Michael Jordan "is the owner most determined to bury the basketball players union financially"

[Better Believe It]

MJ sells out players with hard-line stance
By Jason Whitlock
November 5, 2011

Now that NBA superstars have decided to fully engage in the lockout negotiations and threaten union decertification, David Stern and ownership have decided to unleash their token minority owner from the house to play hardball. According to The New York Times, Michael Jeffrey Jordan, the greatest player of all time, is the owner most determined to bury the union financially. Jordan allegedly wants current players to take a 10- to 20-point basketball-related-income pay cut.

This is the ultimate betrayal. A league filled mostly with African-American young men who grew up wanting to be like Mike is finally getting to see just who Michael Jordan is. He’s a cheap, stingy, mean-spirited, cut-throat, greedy, uncaring, disloyal slave to his own bottom line.

And now Jordan, as the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, wants to be the face of ownership greed and vindictiveness.

Why would basketball players and black people continue to shower adoration on a man who has never once stood up for anything that doesn’t positively impact his financial bottom line, particularly when it’s a man who has made billions off the love of inner-city kids?

Read the full article at:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/Michael-Jordan-siding-with-David-Stern-in-NBA-lockout-a-selfish-betrayal-110411


-------------------------------------------

Report: Jordan emerging as hard-liner
FOX Sports
November 5, 2011

Michael Jordan, once the NBA's greatest player but now just another money-losing owner of a small-market team, is adamant about not giving any more concessions to players in their ongoing labor dispute, according to The New York Times.

Jordan, the Charlotte Bobcats owner, has emerged as a leader of a faction of 10 to 14 hard-line owners who are determined to cap the players' share of basketball-related income at 50 percent, the Times reported Friday.

About 10 to 14 owners, led by Jordan, are expected to reiterate their stance to NBA commissioner David Stern, which might make it more difficult to negotiate an end to the lockout.

The players received 57 percent in the last labor deal and have so far offered to reduce that share to 52.5. However, the hard-line owners wanted the players’ share capped at 47 percent and are upset with the 50-50 proposal, according to the Times.

Read the full article at:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/Michael-Jordan-NBA-lockout-hard-stance-Charlotte-Bobcats-owner-110411/


----------------------------------------------

Michael Jordan leads NBA owners: 50/50 too much
by Ben Golliver
November 4, 2011

Just when you thought that the possible decertificiation of the National Basketball Players Association was the biggest threat to the 2011-2012 NBA season, the Greatest Basketball Player Of All Time is reportedly stepping into the forefront, reminding everyone that the world of hoops still revolves around him.

NBA legend Michael Jordan, the majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, is reportedly leading a band of owners who believe that a 50/50 split of Basketball-Related Income is too much for the owners to give up.

Assuming the report's accurary, it's a fairly stunning about-face for Jordan. In 1998, just 13 years ago, Jordan famously told Abe Pollin, then owner of the Washington Wizards, that he should sell his team if he can't make a profit, rather than take a "hard stand" against the players. Fourteen years later, with the situation reversed, Jordan now so embodies hard-line ownership that he has become the group's public face.

This is the ownership's response to the idea that the threat of decertification might serve as leverage to improve the owners' offer to players during Saturday's negotiating session. It produces a clear choice for the players: Take a 50/50 split, which you say that you don't want, because it will be the best offer made, period. And, please, consider the fact that there is a large, vocal minority pushing the offer back the other direction if you decide not to accept it. In other words, this information attempts to incentivize the players to cave now rather than to cave later. It appeals to any insecurity they might have about the direction of the negotiations, presents 50/50 as a reasonable alternative to the season-spiking chaos that goes along with decertification, and attempts to extinguish any hope that 52.5 percent, or even 51 percent, is a future possibility.



Michael Jordan

http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22748484/33105950

[Bozita]

1. Too bad he isn't as great a thinker as he was a basketball player

[lonestarnot]

147. Snort.

And I hate sports.

[Nye Bevan]

2. So the average NBA salary would fall from $5 million per year to $4-4.5 million per year?

My heart just bleeds for these folks. However will they cope?

[Warren Stupidity]

5. Does your heart also bleed for the billionaire owners?

The ones who are demanding billions more in their trough?

[Nye Bevan]

9. I'm not going to waste any sympathy on the players *or* the owners.

None of these people are exactly struggling.

[Warren Stupidity]

11. But you chose to express your disgust only at the players.

[Nye Bevan]

13. OK. I'm disgusted at the owners, too. (nt)

[Ken Burch]

84. You had to be pushed to say it, though.

The owners are the cause of the problem in pro sports.

[rhett o rick]

46. They can all go to hell. Our society can not afford to pay the high prices of pro basketball.

And the stadiums are a giant rip off. Tax professional players and owners.

[Pigheaded]

108. I just don't care

They are not relevant.

PH

[cui bono]

123. They most certainly are relevant when tax payers are financing their stadiums.

They make bank and they can't bear the costs of their own business? Why should we pay for their costs? I don't watch professional sports. I would rather my money be spent on city infrastructure than a subsidy for another billionaire.

