re: Deadspin to Jackie MacMullan: Kyrie Irving and Black NBA players aren't anybody's property

Just a couple of things to clear up:

Deadspin today is DINO- Deadspin In Name Only. Everyone who was affiliated with the old Manti Te'o Deadspin was fired or quit back in November 2019. Every. Single. Person. The writers employed by G/O Media today were not around during the AJ Daulerio/Hulk Hogan days, nor during the selloff to Univision or to the current Great Hill Partners-G/O Media.

The majority of Deadspin writers who were fired or quit formed their own company last year called Defector. The article about Jackie MacMullan's comments on the Bill Simmons Podcast, written by Tom Ley and one of the senior editors that quit Deadspin back in November 2019, is here Defector.

Kyrie's comments about the NBA Draft and incoming players not having much power at all about where they end up is valid. If there was a level playing field of situations for every destination then that's one thing. But there's also the uneven playing field where some rookies end up being drafted by teams in states like Florida and Texas with favorable income taxes, and some being drafted to tax-heavy states like New York or California. Their choice is take the contract that is pretty much locked in based on draft position (Rookie Scale Salary) or not sign and play outside the country. The vast majority of fans don't side with this position because Shut Up and Dribble, but almost no other industry operates this way. Doctors are pretty much the only comparable employment group.

Jackie's stance of "Yeah you are, dude. That’s the way it works. That’s why you get paid all these millions" (her quote) doesn't really address drafted players, especially ones towards the bottom of the draft. The second rounders typically receive a contract for the rookie minimum of under $1M (before taxes and management fees) with maybe two years guaranteed, and the low-end first rounders receive contracts around $2M/year, with the 3rd & 4th years being team options which are very favorable to the team if the player ends up better than average. If anything, her comments continue the fallacy that a free market exists in American professional sports leagues.

Kyrie takes a lot of bad stances, but Jackie's stance isn't good either.

I really am starting to lose my patience with people

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Kyrie takes a lot of bad stances, but Jackie's stance isn't good either.

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Well it sounds like maybe Kyrie should try to get the NBAPA to give up some money for veterans to give incoming rookies (who have NO VOICE coming into the league) more salary.

It's the same with the NFL and MLB unions. The older players are the ones doing most of the steering of the union; any complaints about how things are done are on them, and to a lesser extent players like him.

They could get everything they wanted . . . for the right price. But they don't want to give up THEIR money or contracts; but that's the cost.

If you want change, you better be willing to suck it up and pay for that change. The team owners (not player owners Draymond Green) didn't become BILLIONAIRES giving money away.

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They could get everything they wanted . . . for the right price. But they don't want to give up THEIR money or contracts; but that's the cost.

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I agree with this. The players could really make a change if they wanted to. The owners aren't going to make the change without extreme pressure, which will impact current players.

But the players won't make that sacrifice. Not now. Not in this generation.

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Cancel the draft then. When all the players want to go to one of four teams, the league can contract,

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Entertain three options

1. Don't change and keep up the charade. There is no free market, and the NBPA continues to undervalue rookies and look worse with a compromised rookie salary scale.

2. Each year eligible rookies are able to negotiate and sign with whoever they want, but the NBA implements a hard cap. Still limits teams like the Lakers from signing all the best players, unless star players choose to sign for less than other teams can offer. Is also puts more on GMs to offer smarter contracts.

3. European soccer model where teams sign whoever they want for as much as they want. Costs are on owners if they want to compete or not. Owners still make money on TV contracts and league revenue but team valuations are more volatile. Teams owned by Russian oligarchs, Middle Easter shieks, China, and the truly wealthy are the only ones competing every year.

American NBA fans would hate option three, fans don't care enough to support an effort to move to option two, so we are stuck with option one.

I am all for option 3

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4th option:
The NBA players could get a lot of their demands in exchange for non-guaranteed contracts ala the NFL.

I await the NBA players accepting that one.

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The problem with this is that the majority of NBA players aren't pushing for the elimination of the draft, and rookies aren't well represented in negotiations.

first of all this writer at Deadspin is a nobody trying to use jackie’s name to become a somebody

second you are missing the Association part of the NBA, the owners want to win on the court but maintain franchise values across the board. any player related move that could diminish any franchise’s value is a no go. The league faced a competitive balance disaster with the way Stern handled Lakers/NOLA and CP3, they wont make that mistake again

Sup Wendy

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any player related move that could diminish any franchise’s value is a no go. The league faced a competitive balance disaster with the way Stern handled Lakers/NOLA and CP3, they wont make that mistake again

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How do rookies fit into this equation at all?

According to Jackie, Kyrie argued "And he’s like, “Well, there shouldn’t be an NBA draft. Players should be able to go wherever they want to go. We’re not, you know, someone’s property.” Those are her exact words on the podcast.

Players that sign contracts when open market opportunity is available should honor their contracts. I'm not arguing that. But drafted players don't enter into the league with an open market. They don't have a say with regards to their playing rights. Don't like the owner or GM that drafted you? Too bad, they own your rights to play in the league, from #1 to #60, even before you sign a contract. Does the team that drafted a player have a bad history of diagnosing & evaluating medical conditions? Sorry, you gotta play for them before you even have a chance to tour the facilities. Is a rookie willing to give their hometown team a discount on their first ever contract? They might but the structure of the league doesn't allow this option.

Every contract beyond the first one is 100% on the player, except for undrafted players who have access to a free market situation. The only leverage a drafted player has is to not sign the contract, but the team owns your rights for as long as they want.