Check Yourself NBA

Dear National Basketball Association,

Although I think you have an entertaining product and an exciting playoff drive, you must recognize one fact, YOU ARE NOT THE NFL. I am concerned that your confusion in this matter will hamstring your attempts to close that reported $7 Billion gap that exists between players and owners before you have to sacrifice your season.

According to Forbes, many of the 30 teams have not recovered from the 2008 recession in the US. I've heard reports that as many as 17 teams are losing money. Players are complaining about a possible wage rollback while some franchises are struggling to find owners, there is a disconnect here.

The NFL could have survived a year-long lockout. The NFL is profitable, the players are (for the most part) family friendly and not intimidating and the stadiums are multipurpose (I understand that many NBA arenas are multipurpose as well, but they are mostly shared with NHL franchises that are also losing money). During this time of belt-tightening and uncertainty in the financial markets, it might be time to scale down the ridiculous salaries. It seems pretty simple to me, if they business isn't making a profit, you're not getting a raise.

You can't sell NBA players like you can sell the players in the NFL. I would much rather have Tom Brady, Reggie Bush, Tiki Barber, or Payton Manning pushing my product than Ron Artest, Dirk Nowitski, Alan Iverson or even Lebron James. There's a stigma attached to NBA players that is both the fault of the league and the players themselves. The neck and face tattoos aren't helping either.

Times have changed since the last lockout in the NBA. The league has suffered a massive hit in popularity, expanded to markets that can't support it, and salaries have far exceeded market demand.

NBA, you have some tough choices to make. Do you really need a team in New Orleans? And should a single player's salary really be 20% of your team's net worth?

j