[Better Believe It]

8. Is that an attempt to justify the owners demands for over a billion dollars out of the players pay?

Professional basketball players are part of the entertainment industry business.

They are paid very well for their money making services to the owners.

An average basketball team owner makes more money than the combined salaries of their entire basketball team.

They want more.

They want an extra billion dollars in pay cuts that will go directly into their wallets.

I have to go with the players who actually play the game and bring in the billions of dollars in revenues to the far richer owners.

But, if you prefer the hardball that business owners play against their employees that's your right.

Do you also think other segments of the entertainment industry such as TV, movies and music should cut the pay of the entertainers who bring in hundreds of billions in revenues so that the industry chieftans can enrich themselves even more? Apparently .... if you want to be consistent.

Professional sports is a big business. If you don't like sports and other forms of entertainment and believe corporate owners are paying way too much money to their entertainers you do have an option. Boycott! Buy an isolated cabin in the mountains and don't follow sports, watch TV, go to the movies or buy music. Have fun with your boycott!

[Nye Bevan]

12. I'll worry about basketball players salaries being reduced from $5 million to $4 million

when all of our other problems have been solved.

[Better Believe It]

15. That's not the bottom line issue. It's another case of employer union busting.

And this is impacting all labor organizations including those that represent the most highly paid employees in the entertainment industry including but not limited to sports.

So take a stand for or against unions.

Do you support the owners or their employees?

Well?

[dotymed]

112. I would like to see NBA players and other sports Union

members, join the OWS protests.

IMO, paying professional athletes or their team owners millions of dollars, while people are being told that school Teachers are overpaid, is ridiculous.

I think that the "earnings playing field" should be leveled so that all workers and "owners" salaries are commensurate with each other. To say that average people, doing their jobs, are not worth a living wage or health care as a right; is a sham and unsustainable. People enjoy watching professional sports. It has become reality that to go to a game is financially impossible for many and for those average workers who can afford it, they usually have to use binoculars from the cheap seats if they want to watch the game.

While the wealthy have their private suites....

[Drahthaardogs]

34. Screw that - A union brother is a union brother.

Solidarity does not scruple among professions.

[SnakeEyes]

61. I believe that too

Unfortunately, I tried to share that opinion this past week and found that others don't share that opinion when it's a police union

[Better Believe It]

72. That's probably because cops are trained and used to break strikes/unions/ and ball players aren't

[Logical]

142. NFL PLAYERS HAVE CROSSED PICKET LINES BEFORE!

[Better Believe It]

143. How many AFL-CIO unions crossed strike picket lines during the PATCO Air Traffic Controllers Strike?

The answer to that question is:

All of them!!!

That failure by the AFL-CIO union officials to honor the strike picket lines and fight President Reagan's union busting operation against airline industry workers opened the door to massive union busting and strike breaking using "replacement workers" in the 80's and 90's.

I don't think any of the professional sports unions have done anything even remotely that bad.

But all of those past practices of crossing union picket lines by unions is history. This is a new age .... hopefully .... and not the time to regurgitate old union grievances and complaints that get in the way of labor unity.

So what's your point?

[Logical]

145. My point is the nfl/nba unions are not real labor unions! They do not give a shit...

About the other unions once the season starts!

[Better Believe It]

146. And who are you to decide what workers are organized into "real" labor unions?

The entire union movement recognizes the various professional sports player organizations as labor unions.

And guess who wants to destroy these non-existent "unreal" labor unions?

The employers!

If they aren't "real" unions you would think the corporations would leave them alone!

[Ken Burch]

83. It's always wrong to take the side of the owners against the players

just as it's always wrong to take the side of management against labor(as the person whose name you misuse for your posts could have told you).

And, in the end...the game is the players...the owners don't have a damn thing to do with it.

[Bandit]

102. And the owner's salary would increase by many more millions .

How will those poor owners ever get by?

[LanternWaste]

114. I imagine many people have a cut-off point

I imagine many people have a cut-off point in which their concern of others is reduced due to income (much like the 1%ers have for the poor, but in reverse--- I imagine that's how it gets rationalized too), rather than perceiving that an attack on a union affect all its members-- regardless of that member's wages.

I would think that rather than minimizing and trivializing the wages and benefits of some union members, we would instead focus on increasing the wages and benefits of other union members. :shrug:




That being said, I do understand the convenience of your position, and realize its simplistic yet strong attraction.

[Peter1x9]

3. Rich players vs even richer owners all wanting even more money.

Who cares? Their greed will just cost them 1 or more seasons and all the money they could have made.

[progressoid]

4. Yep. What about the people serving the beer and cleaning the toilets at the stadium

Anybody give a shit about them?

[Better Believe It]

10. The owners sure as hell don't and if they take a billion dollars out of the players income they ....

might pay the stadium workers an extra penny or two an hour!

Nah.

