Ten Things To Do If There Is No NBA Season

The key public figures of the labor talks (from left to right
Fisher, Silver , Stern, and Hunter)

For some reason, I am not very angry about the NBA lockout. I tried convincing one of my colleagues, who loves the NBA, to find something to fill the potential void if the season is totally cancelled, but to no avail. I feel the players have already made enough concessions. They have acknowledged the hard times and how Rudy Gay, Joe Johnson, Rashard Lewis, Gilbert Arenas, Travis Outlaw, and so many others were given *Bill Walton imitation* terrrrrrrrrible  contracts that are hurting the league. Players have come all the way down from a 57%-43% split of the Basketball Related Income to 52.5%. I don't want to sound like my boy Chris Broussard with his country accent even though he grew up in Ohio, but I'll go into this a little bit.

The owners and players are arguing over this BRI (Basketball Related Income) that you have heard so much about in the news, if you didn't turn the channel once you heard the words "labor talks." Really, BRI is a fancy term for net revenue. The owners take a cut off the top from the gross (overall) revenue to pay for operating expenses (arena leases, payroll for arena employees, travel, etc.). However, the owners are acting like they are asking for a total 50-50 split as if it is a true 50-50 split. No. This is a split that comes after they take their cut off the top to pay for operating expenses. The players have given up 4.5% from the 57% from the last collective bargaining agreement. According to calculations from the last CBA, that is roughly just under $200 million over the life of the potential deal in which 52.5% of the BRI is devoted to player salaries.

I think that is a fair concession. Essentially, the players are being asked to pay back the owners for a few reasons. One, many of the new owners overpaid for their franchises. It's that simple. They made bad investments. If you choose to buy a team in a bad market, and pay more than what it was worth (and Forbes determined that NBA franchises that were sold recently over sold by about $150 million on average), that that is your problem. However, they could sell the team if they cannot make it work. Nope. They want their cake and to eat it to. Thus, labor (and yes, players are labor despite most of them being millionaires, they are highly skilled professionals that are nearly impossible to replace and create market demand...teachers don't make as much because they are more easily replaceable) is being asked to repay the wealthy for their bad business decisions. And the players have already agreed to give them just under $200 million back!

Many will turn on the players as usual. Many feel they are already overpaid and they are greedy. Nevermind the greedy owners, the ones who locked the players out in the first place, squeezing the players, they are the good guys. As you are seeing around the globe with the #occupy movements, enough is enough with all the corporate greed and screwing over the proletariat. I am rooting for the players to take a hard stand to represent all out there that are underpaid or oppressed by the wealthy even if it means there will be no NBA season.

Many are getting disgruntled over the fact that there is no NBA season, and it it looks like there won't be one any time soon. My friends are bummed out because that means less hanging out we can do for Laker games. Stephen A. Smith and Jason Whitlock want the players to just take whatever deal because they should be grateful to even be playing basketball for a living. Totally disagree. We will be alright. As human beings, we have been through far worse than not having an NBA season. Nonetheless, to prepare for the Apocalypse, here are some things to do this winter if there is no NBA season...

10. Give hockey a try. Ever been to a hockey game? If not, you should give it a try. If you go to a L.A. Kings game at the Staples Center, you will not be disappointed. You'll have fun. It's fast paced with lots of action...and lots of conflict (a euphemism for fighting). The Kings crowd at Staples is awesome. Laker games at times has more of an upscale lounge feel to it, more so in the 200 section and below. The Kings fans, however, are loud and really into the game. Everyone is wearing black and there are little to no cutaways to celebs.

9. Get an early start on the gym! We are about a couple months away from the New Year's resolution movement of dieting and exercising. You know you are going to be one of those people anyway, just get started on it now and stop wasting your gym membership.

8. Read some more. I resent the fact that I don't have a fireplace in my place. But if I did, I would love to be able to read by the fireplace and learn about the world, or whose now f*****' Kim Kardashian. If you have a fireplace, I hate you. Nonetheless, get some more reading done. Besides, it's believed that reading and other mental activity helps lower your chances of getting dementia or Alzheimer's Disease.

