Michael Jordan Betrayed Players says Metta World Peace to TMZ

Metta World Peace says his childhood hero Michael Jordan left the NBA players high and dry in the never-ending lockout drama -- by forgetting he was once one of them ... and acting like every other stubborn owner.


Jordan -- the Charlotte Bobcats' big cheese -- is among a group of NBA owners who are taking a hard line with the players in the lockout negotiations.


According to MWP, the players don't hate His Airness ... they just feel like, "he didn't support us when we most needed him."




NBA Lockout News is not affiliated with TMZ and does not claim ownership to video, or interview. We are not affiliated with the Metta World Peace, NBA or NBPA.Watch VIDEO Here 

Comparing Past and Current Offers

According to Steve Aschburner on NBA.com

Despite concerns expressed by NBA players that the owners' latest proposal in their collective bargaining talks is "worse" than a previous one, the league maintains that the revisions arrived at after 23 hours of negotiations last week are enhancements.

Here are highlights of the current offer, compared to similar points in the owners' previous proposal. Also, here are some terms of the "reset" proposal that commissioner David Stern said would be invoked if the union rejects the latest offer after its meeting Monday in New York with the teams' 30 player-reps.

New offer

Presented to union on Nov. 10:

• A 50-50 split of basketball-related income (BRI), either straight or in a 49-to-51 "band" adjusted for growth figures.
• A mid-level exception for non-taxpaying teams with a starting salary of up to $5 million in contracts up to four years in length.
• A MLE for tax-paying teams starting at $3 million with a maximum length of three years, available every year.
• A new "room" exception for all teams below the salary cap starting at $2.5 million for up to two years.
• Sign-and-trade deals available to all teams, including -- in Years 1 and 2 of the CBA -- taxpaying teams.
• Maximum annual raises of 6.5 percent for "Bird" free agents (players re-signed by their current teams) and 3.5 percent for others.
• Minimum payroll requirement -- known as "the floor" -- of 85 percent of the salary cap in Years 1 and 2, increasing to 90 percent thereafter.
• An allowance for teams whose use of the full MLE would put them over the luxury-tax threshold. They would be permitted to conform by reducing payroll by an Oct. 15 deadline, either through trades or the "stretch" provision in which a player would be cut, with his remaining salary spread out over a longer period of time (two times the years remaining on his deal, plus one). This lower salary figure could enable the team to get down below the tax.
• A mutual opt-out clause in the new CBA after 6 years, conforming to NBPA preference.
* Other provisions in the new offer -- relating to escrow money (10 percent, up from 8), stiffened luxury-tax penalties, the limiting of bi-annual exceptions to non-taxpaying teams, a 6-month buffer on extend-and-trade deals and other items -- remain essentially unchanged in the previous proposal.

Previous offer

Presented to union on Nov. 5:

Same as above, except:

• The MLE exception for taxpaying teams would have started at $2.5 million for a maximum of two years and been available to use only every other year.
• No "room" exception. Teams under the salary cap would only have that cap space available for free-agent signings.
• No sign-and-trade deals for taxpaying teams.
• Maximum annual raises of 5.5 percent for "Bird" players and 3.5 percent for others.
• The minimum payroll requirement in past CBAs was 75 percent of the cap number.
• The mutual opt-out in the 10-year CBA would come after 7 years.

"Reset" offer

To be presented if the union rejects the current offer:

• A 47 percent share of BRI for the players.
• A hard salary cap set $5 million above the average team salary.
• Rollbacks of individual player contracts "in proportion to system changes" to allow for spending on free agents.
• A MLE exception with a starting salary of $3 million and a maximum term of three seasons.
• Maximum contract lengths of four years for "Bird" free agents and three years for other players. Each team could give a five-year deal to one designated player.
• Maximum annual raises of 4.5 percent for "Bird" players and 3.5 percent for others.

Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA for 25 years.
You can e-mail him here and follow him on twitter. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting.

NBA Players don't understand Proposal

Commissioner David Stern (right) and deputy Adam Silver sought to correct agent "mischaracterizations."

Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images

Stern says misinformation is rampant about latest offer

The proposed deal would be a major win for the owners. The players are being asked to take a $280 million pay cut, with shorter contracts, lower raises and tighter restrictions on the top-spending teams. But league officials insist that the deal is not nearly as bad as the rumor mill suggests.

“It’s of grave concern to the league that there is an enormous amount of misinformation concerning our proposal, both on Twitter and in the more traditional media,” Adam Silver, the deputy commissioner, said Saturday night. “We believe that if the players are fully informed as to what is and is not in our proposal, they will agree that its terms are beneficial to them and represent a fair compromise.”