Michael Jordan probably wants to cut their pay!

[ChazII]

81. Nope and that is a shame. Once more it is the little guy

who loses. Maybe OWS should show up at the arenas.

[Warren Stupidity]

6. fair enough but the players started out conceding accepting lower salaries and caps.

The deadlock is over the size of the increase in the owner's share of the BRI.

[Ken Burch]

85. At least the players DO something for the money. The owners do nothing.

Plus, you can only be a player for a few years. You can be an owner for decades. Nobody was ever forced to give away a pro team they owned because they got a knee injury.

[Horse with no Name]

7. Excessive. No doubt.

However, union busting is union busting--regardless of the union being busted.

These athletes work and train hard. Their bodies are their livelihood...often at the expense of real education and real job training. I daresay basketball more than the other sports.

As a former player, it is grueling and hard on the bodies to run up and down the courts. Harder work than I would care to do as a full time job. They also have to deal with the ailments when they get holder of USING their bodies to many times more than TOP capacity.

The lifespan of their careers isn't very often long.

Shame on MJ. He should know. I guess he doesn't want these young players to have the opportunities that he did.:(

[DemocratSinceBirth]

14. He Was Being Paid Thirty Million A Year

Since he retired max salaries have been capped at half of that.

[Better Believe It]

16. He is selfish and greedy. He made his so screw everyone else coming up! A typical owner.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

18. He Also Refused To Campaign For Harvey Gant In His Race Against Jesse Helms

He infamously said "Republicans buy sneakers too."

He did support Obama though. Refusing to support the first serious African American presidential candidate was a bridge even he wouldn't cross...

[femrap]

78. MJ is an asshole. nt

[Carolina]

124. Harvey Gantt paved the way

for MJ to go to UNC-Chapel Hill from whence his wealthy basketball career was launched.

His rebuff of Gantt spoke volumes about his character.

Never cared for MJ, especially after that. He's a jerk

[Pisces]

20. He as paid that in his latter years. He played for peanuts most of his career. He was not paid some

ridiculous payout upon being drafted by the bulls. He earned the right to that payout by becoming the best basketball player the world has ever seen. Boo hoo hoo for those players who can't make
30 million fresh out of college. Maybe more players will stay and earn their college degrees before jumping into the NBA for some stupid payout.

Players are paid before they even prove they will be good. Their egos are unchecked and they have no idea how to manage the money they are paid. It is like winning lotto, they end up losing it.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

22. You Act Like 23 Was The Only Basketball Player In The World Worth Thity Million Dollars

And there already is a salary cap for rookies in the NBA that is nowhere near thirty million dollars.

Jordan is a pinhead who refused to campaign for Harvey Gant in his groundbreaking race against Jesse Helms in 1990 claiming "Republicans buy sneakers too."

I am so tired of the cult of personality that surrounds Michael Jordan.

[U4ikLefty]

144. Here ya go

http://airjudden2.tripod.com/jordan/index.htm

[Moostache]

17. They can keep their ball and go home forever for all I care...

Too many rich bastards making obscene amounts of $$$ relative to their value to a functioning society.

In times of full (or near full) employment, I don't really care how much entertainers get paid, but in the current depression, I just find the carping of owners and players (first in the NFL then in the NBA and now the MLB free agents as well)too much to stomach.

They all are getting too much of the overall pie...when the economy goes into the tank as far as it has, then its time for the entertainment industry to take on the chin as hard or harder than the rest of us. That is simply and obviously NOT happening. Owners should get less, players should get less and fans should pay far less. Everything else is window dressing...

[DemocratSinceBirth]

23. There Is A Lockout In The NBA As There Was In The NFL

That's a bit different than a strike.

[Better Believe It]

26. What you propose would happen in a utopian socialist society. But meanwhile, who do you support?

The union busters or the employees in the entertainment industry?

Take a stand and not the old escapist "plague on both your houses" position which in reality means supporting the corporate owners.

[Moostache]

107. I see....

Because NBA players making $14M a year have so much in common with teachers, police, plumbers and electricians...and their union is fighting on the picket lines with other unions currently on strike? and all those NBA players were in Wisconsin this past winter to protest Scott Walker's attempts to end collective bargaining? Ever seen an NBA superstar walk the picket line with the food service union? the local construction workers union in cities where the arenas are built with non-union labor? The NBA Players "union" is no friend of the overall labor movement and to falsely equate them as such marks YOU as the corporate lackey.

Please...introducing false equivalency in the argument does not help the overall union cause one bit. These players are making more money now by a factor of 1000 compared to 20 years ago...how many other union employees work in industries where THAT is the case?

[Better Believe It]

110. Good points .... the corporate owners could use them in their drive to destroy the players union.

Even if your employer talking points are way off base and not factually accurate.

The players make 1,000 times more in pay now than 20 years ago!!!???

Where they hell did you find that "fact"?

Sounds like something one would read in an employers union bashing press release!

