At the end of September, the new NBA season is approaching, but negotiations between the league and the players' union over the 2016 salary cap increase are still deadlocked.

On the player side, the superstars represented by James and Paul are resolutely unwilling to back down, and Chris Paul, president of the union, said at a press conference:

"Players' careers are very short, and the increase in the salary cap will not only increase the contract amount of the star, but also increase the amount of the base salary, short contract, and middle contract, which can make each signed player get enough money. A lot of players may only get one contract in their lifetime, and it is naturally the best to be able to do more, so we are asking for a significant increase in the salary cap, which is a reasonable request, not because of greed. ”

Paul's words have some truth, and they are very level, pulling ordinary players with base salary, short contracts, and mid-level contracts into the same camp.

It's as if they're all players, working together, so it's a position of interest – in fact, the top stars and the bottom stars aren't from the same class at all.

"Most of the players who play in the league are African-American, and we believe that we can stand together and fight for our rights. ”

The president of the union is really experienced and gives the players a BUFF.

Generally speaking, when the league encounters this kind of combination punch with racial equality, it basically surrenders, and the salary cap is added, anyway, the team spends money, and the league's income remains the same, and it is your business that you black players are willing to take the money all at once, so why be kind enough to be scolded?

But Tatum, the league's vice president as a negotiator, made a rare tough statement, claiming: "Superstars represented by Chris Paul do not represent everyone's interests. For the league, whether it is a one-time increase in the total salary cap, or a gradual increase in the salary cap and the establishment of a fund, we spend the same amount of income. Even in the latter case, we would have to spend more time, energy and manpower, which would not be beneficial to our work. The only good thing is that the average player in the lower middle class will get more guarantees, and the team will not be able to give away too many garbage contracts in the summer of 2016. ”

Tatum did not directly say in his statement that "superstars kidnap the players' union for their own interests", after all, saying so would make the conflict between the league and the union too intense, but he implied such a meaning in and out of his words, pitting superstars and ordinary players against each other.

Vice President Mark Tatum is of Asian descent, his father is from Jamaica, and his mother immigrated to Vietnam from China, so he also has some Chinese ancestry and has given himself a Chinese name "Tan Huimin".

After graduating from Harvard University in 1998, he entered the MLB as an intern, and the one-year internship allowed him to accumulate enough professional sports work experience to be noticed by David Stern and start working in the NBA league office.

Originally, Mark Tatum was also a candidate for the next president, he had the support of many veterans in the league, and he listened to David Stern more than Silva, and he was obedient to Stern.

It's just that Adam Silva, both in terms of pedigree (Jewish) and philosophy (making money, gambling), is more in line with the hearts of the NBA's major shareholders, so he lost to Silva in the battle for the heir and can only serve as the first vice president.

By Adam Silva's side, Tatum has always appeared as a leafy green, always smiling, with dark skin and an Asian face that makes him look mild, and never seems to argue with people or raise objections.

No one expected Tatum to make such a strong statement in the negotiations this time, and the real speaker, President Adam Silva, has not made any public statements so far.

Silva may be waiting for the final word, and any conflict between labor and management in the run-up to the new NBA season could lead to protests or even strikes.

However, after Tatum's speech, although Paul and other stars expressed their dissatisfaction, the players' union was very calm and there was no large-scale protest.

Even some mid-level and low-level stars, as well as retired veteran stars, tweeted, "The current superstars are indeed taking too much, and they should share more benefits with others." “

Among them, NBA-Batman, a heavyweight breaking news account, posted a tweet calculating that if the salary cap rises directly in 2016, then players like Mike Conley, whose contract expires next year, will reach 150 million for 5 years if the Grizzlies renew their contract!

Kobe Bryant, who was the first person in the league before, won two consecutive championships in 2010, and the Lakers gave a contract extension of 83.5 million for 3 years, of which 25 million in the first year and 30 million in the last year.

At that time, Kobe Bryant was a veteran who had played in the NBA for more than ten years, with equal honors, being at the peak in all aspects, and having great influence, so getting a 30 million contract a year made people feel deserved.

But Mike Conley is just an ordinary star of the Grizzlies, although he deserves the Grizzlies' maximum salary extension, but if he really has 150 million for 5 years, his salary in the first year will be 26 million, and the last year is 34 million, which is higher than Kobe.

