market
now in a long term contract gambling that the market will escalate in
the next few years. It would give teams salary stability. 

Players would also benefit. Players would not have to be worried about
being underpaid (i.e. Scottie Pippen, Shawn Kemp) because their salary
would be stable as long they maintain the rung on their team's ladder.

But the BEST PART would be the wonderful fodder such a system would
create for sports writers and sports fans!

- tom bisson