It takes a simple majority for owners to pass resolutions. So if you could get a 16/14 vote for a new CBA, we would be set. From ESPN Los Angeles, we learn that the owners were close to approving a new CBA, but two owners were opposed that kept it from passing.
NBA lockout -- Players, then owners declare unity in separate meetings - ESPN Los Angeles
Owners and players initially found reason for optimism during Tuesday's meetings. Stern and Peter Holt, the head of the owners' executive committee, felt that the players' proposal to take 52 or 53 percent of basketball-related income, compared to 57 under the previous agreement, was basically fair, sources said.Owners were seriously considering coming off of their demand for a salary freeze and would allow players' future earnings to be tied into the league's revenue growth, a critical point for players. The owners also were willing to allow the players to maintain their current salaries, without rollbacks, sources said. But when the owners left the players to meet among themselves for around three hours, Cleveland's Dan Gilbert and Phoenix's Robert Sarver expressed their dissatisfaction with many of the points, sources said.
The sources said that the Knicks' James Dolan and the Lakers' Jerry Buss were visibly annoyed by the hardline demands of Gilbert and Sarver.
So two smaller-market teams opposed this while the two owners of large-market teams were fine with it? This is the same Robert Sarver who has sold off nearly all of his draft picks since taking over the team and cut costs at every chance. Then you have Dan Gilbert who seems to still be upset at losing LeBron last summer is also holding things back.
We don't know how the other owners are voting. It's not just these two because things would have passed a vote if it was. But they seem to be a couple of swing votes away from getting something done.
And as only Dan Gilbert can do, he takes to twitter to express his outrage over so-called "bloggissists" making things up.
And twitter being twitter, there's now a @bloggissist that thoroughly trashing Gilbert.
As first reported by UtahMitch (who was in attendance), Phil Johnson won Man of the Year from the Idaho-Utah Multiple Sclerosis Society. The award is :
given to an individual whose philanthropic, educational and civic activities strengthen the community.
Not to take anything away from Phil and the work that he did for MS, but also in attendance was Jerry Sloan and David Checketts. The RSL owner spoke to ESPN 700 yesterday and stated that the ownership of the Detroit Pistons had reached out to Sloan about coaching:
I'll tell you this about Jerry and I don't think this has been published anywhere...he's one of the people that was asked whether he'd consider sitting down with the new owner of the Pistons and bless his heart, he thought about it for a couple of days and came back and said he wasn't ready to go back to work. I do believe he will.
Transcribed by moni
Remember, Checketts was brought on as a consultant for the Pistons this summer. I don't know if he spoke to him about it at this function or if there were talks previously.
I really didn't see him coming back from retirement to coach again, but after some time off, he might not be able to fight the desire to return. It would kill me to see him roaming another sideline.
David Blatt, Russia Men's team coach, on Andrei Kirilenko,
Have you ever been a horse trainer? Andrei is like a beautiful, wild horse. He's best when he's roaming around and running free. We ask him to play within the system, but honestly his best moments are when he's doing what his heart and his instincts are telling him to do.
Just follow your heart Pedro AK, that's what I do. The Basketball Jones has a fantastic photoshop of this. So does that make Blatt the Horse Whisperer since he seems to get more out of AK than anyone else?
It's going to be depressing to see AK galloping with another team next season.
Now, someone just needs to do a highlight mashup set to this.
Gordon Hayward does it again. Warning: Hard-core Starcraft speak ahead. If there was a Venn diagram of NBA fans and Starcraft fans/players, how thin would the crossover be? Somehow shums needs to write about this.
Ballin' with Gordon Hayward (via IGNProLeague)
(h/t to Kurt)
So while there's a lockout, we still have this. Please end the lockout.