False Bravado Equals NBA Nuclear Winter
By Frank Luna
NBA Commissioner David Stern has warned this could be the start of a 'NBA nuclear winter' now that the players representatives have turned down the latest owners ultimatum. But the players leadership has denied its' rank and file a chance to vote on the proposal. All because they are 'insulted' by the way Stern has seemingly imposed repeated deadlines on the them. Problem is, the players leadership knows the two sides aren't that far apart, and they seem to be testing Stern's resolve to possibly let the entire season slip away. In other words, it appears the players just want to see the commissioner blink. But this is a high stakes game of chicken that will surely hurt those that can least afford the loss of the season. Aside from the arena workers and peripheral businesses losing out, the majority of NBA players that are paid in the neighborhood if the league minimum can ill afford a lost season. It's not surprising they were denied a chance to vote on the latest 'ultimatum'. Make no mistake, Stern has been dictating the direction of these talks and the players egos have been bruised, but in this climate of a weak economy and high unemployment, the public has little sympathy for those turning down millions, no, billions of dollars. And not only do the owners have deeper pockets, they have bigger egos. Uh oh. Can you spell nuclear winter?