[rurallib]

19. The players are the product and the labor in this case

maybe they could try the replacement thing that the NFL did. That worked well.
Anymore I automatically side with labor. I would have some sympathy for the owners if they were to pay vendors and cleaners to help them out, but I am sure they won't.

As for Jordan, I don't know why anyone is surprised. His leaving to play baseball, then coming back etc were to me pretty selfish acts. He himself has said he has a "competition" problem in that he must do everything to win.

[xchrom]

21. The size of the players paychecks isn't the point.

They're workers, they're union & I'll stand w/ them.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

24. PLUS ONE

And I rather watch them than a bunch of owners play basketball.

[WCGreen]

27. Quick question....

When was the last time any of these "union" members did anything for any of the working class unions...

Do you think they would stand with the concession workers if they were in a struggle between them and the ownership?

When was the last time a Basketball player stepped in and joined a picket line?

Not making any judgements here one way or another, but just asking a few questions...

[Nye Bevan]

28. How many millionaire players from the New York Knicks have stopped by at Zuccotti Park

to express their solidarity with OWS? Because they do have plenty of time on their hands with the lockout going on.

My guess is zero.

[Better Believe It]

33. You don't know. How many of Obama's Wall Street campaign donors have stopped by Zuccotti Park

The have plenty of time and money on their hands. But, I don't know.

[Bobbie Jo]

103. There it is!

I was wondering how you were going to parlay this OP into an anti-Obama message.

This train is never late.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

30. I Saw Grant Hill Campaign For John Kerry

That's more than his former employer, Rich DeVos, did.

[WCGreen]

80. And I remember Sandy Alomar refusing to shake hands with

president Clinton when he threw out the first ball on opening day back in 1994...

Alomar made it known that he wasn't going to shake the hands of a man who raised his taxes.

That really pissed me off.

I know it isn't totally relative to the discussion, but it is something that tells me these ball players are more interested in themselves than they are in the labor movement.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

95. Most Of The Players Are Democrats. Most Of The Owners Are GOP

That's enough for me.

[Nye Bevan]

29. So if there was a National Union of Goldman Sachs Traders

and the Goldman management committee attempted to reduce their compensation from several million dollars to something slightly less, you would stand with them, too?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

32. Get Back To Me When The Goldman Sachs Traders Form A Union

And the NBA is a monopoly that's exempt from anti-trust laws. The Goldman Sachs traders can go to another trading firm. There isn't another domestic basketball league of any consequence where NBA players who are being LOCKED OUT can go.

I see this as another power play to destroy a union. I care not whether it members are wealthy or not.

[dembotoz]

25. why are we surprised about a 1 percenter acting like a 1 percenter?

white, black, red green or yellow.

[Lizzie Poppet]

31. Billionaires squabbling with millionaires.

And of course the people who are really getting bent over (even more than the fans) are the people that work at the arenas, team offices, etc. While the spoiled brats on either side argue over a few percentage points...

[Better Believe It]

35. What side do you think Wall Street and corporate American supports in this union busting operation?

I know.

That's a tough one to figure out.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

37. The Players Are Still Labor, Albeit Rich Labor

.

[Lizzie Poppet]

38. I've been following this dispute a bit.

To my (sort of) surprise, the blog comments and such tend to favor the owners by about a 3-to-1 margin. So not only might the 1%'ers tend to favor the .01%'er owners, but apparently so does much of the 99%.

[Better Believe It]

44. And how much of the working class majority supports the owners according to your research?

With the corporate mass media propaganda against the players it could be a majority.

But, tell me the percentage of the working class and 99% supports the corporate owners against the players.

I'm listening.

[Lizzie Poppet]

47. Wouldn't call it "research."

Like I said previously, it's just the rather surprising (to me) observation that blog and forum comments have trended about 3-to-1 in favor of the owners. Assuming that no more than about 1% of the commenters are anything but regular working class people, I suppose there's your answer.

I think we on the left tend to underestimate the pervasiveness of some of the pro-free-market mythology (and inculcation) in American society. On many more conservative forums, any hint of a suggestion that the best interests of Holy Capitalism are not the One True Path are anathema.

[Better Believe It]

51. I understand your point. And it's true that pro-capitalist propaganda did well in the past.

But now it's starting to take a beating!

[GreenArrow]

53. Well, you know in this case,

the players are capitalists too.

[Lizzie Poppet]

55. Yes...and I think the majority of working class folks see no heroes in that dispute.

Personally, I've been losing interest in NBA basketball for some time now. The league's marketing machine has concentrated on the "cult of the superstar" at the expense of a focus on the team for some time now, and in a sense, that's come back to bite them on the ass. Those uber-hyped superstars are now insisting on being able to (effectively) choose where they want to play, and the league has a horrible competitive balance problem that's only getting worse.

The owners' proposals for system changes would help with this problem, but they have also tied those proposals to a demand for a huge change in distribution of BRI ("basketball related income"). The players have already given a great deal on that point (a 7% swing), but some of the owners are holding out for more, and some of the hardline players are wanting some of that "give" back...and are working to force a decertification vote for the players' union.

