Absolutely. You can get fired for saying, "Leave the heavy thinking to me. You just sit there and look pretty, Sugarpants." Trust me, I know.
The CBA, agreed to by the league, the team owners, and the players' union specifically prohibits players from asking to be traded in the media. All that matters is that Jackson broke a rule, and that he was fined for breaking that rule. You can say the rule is silly, but saying that enforcing the rule is silly is silly.
But, the rule isn't silly. It not only protects the league, but it protects the players (the Player's Union would not have agreed to it if it wasn't in the best interest of their members). If a player's actions damage a team's image, impacts their season ticket sales, causes lower TV ratings, lower merchandise sales, etc. it hurts all teams and all players. Lower basketball related income (BRI), league wide, means a lower salary cap, which means a lower MLE, lower max. contracts, etc. Basically, less money for everyone. The salary cap is calculated as a percentage of BRI (57% to be exact). BRI goes down, the salary cap goes down and and so do players salaries. Anything a player does that results in one less ticket sold, one less jersey sold, etc. means less BRI. If I was an NBA player, I'd be pissed at any other player who does stupid stuff that limits my potential income. BNM
My problem with this fine is that he is only getting it cause he is Stephen Jackson. Kobe didn't get a fine two summers ago when he was telling anyone who would listen that he wanted out of LA.
I don't agree. The reason he got the fine, is because he is on the Golden State Warriors, who are going out of their way to burn bridges with the only talent left on their team for some reason. There is a reason the Lakers are on top, and the Warriors, are near the bottom. Just look how they run their teams. One can weather the media storm and put out fires. One just creates more fires, and pours gas on it.
I know it was the NBA that fined him, but the fine is going to increase his unhappiness. And we have seen what an unhappy Stephen Jackson is like.
No, because he isn't being prosecuted by the government (state, local, federal) for violating the law. That said, the NBA Players Association did do this to some degree when they signed the CBA that allows for this type of speech to be fined. The difference is, the 1st Amendment right still stands, but a secondary "government" in the NBA has their own right to "prosecute" (via fines or even suspensions) this sort of free speech, as specifically agreed to by both parties in the CBA.
You have to be joking. The comments Stephen Jackson made were at a party in New York and then released to the media, to which the only people who cared was Warriors fans and New York fans. To think for one moment that the Warriors are at fault for this for not "putting out this fire" is just dumb. And for him to get fined for saying something detrimental to the NBA, compared to Kobe's talk radio, ESPN, newspaper appearances about how he wanted out of Los Angeles and not get fined, Kobe's actions were much more detrimental to the NBA cause every NBA fan paid attention and wanted to know where Kobe was going to go, or if he was going anywhere. Kobe/LeBron/Wade demanding trades is a good thing for the NBA cause they want the press, Stephen Jackson demanding a trade is bad for the NBA cause it's press about Stephen Jackson.
No, what is silly, is taking the decision out of the hands of the team....the people who actually pay his salary. As others have pointed out, Kobe wasn't fined for similar comments - the Lakers were allowed to deal with the situation internally. For all we know, the *team* did fine him....but Stern stayed out of it.
Nobody has pointed out that Stephen Jackson is a prior offender in torching the NBA's brand, either. I'm sure this had something to do with the decision to fine the guy. He's basically a repeat offender and has already served a 30 game suspension in his career for his thug act in the Artest brawl. I'm not fan of Kobe Bryant, but Jackson is lucky to still be in the league and should realize how lucky he is. I'm not going to cry for the guy because he got fined $25k for violating the CBA his union agreed to sign.
pretty sure you're wrong here. If memory serves, contracts are with the league not the individual teams so... STOMP
Its no wonder the unemployment rate is so high when people are unable to understand what a CBA with a union is. Explains quite a bit.
As a former union construction worker, albeit a long time ago, I understand just fine. If you mess up on the job, you answer to the firm that pays your wages, not the Association of General Contractors. Your BOSS makes the decision on the apporpriate way to deal with it - not the guy who negotiated the contract for the Association.
I'm pretty sure that is an over-generalization. The Union negotiates the CBA with the Association, and that sets a general framework everyone has to abide by. Individual player contracts are still with the team. Otherwise, the League would control who plays for what team, and how much they make. I'm sure Stern would *like* it to be that way, but it isn't. Team owners still have some rights and control over their teams.
I'm recalling an interview with Stern himself talking about this very issue saying that the player checks come from the league not the teams... that they're employed by the league. Maybe I'm recalling it wrong or misunderstood him initially, but I doubt it. btw, a couple google searches weren't able to get me a definitive answer to link on this question but maybe someone else here can shed some light? STOMP
This is true. There is a Uniform Player Contract that ALL contracts between players and teams must be comply with. The league office reviews every contract and must approve all contracts before they are final and binding. The Uniform Player Contract includes very specific language about players conduct and actions that are detrimental to the league's best interest. It also gives the comminsioner very broad power to assess fines and suspensions for any violations of the Uniform Player Contract. Wrong. There is, and has never never been, any power granted to the commisioner over who plays for what team and how much they make (as long as it doesn't violate the salary cap or other general conditions spelled out in the CBA). It does give the commisioner the right to unilaterally assess fines of up to $50,000 per incident for conduct deterimental to the league's best interest. That is clearly within the commisioner's rights and that's exactly what he did in this case. Just like with any other fine or suspension, the Player's Union has a right to appeal the penalty, but in the case where the fine does not exceed $50,000, the final decision lies solely with the commsioner. The Player's Union agreed to this when they signed the CBA and Stephen Jackson (and every other player under contract to the NBA) agreed to it when he signed his contract. BNM