NBA commissioner David Stern and deputy commissioner Adam Silver sought out various media outlets to answer questions and correct misinterpretations that they felt might impact the union's acceptance or rejection of the deal.

"The agents have come sweeping in with such mischaracterizations that my guys asked me if I'd be available for media," Stern said in a telephone interview with NBA.com. "I said, 'Whatever you want.' The agents are busy [saying] this is a terrible deal. No one talks about the deal itself."

Top 5 NBA Players Losing Money during Lockout

As we near day 140 of the lockout the season seems to be slipping away. Not just for the fans but for the players who get paid on a per game basis.. Here are the Top 5 players that are losing money according to Yard Barker.

The NBA has already cancel the first month of the season which accounts to about 15 games.

Kobe Bryant $25.2M
Pay per game: $307,317
Lost from lockout: $4,609,755
Black Mamba is finally healthy and ready to go for the Los Angeles Lakers. Unfortunately, the NBA is not cooperating right now and will not reopen its doors to give him a chance to win another championship. He is the player losing the most money in the NBA as the lockout moves forward.

Rashard Lewis $22.2M
Pay per game: $270,731
Lost from lockout: $4,060,965
Rashard Lewis went back to his professional roots this off season and has been training in Seattle to hopefully recapture some of his prior All Star form. Right, now he is currently with the Washington Wizards and can’t like the idea of losing this type of money, because he may be on the downside of his career.

Tim Duncan $21.3M
Pay per game: $259,756
Lost from lockout: $3,896,340
Timmy the quiet superstar for the San Antonio Spurs has stayed true to form and been very quiet this off season. Maybe, his body is enjoying the rest and he would not mind a year away from basketball. Well, if that is the case, this is one expensive vacation.

Kevin Garnett $21.2M
Pay per game $258,536
Lost from lockout: $3,896,340
Kevin Garnett, the angriest member of the Boston Celtics, is rumored to really have given the owners quite a chewing out at one of the players-owners meetings. Perhaps, that was just a strategy to get more rest and squeeze out an extra year or two in his career. He certainly does not need the money, but that is a lot of money to lose.

Gilbert Arenas $19.3M
Pay per game: $235,365
Lost from lockout: $3,530,475
Agent Zero is currently with the Orlando Magic and has been dressing up in several funny costumes this off season to hide his pain from losing this enormous salary. With a prior half a season suspension for bringing guns into the locker room and losing some of his current salary, Gilbert Arenas may wind up broke before your know it.

Sure, NBA players make quite a bit of money, but here is an example of how the lockout is impacting some of the top players.Fans perception of NBA stars, they are all young, arrogant, spoiled millionaires who love to flash their millions. However, the NBA lockout is damaging many of the players’ livelihoods on a daily basis. According to Jerry Stackhouse, “many players live paycheck to paycheck.” If this is the case –after just one month into the lockout– most players are feeling the pinch, but the five players who stand to lose the most money if the lockout continues are Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Rashard Lewis and Gilbert Arenas.

D League Clause holds up NBA season

ap photo credit

NBA owners delivers another low blow to the National Basketball Players Association. By accepting the offer players who has been in the league less than five years risk going to the D-League and take a pay cut.

D-League clause is one of those things holding up the start of this NBA season. The players see this stipulation as outrageous.

The clause would give coaches the right to send a player down to the NBA Development League aka the D League at any time during his first five years in the NBA. And if this is to occur  the coaches can reduce the players salary at their discretion.

It's hard to imagine even those desperate to play would even accept the current offer on the table.

For those that don’t know, the D-league is basically the NBA’s minor league system. Certain teams are affiliated with a D-League team and rookie players and second year players can be sent down to that affiliate and essentially free up a roster spot. The purpose of the D-League is to develop young players into potential NBA roster worthy talent.

The players will mos likely decline the next offer if the D-League is not revised. That means all the players drafted since 2006 Could you get sent to the D-League and face a pay cut. These 1st draft NBA Players could get caught in the cross fire..... yikes

• 2006 Andrea Bargnani drafted to Toronto Raptors
• 2007 Greg Oden drafted to Portland Trail Blazers
• 2008 Derrick Rose drafted to Chicago Bulls
• 2009 Blake Griffin drafted to Los Angeles Clippers
• 2010 John Wall drafted to Washington Wizards
• 2011 Kyri Irving drafted to Clevland Cavaliers

NBA Games Can Resume in December

(AP Photo Credit)

Commissioner David Stern gives the players anothe ultimatum. The players got a revised offer that would  have 72 games this season starting December 15 if the players would just approve the deal next week.