So yeah, the big fight is all about money...

[KamaAina]

116. One of the few actual teams in the NBA is the Dallas Mavericks.

Guess who won the title, over the league's glitziest collection of entitled superstars?? :-)

[GreenArrow]

52. I think one might also consider that

many in the working class see the sort of money professional basketball players (or pro-athletes from any other sport) make, and then compare to their own jobs and salaries and harbor maybe just a little resentment over it.

I am a basketball fan and I think they're way overpaid, in comparison, to say, teachers.

[Nye Bevan]

54. But throwing a ball through a hoop is so much more important than educating our kids (nt)

[Better Believe It]

57. The owners are not interested in educating your kids, just theirs who they send to private schools.

[Better Believe It]

56. They always try to pit lower paid workers against higher paid ones.

That's the old divide and rule principal.

A win by the sports owners in this conflict would not in anyway benefit working class people who make far less than professional entertainers in movies, TV, music or sports. It can only harm us and encourage other employers who want to stop union organization or destroy existing ones.

That for me is the bottom line.

Can anyone explain to me how owners coming out on top would benefit working class people?

[GreenArrow]

59. I don't see either outcome benefitting working class people,

unless you want to consider not depriving the fans of a season's worth of Soma a benefit.

[Better Believe It]

60. I see the corporate owners winning this battle as a win for big business and Wall Street

And any union busting win for corporate sports owners is a loss for all of labor.

Isn't that right?

It's pretty simple to understand really, not exactly rocket science.

[GreenArrow]

66. Well, that's probably true if you work

from the starting point that ownership is always wrong and labor is always right. Neither side, on the merits, is sympathetic. It's greed versus greedier.

[Better Believe It]

73. In a conflict between Wall Street/Big Business against employees I'll always stand with labor.

Even if those employees make a lot of money in the entertainment industry like rock stars, TV celebrities, sports figures, movie stars, etc.,

And you're "neutral" in any union busting operation by corporate owners against the "star" union members they employ?

How "liberal" of you!

[Lordquinton]

90. "It's greed versus greedier"

That's an argument you could use on any union issue, Teachers are often asking for raises and benefits, which you could easily paint as being greedy. It really is simple, ignore the numbers and focus on the issues.

[Romulox]

106. Right. And on the other hand, ballers are CONSTANTLY joining picket lines for their union brothers.

Time to reciprocate!

Er???? :shrug:

[spanone]

36. one percenters quarreling with .50 percenters.

the sports world is fucking insane in what it charges the fans who support it

[Nye Bevan]

39. To be fair, the ability to throw a ball through a metal hoop is of enormous value to society.

And it makes a great deal of sense for those who can do this to be paid more than brain surgeons.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

40. Do You Think If There Was No NBA , Salaries For Brain Surgeons Would Go Up?

.

[Better Believe It]

43. If we banned professional entertainment the pay for rocket scientists would go up 20%!

[U4ikLefty]

149. wrong question

[AzDar]

41. I support Unions. I do not support Union-Busters. Doesn't matter if the pay is 5.00 or 5 million..

Jordan was the greatest player to ever play the game, IMNSHO, but apparently, not so great a person.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

42. I Have Been Following The Dispute

It's a lockout and not a strike. The owners want to bring the players to their knees. I applaud the players who are risking millions to uphold a principle.

[99 Percent Sure]

45. ". . . Michael Jordan is ... a cheap, stingy, mean-spirited,

cut-throat, greedy, uncaring, disloyal slave to his own bottom line."

Always was, always will be.
Because he brought in such high revenues and increased viewership for the NBA, not to mention Nike, Hanes, and other corporations, the NBA overlooked much poor behavioral characteristics, ie., gambling, that would have gotten the average player expelled from the league. Once his father was killed, Stern and the NBA gave him a total pass, IMO. He wasn't well-liked by Bulls teammates--"my supporting cast" as he liked to say, let alone the majority of NBA players, during his hey-day in the league, and his stint in the 'Ham with the Barons stank to high heaven. Glad I heckled him at the Hoover Met as much as I could.

To top it all off, he's one of the most inarticulate college grads I've ever heard. His speech is pretty much incoherent. Yet, he thinks very highly of himself. He really believes he's the greatest player ever, and doesn't mind saying so.

ITA with those who say it's union busting pure and simple.

Bird and Magic changed the game but the NBA and Stern created Jordan Rules.

[catzies]

58. This basketball-loving, Jordan-hater agrees with you completely

:thumbsup:

[SnakeEyes]

65. Sorry Jordan ended the Lakers dynasty era

.

[99 Percent Sure]

79. Actually, the Detroit Pistons ended the Lakers'

Showtime dynasty.

But that's neither here nor there when it comes to the fact that Bird and Magic changed the game; what's more, they made their teammates better and believed strongly in the team concept. Say what you will, but they made it possible for the Jordans and the Bryants to dominate the game in later years.