Before, the fans didn't feel much about the sharp increase in the salary cap, anyway, how much money the stars get does not prevent them from watching the game.

It wasn't until there was such a stark contrast that fans, ordinary players, and retired veteran stars knew how exaggerated the result of the salary cap hike was.

If even Conley can get 30 million a year, like James, Paul, and Curry, won't they have 40 million a year?

This is of course a great thing for the current star, Conley can get 30 million a year at this level.

But for those retired stars, many people are really going to eat sour grapes, such as Pippen, who signed a super long contract before the salary cap rose sharply in '96.

At that time, Pippen wanted stability because his family was poor, so he signed a 7-year contract of 20 million, which was a very good contract at the time, but it turned out that he was not as good as a rookie who had just entered the league.

So Pippen later went to the Rockets in order to make money and signed a big contract as he wished, but at that time he was already in the waning days, and he did not eat the dividends of the salary cap at his peak.

Now that I see these stars who are far inferior to myself, can I get 20 million or 30 million at every turn, can I be happy?

Old stars have always liked to point fingers at stars in the new era, and with NBA-Batman, the leading big brother, to spark the topic, these old guys who need to brush up on their presence naturally rush to start the criticism of "one generation is not as good as one generation".

In the eyes of the media, a good opportunity to capture traffic has started again.

And in the eyes of the players' union and the league office, a war of public opinion has begun.

In fact, many people can see that behind this public opinion war, there must be the shadow of Min Congda.

Since the time of the Clippers, Min Congda has been very good at manipulating public opinion, guiding public opinion, detonating topic discussions, and making things develop in his favor.

Whether it is to bring down the Referees Association, or to withdraw Tencent and Ali from the Chinese NBA copyright battle, Min Congda has shown quite superb skills in this regard.

This time, Mark Tatum came out as the vice president of the league to make a tough statement, coupled with NBA-Batman fanning the flames, and ordinary players using channels to speak out, and the issue of NBA star salaries was a hot topic for a while.

Because of the NBA's soft salary cap, coupled with the scarcity of a team in the NBA, only 60 new players are added to sign guaranteed contracts a year, so the NBA's star salaries in the four major sports leagues are the only highest, higher than the NFL players with a hard salary cap.

Moreover, NFL players are too fierce to compete and have short athletic careers, so it is difficult for NBA stars to play in the league for more than ten or twenty years.

Like those All-Star players, after the end of their rookie contract, they get a maximum salary or a sub-maximum salary, and when they reach a recession, they can still mix in veteran contracts for a few years, until they can't survive in the league at all.

Therefore, the income of NBA stars should be said to be quite lucrative, more than the stars of the NFL and MLB.

But the NBA's low-level income is very unstable, because there are few people, and the No. 50 man on a team in the NFL, MLB, and NHL are also above 20, and the number of middle and low-level is very large.

And NBA stars are the life of the team, and middle and low-level players often take a short-term middle class, or even a split middle class, or a base salary contract, as well as a rookie contract and a short contract that squeezes labor.

Normally, it is difficult for these players to have a chance to speak out, but this time, with the help of some people and some media, they have come forward one after another, believing that their survival rights need to be protected.

However, the players' union is still quite persistent, and in the face of the combination of public opinion, Chris Paul, the chairman of the union, stood up and demanded that the league agree to a one-time large increase in the salary cap with the threat of a boycott and a suspension.

No one could have imagined that what would have been an inconsequential salary cap negotiation would be raised to the height of a shutdown at the end of September, when the new season was about to begin.

A sense of crisis hung over the NBA league.

At this time, there are two important figures who have not yet come forward to make an official statement.

One is naturally NBA commissioner Adam Silva, who has remained silent as the league's leader.

It seems to be waiting for an opportune moment to make a final statement.

There is another one, which is the vice president of the players' union, LeBron James.

He also seemed to be waiting for something, and never made a clear statement.

Finally, on September 27, James, who was at his home in Akron, received a phone call from New York.

The number was unfamiliar, it seemed to be a public phone number, but James had a hunch that it was the person he had in mind.

Connecting the phone:

"Hey LeBron, I'm Smart and I want to talk to you."

(In the past two days, I have been running back and forth in several places, and I can only find a little time to write, so the chapters are relatively short and fragmented.) Anyway, it's the finale, so forgive me, sorry. ）

(End of chapter)