The Utah Jazz have been sold by the Millers. While they will almost certainly stay in Utah for the foreseeable future this begs the question raised by LakerTom somewhere down yonder when he stated “…nobody will be selling their franchises.” It’s not that I disagree, I’m just not going to outright dismiss the possibility that some small market, perennially failing and especially family-owned teams might get an offer that is hard to leave on the table. In the opinionating on sports and their inner workings game we like to play it’s always easier to play with and make decisions with someone else’s money and future.
It’s why, while I admit the idea seems both farfetched and something which both sides would be loathe to see happen, I haven’t entirely ruled out the potential of a lockout or strike. While I do believe that both sides will move mountains to make it happen there is one mountain that could be too big to move: the mountain of money the owners stand to lose without paying fans next season. While there is more money to be lost should there be no season at all and the NBA and NBPA have proven to be the most congenial and collaborative of owner/union groups there’s enough that could be disagreed upon that makes the pragmatist in me raise one, one mind you, eyebrow.
Could be the first of many, could be the last.
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October 28, 2020 1 Comment
What the owners have to keep in mind is each of them has made immense profits of hundreds of millions of dollars in the appreciation of the value of their franchises, none of which gets taxed until the sell. Those gains are likely 50 times what they would lose in a couple of pandemic afflicted years. They’re not going to kill the golden goose by locking out the players. Nor are any but a few outliers going to cash in and take less right now when they’ll get back any lost value and more by staying.