Did you know that in the late 70s, owner Jerry Buss gave Earvin Johnson a million per year, 25-year contract which was previously unheard of in the NBA? Yes, he did.

For all that I can't stand Jordan, I admit that he was a great player, but I can't say he was the greatest because there were others who came before him who changed the game.

[99 Percent Sure]

71. He got away with a lot of fouls yet, if any player

looked as if they were getting too close, the refs would call foul. The tongue hanging out while he traveled with the ball as he took it to the hoop used to make me sick as well as his constant "my supporting cast" refrain. People forget that he was a 1-man team when he first came to the NBA and he's apparently not a good speller because he still believes there's an "I" in team.

During his baseball stint, each time he came up to bat, I'd go sit behind home plate and ask, "How low can you go?" After a few times, he came to laugh at my taunt. At one of the last games I attended, his ex-wife was even laughing.

Now as an owner, he's low-balling players and busting the players union. He's contemptible.

"How low can you go?" Heh.

[JackDragna]

99. Say what you want about him as a person..

..but Jordan did a fine job getting his teammates involved in his games. His career assists per game was 5.3, a pretty good number for a shooting guard. As for the fouls, I remember when Jordan would play on the road and referees would basically forget Jordan was being mugged. When he played at MSG, for example, John Starks would rake Jordan's arms so badly when Jordan went up for a jumper that Jordan looked like he was attacked by a mountain lion.

Say what you want about the man, but he was not an Allen Iverson-type "take it to the rack every play" player. If he was, he wouldn't have six rings.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

94. Jordan Was A Great Basketball Player But A Lousy Human Being

Was he the best?

Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and Magic Johnson were pretty good too, and unlike Jordan are pretty good guys too...

[onpatrol98]

141. Don't forget "Dr. J"!

:)

[Carolina]

126. Ditto

Loathe MJ

[Initech]

48. Couldn't we just abandon these douchebag owners and start our own companies?

[Better Believe It]

50. Nope. It's not allowed by the professional sports owner trusts.

The only professional sports team that isn't owned by individual wealthy sports owners is the Green Bay Packers .... a community owned and run team.

[City Lights]

49. Me no likey Mikey.

Never been a Jordan fan.

[Pisces]

67. You don't have to like him to admit he's a great basketball player.

[Better Believe It]

75. He was a great player. As was the baseball player Ty Cobb. He was also a hard core racist asshole.

But, that's irrelevant.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

96. And Floyd Mayweather Is A Great Boxer

Despite being a bigot, a homophobe, and a misogynist.

[U4ikLefty]

150. He pushed off on Byron Russell

[Lex]

62. The truth is, he's always been kind of a douche.

Was a great basketball player, no doubt.

[bullwinkle428]

70. Word. He didn't really let his dickish flag fly until he retired,

mostly due to making sure the sneaker sales stayed up there.

[cwydro]

63. Wah wah

on both owners and players.

I wouldn't give a rat's ass if pro basketball disappeared.

[Nye Bevan]

68. +1

[SnakeEyes]

64. Since the 1990s.

It's been my experience that those that pour on the Jordan hate do so out of an unstated jealously that he wasn't playing for their team. Which makes sense considering he is the greatest of all time and he's dashed the hopes of so many opposing teams's fans.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

76. Or he could be just a douche bag

That's a pretty simple way of looking at it too......but just as relevant.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

88. I'm from Chicago, was a big fan of MJ and the Bulls in the 90s hey day.

Have many fond memories watching games with my buddies on friday nights. Got really exited when Phil Jackson would show up back-stage (via the jumbo screen) at Dead shows.....

I think Jordon turned out to be a king sized asshole.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

127. If He Comes Out Of Retirement And Wins Four More Championships

He will still have one less than Russ.

[frylock]

69. knr

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

74. Jordan is a scumbag degenerate gambler with a God complex

He basically thinks that every NBA game should begin and end with a prayer and a oath by all the players to his greatness.

His HOF speech really showed him to be bitter asshole.

[femrap]

77. MJ is the

cheapest asshole around. He admitted on the Oprah show that he NEVER TIPS THE WAIT STAFF.

I'm not surprised at all by his current behavior. He could have spoke out about slave labor regarding Nike....but he really doesn't give a shit about anyone but himself.

May he never get fucked again.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

98. He Was In A Car With Barkley.

Barkley stopped to give a homeless guy $100.00 ."His Airness" criticized Barkley.

He would definitely, imho, become a Republian but he know that wouid just bring too much attention to his politics.

[femrap]

109. I don't think

'His Airness' :rofl: has the ability to even understand politics. He is just too self-centered to look outward and try to comprehend something outside his greedy little bubble.

[Ken Burch]

82. We should have known this was coming when MJ REFUSED to endorse Harvey Gantt

in his race against Jesse Helms.

That right there showed us which side "His Airness" was on.

[SharksBreath]

86. All of the players aren't rich. All of the owners are wealthy.

The main problem with the NBA is not the players.