After 11 hours of talks, players left the a midtown Manhattan hotel not knowing what they’ll do, but understanding that if they don’t accept the revised deal, the owners’ next offer will be to drop the players’ split to only 47% and to put a NHL-style flex-cap on the table. That would be a nightmare for the players and probably lead to a decertification effort that has been building in recent weeks.

“We’ve done our best,” said commissioner David Stern, the NBA commissioner, after issuing a second ultimatum in six days. “I would not presume to project or predict what the union will do.” In a 72-game scenario, the 30 teams will not just pick up play on Dec. 15, according to the original schedules sent out last summer.
The schedules would largely be revised. The plan calls for a free-agency signing period plus a period for teams to conduct training camp and “possibly” some preseason games, according to deputy commissioner Adam Silver. The league also says it might have to change its lineup of Christmas Day games, which currently includes the Knicks hosting Boston.

The NBA did not say which Christmas games would be affected in the tentative 72-game schedule. All-Star weekend in Orlando would be held on Feb. 24-26, as originally scheduled. But the playoffs and Finals would both be pushed back a week.

After two days of intense negotiations covering 23 hours, neither side wanted to get that far ahead of itself, thinking that the end of the 134-day lockout is right around the corner.

“It’s not the greatest proposal in the world,” said Billy Hunter, the NBA Players Association executive director. “But I have an obligation to present it to our team representatives.”

The union plans on having its 30 team reps come to New York on Monday to study the offer and decide whether to recommend it to the rank-and-file for a vote. Neither side revealed details of the revised deal. But with negotiations going nowhere, Stern received approval from his labor relations committee to put the revised deal on the table. He then “stopped the clock” to allow the players enough time to study the offer.

Players indicated that they might have the same reservations in the new offer about the same system issues that have been preventing the two sides from completing a deal. Those include the owners’ insistence that teams paying luxury tax be prohibited from making sign-and-trades and offering the full mid-level exception.
“There are important issues we have to consider in terms of the system to get it done,” union president Derek Fisher said.

Owners have been pushing for a 50-50 split and have offered players the ability to make between 49 and 51%. But players have been opposed to that offer. If they do, they would be losing close to $300 million annually in salaries after pocketing 57% of the revenue since 2005-06.

The owners’ demand of a 47% split for players and hard flex-cap is exactly what Stern held over the players’ heads earlier this week, when he gave them an ultimatum that he has yet to hold firmly to.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/nba-lockout-talks-players-receive-revised-deal-article-1.975999#ixzz1dPUcdoIq

NBA season cancelled? No agreement reached to end NBA Lockout

The deadline and ultimatum for Players and owners to reach an agreement has passed. Yesterday was the deadline. Long hours were spent in a New York City hotel to continue negations to end the NBA lockout and resume the NBA season. The National Basketball Association still have not been able to reach a decision. The possibility for the National Basketball Association attempt to decertify the NBA so that they could sue the NBA for the lockout can happen soon. What more could players want.

According to the NBA Commissioner David Stern, “the decertification move — or something like it — was tried by the NFL players, and the Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit soundly rejected the attempt. So I just don’t know what they’re thinking”

Stern suggested that the players take the 50-50 split in the CBA’s Basketball Related Income, however, the players are not satisfied with that. Owners holding share of leverage in these negotiations, and would raise its next offer to a 53-47 percent split of the BRI if the players did not cave.

Stern thinks that the 50-50 offer was great and that they should consider accepting it. Stern warned the players that time is growing short and it would be smart of them to take the offer because things would only get worse from here on out. The NBPA took that as a threat and firmly denied the deal.

Player reps of 29 of the league’s 30 teams met in New York, with the Boston Celtics the only team not in attendance. Stern has already canceled the first month of the season and part of December could be canceled soon if a deal is not reached.

Commissioner David Stern said the league has "stopped the clock" and will continue to negotiate.
"I would not read into this optimism or pessimism," he said. "We're not failing. We're not succeeding. We're just there."

Union president Derek Fisher said both sides spent a lot of time covering the issues that continue to divide them.

"We can't say there was significant progress today," he said. "We'll be back tomorrow … and we'll see if we can continue to make the efforts at least to finish this out."

This is getting a little annoying, what happened to the love for the game? The public is tired of seeing the millionaires fight and beginning to feel forgotten about. Are these players and owners forgetting that they would not have this money to fight over if it wasn’t for the fans. There are organizations that are beginning to form to boycott the NBA as a whole. Would you join them? I would. Make the poll.

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Photo: Derek Fisher, center, president of the NBA players union, is joined by union Executive Director Billy Hunter, right, and other NBA players during a news conference Sept. 15. Credit: Julie Jacobson / Associated Press