7. Avoid college basketball! Unfortunately, the culture today says one must get money and get it fast. Once a player is remotely good by 15, it becomes all about getting to the NBA as quickly as possible, which is fine for those that are ready. However, this has ruined the college game. It's become about getting out of there as fast as possible rather than learning how to win and more importantly developing as a man. This does not apply to the overwhelming majority of college players who do just that. At the same time, I don't blame elite prospects for exchanging dorm rooms and totalitarian coaches for loaded bank accounts and endless supplies of groupies. However, college basketball sucks now. It's a terrible product with a bunch of midgets and skinny, uncoordinated big men dominating. Don't give me that lame argument about fundamentals and team work either. It's like saying The Waltons is a better tv show than The Sopranos because it has good family values. Please. So does The Sopranos and it's better written, directed, and acted.

6. Join a rec-league. I've been wanting to join a league, but haven't. I've always wanted to do soccer for some reason, probably because I hate running around a track to workout and I'd get to run and be competitive. Try basketball or softball or something.

For a network show, this was great.

5. Get Netflix if you haven't already. At least get the unlimited streaming. I recently gave Friday Night Lights a try and loved it. Whenever I had a chance, I'd run threw a few episodes late at night. If there are no games, dive into all the programming it offers. They just added the entire series of The Wonder Years! That's an underrated show. Mad Men, which I strongly recommend, has all 4 seasons available to watch (season five is coming in 2012).

4. Go mini-golfing with Kevin Durant! The Durantula has been all over doing stuff. He's recently been spotted playing intramural flag football on the campus of Oklahoma State. Just hit him up on Twitter or something, and he may come out for a game of putt-putt.

3. Get cha' romance game up. It's the winter, which means more cold weather. Which means more closeness. Which means more...yeah. Remember the fireplace that I don't have, well if you have one, there you go, the perfect site to step it up. You know how Thursday nights have the premiere games of the week on TNT? Well if those are gone for the year, designate Thursday nights as romance night!

2. Try watching a new show that is outside of your comfort zone. I don't do reality shows or shows that have "Wives" in their title. However, I did start watching a show on Bravo called Millionaire Matchmaker. I like it! That Patty lady goes in on people and it's hilarious. I especially like when she goes in on the women that show up to be picked for the mixer or party she is throwing for the man or men. Also, the millionaires can be pieces of work and it's sadly hilarious. Try the Science Channel, or Bravo, as I did, or The Food Channel. Try something new since we may not see the underrated and more healthy Chris Paul carve up defenses this year.

1. Support the players, regardless. We have seen labor, which includes me, get their asses kicked over the past few decades. The working/middle class have seen their wages stagnate while the upper class seen theirs grow exponentially. The gap between the wealthy and everyone else is well past the point of absurdity. We assume that all players are like Kobe and are brands that will earn hundreds of millions throughout their careers and beyond, but this is not the case for all players. Let's not get blinded by our need for seeing basketball or resenting how much money they make see the big picture. We have to stand against what is becoming (or already is) an aristocracy. Some may not like the idea of millionaires taking a stand, but it's not about millionaries. It's about standing up for the overall well-being of this country. I work for the Santa Monica College District, and I know what it is like for the District to squeeze us workers. Those with PPOs had to recently change their plans because the district will no longer cover the costs of it. You can say that we should be happy just to have insurance offered to us. Sure. But just know that while we have to make all sorts of concessions, the board gave a $10,000 bonus arbitrarily to the college President while our class offerings are shrinking. Administrators have been given arbitrary pay raises, new iphones, and more comprehensive insurance. Yes, we should be happy to have jobs with health insurance, and we definitely are, but should we not fight for what's relatively fair for our circumstances? Yes, as the players should. Players can do what they need to do to stand up to this oppressive aristocracy that has risen. I'll be waiting for them until next season if I have to. I'm not going anywhere...