NBA AM: Who’s The Sixth Man Of The Year?
You Call It – Sixth Man: On Tuesday, we asked you to pick the 2012 NBA Rookie of The Year, and as expected Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving ran away with the vote.
Kyrie Irving – Cleveland (61%, 785 Votes), Ricky Rubio – Minnesota (13%, 169 Votes), Kenneth Faried – Denver (7%, 87 Votes), Isaiah Thomas – Sacramento (7%, 85 Votes)
Today let’s hit on the 2012 Sixth Man of The Year.
Loading ...Pay For Play: Miami star Dwyane Wade created a bit of stir yesterday when a reporter ran quotes from Wade suggesting that Olympians, namely USA Basketball players, should be compensated for their efforts.
“It’s a lot of things you do for the Olympics — a lot of jerseys you sell,” Wade said. “We play the whole summer. I do think guys should be compensated. Just like I think college players should be compensated, as well. Unfortunately, it’s not there. But I think it should be something, you know, there for it.”
“The biggest thing is now you get no rest,” Wade said. “So you go to the end of the season, [Team USA] training camp is two weeks later. You’re giving up a lot to do it. It’s something you want to do. But it’s taxing on your body. You’re not playing for the dollar. But it would be nice if you would get compensated.”
A few hours after this story started to get some buzz, Wade put out some clarifying comments via Twitter, suggesting that his comments were a response to a direct questions asking, if he thought Olympians should be compensated.
“What I was referencing is there is a lot of Olympic business that happens that athletes are not a part of – and it’s a complicated issue.
“BUT my love 4 the game & pride 4 USA motivates me more than any $$$ amount. I repped my country in 2004 when we won the bronze medal and stood proudly to receive our gold medal in 2008 in Beijing. It’s always been an honor for me to be a part of the USA Olympic family…and I’m looking forward to doing it again in London this summer.”
Now there are a couple of points worth noting.
USA Basketball has a budget of more than $6.8 million annually. These funds cover all of the tournament costs associated with the National team program, which for the Senior team includes every imaginable cost, including food, travel and lodging at the world’s best hotels.
The National team offers training and coaching in the offseason that players would normally be paying fees for.
Almost every Olympian, or would-be Olympian is compensated by their shoe companies for making the team and the endorsement value for an Olympian, especially a gold medal Olympian, is said to be worth more than $1 million per year.
USA Basketball’s financial records are public, and looking at 2011 and 2010, USA basketball isn’t exactly rolling in cash.
Last year, USA Basketball spent $398,833 on the Men’s National team, a year in which Team USA did not play or practice because of the NBA Lockout.
In 2010, USA Basketball won the World Championship in Turkey to the tune of $3,282,623 in costs.
USA Basketball brings in roughly $2.5 million per year in sponsorships and endorsements, closer to $5 million when major events are taking place.
Dwyane Wade commented last night that he thought proceeds from jersey sales and licensing should be shared with the players.
“I think [jersey] licensing could be a way … maybe licensing may not be fair because everybody won’t get the same amount. [There] should be some way. But that’s something they’ve got to worry about because this will be my last time around.”
The problem is, that’s where the funds come from to pay for the other programs USA basketball funds.
Even if Team USA were to give the players, say, 20% of their licensing income (In 2010 it was $4,609,120) – would $60,000 really mean anything in the big picture for Dwyane Wade?
What it would mean is that USA Basketball would have to kill off the Women’s Senior Nation Team or stop participating in Under 16 tournaments.
It’s not as if USA Basketball is raking in the billions and not sharing the proceeds.
Maybe Dwyane needs to look at the numbers.
The Moment of Truth: The drama that has surrounded the New Orleans Hornets for more than a year may finally be coming to an end today, as NBA Commissioner David Stern is expected to ask his Board of Governors to approve the sale of the franchise to one of two groups.
The first group is said to be a complex ownership group lead by Raj Bhathal, which will include former Hornets minority owner Gary Chouest and former Clipper coach and executive Mike Dunleavy.
The second is a group led by NFL’s New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson.
The NBA paid some $318 million for the Hornets last December and is seeking a deal in the $340 to $350 million range today, a figure both groups seems committed to meeting.
The NBA, on behalf of the Hornets, has negotiated a new long-term lease that will keep the team in New Orleans through 2024 in exchange for upgrades to the New Orleans arena, which will span two years once a transaction is completed.
Sources close to the process say that a new TV deal has also be consummated, that would more than triple the broadcasting rights the team receives once a new owner is named.
NBA commissioner David Stern told reporters that he expected a deal to close last month, so the fact that closure seems imminent might be a good thing, especially considering New Orleans will have two top tier draft choices and a mountain of free agent money to spend in just a few short weeks.
It Is Getting Ugly In Sacramento: After a contentious couple of days in Orlando during the NBA All-Star weekend, both the City of Sacramento and the Sacramento Kings reached an emotional handshake agreement on the framework of a new arena in Sacramento.
The two sides have agreed on little else since.
The Maloof family that owns the Kings are scoffing at the “term sheet” the city has presented them which would have them fronting millions in development costs and agreeing to a 30-year lease term on a project they feel will not completed on time or on budget.
The Maloofs want to re-negotiate the terms and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson simply isn’t having it.
Mayor Johnson fired off a letter to the Maloof family and made his and the city’s stance clear.
“Your handshake is your handshake. Your promise is your promise,” Johnson wrote. “We are 100 percent committed to moving forward under the framework laid out in the term sheet,” Johnson said. “And there should be no expectation in (Friday’s) conversation that this deal is subject to further negotiation. In light of these facts, the ball is in your court.”
NBA Commissioner David Stern has asked the Board of Governors to weigh in on this situation this week in New York and in advance of this week’s meeting of owners a group of Sacramento Business leaders sent a co-signed letter to the NBA asking the Governors to urge the Maloofs to sell the team to a group “committed to Sacramento”
The NBA Bylaws do allow for the majority vote on such a concept, however it’s never been done and it sets a dangerous precedent for the other owners.
The Maloofs tried unsuccessfully to move the Kings to Anaheim last year and with word that Seattle may be nearing a new arena arrangement, the Maloofs could be trying to sweeten their deal in Sacramento or look at moving the team yet again.
More Twitter: Make sure you are following all of our guys on Twitter to insure you are getting the very latest from our team: @stevekylerNBA, @AlexKennedyNBA, @jfleminghoops, @TheRocketGuy, @EricPincus, @joelbrigham, @alexraskinNYC, @SusanBible, @DPageHoopsWorld , @stephenlitel , @stevesraptors, @TommyBeer and @YannisHW.
NBA Chats: There are two NBA chats today starting with Yannis Koutroupis who will drop his weekly chat at 11am EST. Yannis serves as a Senior NBA Writer and the College Basketball Editor for HOOPSWORLD so get your questions in early as Yannis’ chats fill up fast. HOOPSWORLD’s Alex Kennedy will host his his NBA chat at 1:00pm EST. You can always find the next upcoming chat here: Upcoming NBA Chats or if you are looking for a chat that already completed try here: Previous NBA Chats