It's the Republican owners who overpay for C level talent that are terrible at math.

See Ed Snider.

If you can't make money as an NBA owner you should sell your team.

The owners will be able to take their franchise and give it to the next generation in their family.

Players have a limited time to make all the money they can.

70% of athletes wind up broke.

[rpannier]

87. Let's not forget

Jordan said he'd stop endorsing Nike products if they could prove they were manufactured by children for pannies.
When offered the chance to see for himself, he was too busy.

He's an ass

[MrSlayer]

89. It's different on the other side of the business.

I'm not a basketball fan so I really don't care if the NBA ever comes back. However, from what I've gleaned from listening to sports talk radio, the NBA's financial setup was just broken. The way the cap and revenue system was set up made it really hard for teams to compete if they made a mistake on a player or if a player got hurt. Trades were tough to make and free agency was a nightmare. And everyone except the players seems to agree that the CBA was weighted too heavily in favor of the players. If they want to compete and survive they should trim a few teams and adopt an NHL (who also should cut a few teams) style of cap and free agency and a style of revenue sharing similar to the NFL.



As far as Jordan goes, he a competitor, some might say the ultimate competitor. He's a win at all costs kind of guy and I'm not surprised that he has taken the same attitude now that he's on the other side of the business.

[tcaudilllg]

91. The major league sports business needs to be reinvented.

[Better Believe It]

92. That won't happen until their anti-trust exemptions are ended by Congress.

And it's unlikely that will happen before Wall Street and the rest of corporate American is brought under firm regulation and control.

And that probably won't happen before a liberal President and Congress is elected.

[n2doc]

93. The owners only need 16 votes to approve

Jordan can be made irrelevant, just like Al Davis was in the NFL negotiations. If the other owners want to follow his lead, that is up to them . But they don't need his vote.

Frankly I think the solution is to shrink the league down to 24-28 teams, and Charlotte is one I would eliminate.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

97. He's Mad Becausec His Little Franchise Is Irrelevant

.

[TheeHazelnut]

100. why do you think they call them Air Jordans?

he's an airhead

[Faygo Kid]

101. Never could stand the guy.

He's all about himself, and always has been.

Of course, I'm a Pistons fan.

[Blue Owl]

104. Now his Hitler moustache finally makes sense

n/t

[Romulox]

105. Poor, poor NBA players. This is a *LABOR* issue!

:sarcasm: :hi:

[Better Believe It]

111. Strike breaking and union busting is always a labor issue even in the entertainment industry

Even if you envy professional entertainers income be they athletes, musicians, movie starts or TV personalities.

[Romulox]

115. Right. Just like the NBA ballers walk the picket line with the SEIU. It's all "labor".

:rofl:

[Better Believe It]

117. There is no NBA players union picketline so what's your point?

But you clearly don't know that.

And have you already forgotten the NFL players union support for the Madison, Wisconsin capital protests? You seem to have a selective memory when it comes to players labor organizations.

And you're probably unaware of this. The basketball players have not set-up picketlines at the basketball arenas.

They are not on strike and therefore there at not any picketlines to cross.

The corporate owners are locking them out.

But, you didn't know that.

So you really follow basketball closely!

If you don't know what the hell is going on why do you even bother to comment?

[Romulox]

121. There's also no Solidarity between the NBA Players' Union and any other union.

So calling for people to support them as "labor" is ridiculous.

[Better Believe It]

118. Why such hostility toward the labor movement and support for corporate owners by you?

Are you a business person or are you just envious of the money entertainers make in TV, movies, sports, music, etc.,?

[Romulox]

122. It's not a "labor movement", and to dub it such trivializes the very concept.

Why such obsequious concern for multimillionaire "workers", hmmmm? :hi:

[DemocratSinceBirth]

128. Most Of The NBA Is Comprised

Most of the NBA is comprised of working class and underclass African Americans who won the genetic lottery and than harnessed the skills winning the genetic lottery provides.

On the other hand the owners are invariably white, with one exception, who won another kind of lottery. They were born into wealth or the middle class...

Which group has more in common with "labor"?

[Better Believe It]

130. Do you also hate baseball and football players and support these entertainment industry owners?

"obsequious"

And you're green with envy?

Now that's a real blue collar word working people thrown around all the time to show how educated and superior we are.

Sorry but I bet most of us working class people, including those who have made it big in the entertainment industry, had to look it up.

I take it you've never been part of the labor movement.

Is that right?

Well, in any case you've clearly come down on the side of big business and union busters.

How liberal of you!

[Romulox]

133. For real? You're using the internet, and you're complaining you don't know the meaning of a word?

I also wear glasses. Perhaps you'd like to make fun of that, too? :pathetic:

[Better Believe It]

136. I had to look it up. Sorry that I and most other workers aren't as smart and educated as you are.

So you support the union busting owners against the players.

That's all I really needed to know about you.

You're now on ignore.

