Stern's Affect Already Felt

 

I am not one to brag, but I must say, I told you so! In my last blog post “The Stern Affect”, I addressed the end of the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) current end to their lockout and how it may or may not affect the NBA moving forward. All of the rave in the past week in sports industry was that of excitement, fun, and finally, but as I mentioned in my previous post, there are more unknowns than known which brings more issues to question.  So after only one week of coming to an agreement, there is already a problem that has many fans, players, and officials confused, angry, and searching for answers. But in my opinion, this is the tip of the iceberg and the real problems may be in the near future. 

            If you have recently watched any sports newscast, seen any sports related tweet, or visited a sports website, you have seen the new problem I am referring to with the new NBA agreement. For those who may not be aware, the NBA, or shall I say the Stern Affect, has recently vetoed the trade proposal of All-Star Point Guard Chris Paul to the Lakers because it was conflicting with the new CBA’s agreement of superstar players all heading to big markets. The proposed trade was approved by all teams involved but not by the rest of the league so Commissioner David Stern acted swiftly and denied the approval of the trade. This has become a huge problem not only for the players but more importantly for the NBA and its already shaken reputation.

            So after all the excitement has calmed down, we see the Stern affect take place and damage what would have been considered one of the best backcourt tandems in the NBA. The players are now wondering what did they agree to because the last thing they wanted was more control in the hands of the Commissioner. The NBA now has to focus more attention on getting their public relations team on board with correcting the daunting image the NBA has now casted on its fans and players.

            Now the next big question is what are the other changes that can take place since this agreement has been signed. From this standpoint thus far, the only good news is that there will be games played on Christmas day, but in hindsight, was it worth the balance of control? Either way, the ink has dried and the trade has been denied so let the games begin. 

Check out these links below for more on the vetoed trade and other NBA news:

http://www.hoopsworld.com/chris-paul-veto-commisioner-power-or-collusion/

http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/page/wilbon-111209/david-stern-nba-owners-look-vindictive-petty-veto-chris-paul-trade

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/09/sports/basketball/paul-set-to-join-lakers-as-part-of-3-team-deal.html

The Stern Affect

The state of the National Basketball Association (NBA) is still up in the air when looking at the potential affects of a potential collective bargaining agreement. The news broke out that an agreement has been reached among the Players Association and the NBA owners and yet, there has not been any ink used to solidify the deal in order to get the NBA season underway. Many fans, reporters, and even players have gotten ahead of themselves during this time of the agreement because there is still a lot to be addressed amongst the potential deal. For example, the exact terms of player development, the financial dollar affect on each team and market, and the lasting affect of a shortened season are all possible issues that will need to be addressed in order to feel a sense of relief.

The NBA and its players is historically a sensitive league with more egos than a fashionista slumber party. Commissioner David Stern arguably has the biggest ego within the sports industry but for good reason. During Sterns tenure as commissioner of the NBA, he has increased ticket sales, broadcasting deals, and even brought a professional standard to the players and team executives. However, during the lockout, David Stern has taken many punches on the chin for his ego and his hard nose bargaining tactics. But with that said, the numbers do not lie for Sterns affect on the NBA which brings into question, how will the new agreement differ from Sterns previous affect compared to now? I will be interesting to see if the new agreement will lift the bad images from Sterns shadow and worsen the overall product of the NBA, or in turn, better the product and worsen the image of David Stern?

Like the previous lockout from the National Football League, the real questions of the agreement and the affects have yet to be addressed even when the celebration has already started. All of these questions will be addressed when fans realize the changes as the season goes on but in some cases, the answers may come when its too late.