Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 855 855 533 A War Destined to Lose_2

?Chapter 855: Chapter 533: A War Destined to Lose_2 Chapter 855: Chapter 533: A War Destined to Lose_2 Yu Fei strictly viewed the entire situation from a superior’s perspective.

He had reasons, determination, and the capability to defend the players’ interests; as the Greatest of All Time, this was his duty.

But Fisher was an inferior.

From his first day in the League, he was at the very bottom.

If one word were to encapsulate his career, it would be “compromise.”

Wherever he went, the bigger picture troubled him.

In the summer of 2003, Gary Payton joined the Lakers to form the astonishing F4 Galacticos, and Fisher, as a veteran of the team, didn’t hesitate to give up his starting spot. You should know, that season was his contract year, he should have steadfastly argued his case, putting forth “I’ve shed blood and sweat for the OK Dynasty, and this is how you repay me?” to fiercely battle it out, for playing backup during a contract year meant saying goodbye to a lucrative deal.

Yet Fisher knew the Lakers needed Payton, and Payton had to start; thus, he chose the bench. Such an action earned him the respect and affection of many teammates, also laying the groundwork for his election as union president.

A lower-tier player who understood compromise and concession knew the bitterness of the bottom very well.

He was aware that a lockout affecting the next season could create financial issues for hundreds of players.

Despite all NBA players being millionaires, not many had a sense of financial management; the monthly bills were astronomical for normal people, and maintaining such expenses required a stable income.

If the new season were truly affected, even to the point of the next season being completely canceled, it meant that all players would face a year without salary.

Yu Fei could forgo a 20 million US Dollar salary for the next year, but the 2 million annual salary of a lower-tier player was tied to the livelihood of their entire family behind them.

After the meeting that day, Fisher had his people announce that the players’ union considered reducing the basketball revenue share to 54.5%.

Stern called this proposal “moderate.”

However, behind Stern and Fisher, there were hardliners.

The capitalists were represented by Jordan, demanding a hard salary cap, reducing the players’ share of basketball revenue to 47%, and requiring all players to re-sign their contracts under the new cap.

Such harsh conditions rallied the previously fragmented players together again.

Fisher had to remain tough.

The second negotiation revolved around the salary cap issue and led to heated discussions before they realized that, no matter how the salary cap was set, they would ultimately return to the issue of money.

The union’s baseline was better year by year, meaning, at the very least, players had to earn more in the new season than the last.

This made some owners, who thought themselves fair, seem clownish with their offers of “owners guaranteeing players 2 billion in salaries next year.”

Because the total salary of the players last season had already exceeded 2.1 billion; receiving 2 billion next season would still mean a pay cut for them.

As the summer league was canceled, the open free market that should have kicked off fell into dead silence, and the League faced the last negotiation before the lockout at the end of July.

This time, after a vote within the player’s union, they agreed to cut revenues, lowering the share from 57% to 54.3%.

This was the biggest concession the players could accept.

Yu Fei’s opposition didn’t take effect, and he announced his withdrawal from the negotiations of the day.

As a result, the union, believing it demonstrated sincerity, proposed that players would take a 500 million dollar pay cut in the next ten years (from 57% down to 54.3%), whereas the owners demanded a 20 billion dollar pay cut from the players over the next decade.

Three hours later, negotiations broke down.

The capitalists immediately declared withdrawal from the current CBA agreement, and the NBA formally announced the lockout at the end of July 2010.

People close to Yu Fei revealed, “Frye was glad he didn’t sit there like a coward begging the owners to accept his concessions and let the season continue.”

This was a significant blow to the prestige of the union leadership.

Their self-perceived concessions were far from sufficient in the eyes of the capitalists.

Instead, Yu Fei’s approach of bluntly pointing out the painful truths and furiously ranting suited today’s circumstances better.

Since a lockout was inevitable, why kneel fruitlessly first before standing up to curse?

That night, many people texted Yu Fei, asking him to return to the union to continue leading the labor negotiations.

But Yu Fei refused; he didn’t want to consort with cowards who only considered the present without regard for the future.

Today’s events provided Yu Fei with a broader perspective for observation.

Reviewing past labor disputes, he found that since 1983, whenever labor and management disagreed, the capitalists always ended up profiting.

Interestingly, before 1983, the players’ union had won every labor battle.

Even players like Oscar Robertson had the power to stop the ABA and NBA merger after retirement.

But after 1983, labor continually lost ground in front of capital.

And this history of failure could be summed up in one sentence.

If Larry Fleisher had a spirit in heaven, he would surely say to NBA players after 1983, “Trash, did I feed you too well?”

Yu Fei had figured this out.

Before the 1980s, the NBA was precarious, with Black players facing similar discrimination as they did in other fields. Then, the advent of cable television and Magic Bird’s historic meeting in the finals propelled professional basketball onto the fast track of commercialization.

The gold rush brought by commercialization greatly improved the players’ lives and social status.