[Romulox]

138. You also don't know much about history (cultural revolution reference: over your head.)

Ignoring a person because you don't know a word is truly, TRULY pathetic though. :hi:

[Better Believe It]

140. The claim made that the basketball players and their union never supported public workers is a lie

NBA Union Backs Wisconsin Public Employees
by Tula Connell
February 25, 2011

The National Basketball Association’s Player’s Association (NBAPA) is backing Wisconsin public employees who are fighting for their right to bargain for good middle-class jobs. NBAPA Executive Director Billy Hunter denounced last night’s vote in the state assembly to take away collective bargainig rights. This from the Nation:

Last night’s vote by the Wisconsin Assembly was an attempt to undermine organized labor and the men and women across the country who depend on their unions for a voice in the workplace. The NBPA proudly supports our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin and their stand for unequivocal collective bargaining rights.

Hunter, who earned his law degree from the University of California-Berkeley while playing in the National Football League, has been part of the struggle for workers rights for many years. Keyon Dooling’s voice, as a player in Wisconsin and a leader in the union is perhaps even more welcome.

Wisconsin public-sector workers tirelessly deliver services on a daily basis to millions of Wisconsin residents. The right of these hard-working men and women to organize and bargain collectively is fundamental. Wisconsin’s workers deserve better than last night’s vote. Today, our union stands proudly with our fellow union members throughout the state as they continue their fight.

http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/02/25/nba-union-backs-wisconsin-public-employees/




NBPA Press Release (February 25, 2011)

February 25, 2011

STATEMENT BY NBPA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BILLY HUNTER AND FIRST VICE PRESIDENT KEYON DOOLING IN OPPOSITION TO WISCONSIN ASSEMBLY ANTI-UNION BILL.

New York, February 25, 2011 -- “Last night’s vote by the Wisconsin Assembly was an attempt to undermine organized labor and the men and women across the country who depend on their unions for a voice in the workplace. The NBPA proudly supports our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin and their stand for unequivocal collective bargaining rights.” – Billy Hunter, NBPA Executive Director


“Wisconsin public-sector workers tirelessly deliver services on a daily basis to millions of Wisconsin residents. The right of these hard-working men and women to organize and bargain collectively is fundamental. Wisconsin’s workers deserve better than last night’s vote. Today, our union stands proudly with our fellow union members throughout the state as they continue their fight.” – Keyon Dooling, NBPA First Vice President, Milwaukee Bucks.

http://www.nbpa.org/press-release/press-release-22511

[Nye Bevan]

119. Hard to get too worked up about the 1% bickering among themselves

over how to divvy up their spoils.

[Better Believe It]

120. Don't you understand how the outcome can impact the wages and benefits of stadium workers?

If the corporate owners can bust the players union they will surely go after the ordinary stadium workers next.

I have yet to hear anyone explain how a win by corporate entertainment tycoons over the players will help other sports industry workers.

[Romulox]

135. The two things aren't related (even a little.) Stadium workers made min. wage under the previous

deal. :hi:

[Better Believe It]

113. If the corporate owners cut the players pay they'll increase the stadium workers pay. Bull shit!

They'll try to follow that up with cuts in the pay and benefits of stadium workers!

Why should the owners stop with the players?

[Orsino]

125. "Republicans buy sneakers, too."

Wasn't that a money quote from long ago?

[catbyte]

129. As a Pistons fan, I've always hated him. Now I have a GOOD reason!

Diane
Anishinaabe in MI

[mdmc]

131. Oh Man - he can be the next anti-Romney

[taterguy]

132. So Charlotte is responsible for the downfall of the NBA in addition to the financial meltdown?

Sherman torched the wrong city back in the day.

[Romulox]

134. Give it up; nobody is crying for Bron Bron

but bron bron

[Enrique]

137. holy crap I'm out of it

this is the first time I ever heard of the Charlotte Bobcats, and Wikipedia tells me this is their eighth year. :scared:

[adam in oregon]

139. NBA strike

While I have a hard time having to listen to billionaires and millionaires complain, I have a solution. Have all the NBA team owners become players and see how much they can make. Would you pay money to see a 70 year old try and play ball. Look at than 0 inch vertical. Final score 10-8. Medical time outs 15 times a game. So what I am saying, is no one cares about the owners of the team. The only reason they have money is because people will pay money to watch athletes compete. The reason cities finance stadiums with taxes is because people will pay money to watch athletes play. Without those guys destroying their bodies to make the owners a buck, they would have nothing. So who is really making the money for the NBA? It sure ain't the owners.

[nomb]

148. " just another money-losing owner " Kind of says it all, doesn't it? (I support Jordan)

Jordan is an owner because Jordan is a professional basketballer.

If Jordan were a vanity owner I'd say screw him, but he's not. It's his business and his livelihood - I don't fault him for treating it as such.

[GreenTea]

151. Amazing what money can do to one - if they allow themselves to only care about money.

[Better Believe It]

152. That seems to be his only concern in life.