On the NBA Lockout

Naiintindihan ko naman sina Kevin Garnett, Derek Fisher, at iba pang mga player na hindi lang basketball ang NBA kundi kabuhayan din ito pero naman mga idol, kung kailan nakakabawi na ang NBA in terms of audience eh nagkaroon naman ng lockout. Syet naman!

Bakit dati naman walang nagrereklamo kung magkano ang shares sa revenue ng liga? Bakit dati, kahit na maliit ang sweldo ng mga player eh hindi nauuwi sa lockout?

Sabi nga nung isang matandang taga Boston celtics (sorry nalimutan kong i-note yung name niya), it did not matter how much we were taking home or when we receive late payments from the team owners, what mattered was we were playing the game that we love. Grabe, nung narining ko yun eh sabi ko nasaan na nga ba yung kasabihang "for the love of the game"? Masyado na yatang lumaki ang ulo ng mga player at nakalimutan nilang kaya sila naglalaro in the first place eh kasi gusto nila rather than kailangan nila.

Hindi ko naman masisisi ang mga team owner kung ayaw nilang bumigay sa kagustuhan ng mga player, kasi kung tutuusin, isa lang ang NBA sa marami nilang mga negosyo. Mawalan man sila ng media exposure dahil sa kawalan ng NBA, eh panigurado namang mas nakakatipid sila ngayon dahil wala silang billion dollr payroll na iniintindi kada kinsenas.

Basically, the players need to have some soul-searching here. I think that the basketball never stops movement is only a marketing ploy (panama lang ito sa NBA sa tingin ko) to rally the fans for support in the hopes that the owners would budge and give in. But guess what, the players are in the losing end of the battle here. The longer this lockout runs, the longer the players will miss their paychecks.

(On the other hand, if the lockout does persist for the whole season, that just means that Javale McGee can be tapped to play for Smart Gilas 2.0. Hehe)