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As possible NBA lockout looms, players are getting frugal

Discussion in 'NBA Dish' started by alaskansnowman, Nov 23, 2010.

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  1. alaskansnowman

    alaskansnowman Member

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    Interesting article. Props to James Jones and the rest.

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...919408266.html?mod=WSJ_hps_sections_lifestyle




    By DAVID BIDERMAN

    Brandon Jennings of the Milwaukee Bucks, who earned about $2.2 million last year in his first NBA season, is the proud owner of a Ford Edge, which cost $26,000.

    New York Knicks guard Roger Mason Jr. said he recently traded in his Bentley convertible for a used Cadillac Escalade.

    And when he needed to work out and get therapy during the offseason, James Jones of the Miami Heat said he used the team's facilities instead of paying for a private trainer. "We've got a lockout coming," Mr. Jones said. "I'm not going to pay that much money to have somebody stretch me for an hour."

    As the NBA and its players union continue to steam toward a possible work stoppage after this season, the union is trying to see to it that if the paychecks dry up, its members won't be forced to do what many of them had to do last time this happened: liquidate their posh possessions to pay the bills.


    In a league where diamond earrings are the size of marbles and a suitcase isn't a suitcase unless it's a Louis Vuitton, players, agents and union officials say they've been working hard to teach the value of pinching pennies.

    Brandan Wright of the Golden State Warriors, who was a first-round draft pick and will have earned $11 million before his 24th birthday, is typical of a new attitude. He said he owns one BMW and a home in Nashville, Tenn., for his immediate family.

    Mr. Wright said he likes to get "nice sandwiches" rather than lavish meals when he's eating out on the road in order to save cash. And if his spending ever gets out of hand, he said, he has trained his financial advisers to call him to tell him to rein it in.

    "Cheap is the best way to be," he said.

    The last time the NBA had a work stoppage, about a dozen years ago, the league shut down for almost half a season. In that case, owners exercised an early opt-out clause in the contract, taking the players by surprise. Union executive director Billy Hunter had been at his post for less than two years and veteran players and agents said many of their clients and teammates didn't seem to realize their multiple mortgages and car payments wouldn't stop coming after their paychecks did.

    Because many NBA players come from families where living month-to-month is the norm, they said, few made contingency plans. Then-union president Patrick Ewing famously explained at the time that while NBA players make a lot of money, "we spend a lot, too."

    The current collective-bargaining agreement expires after this season. But this time, there has been plenty of fair warning. The argument about player pay has been simmering for years. NBA Commissioner David Stern, who thinks players are paid too much, has said that teams lost more than $300 million last year. The union has disputed that claim.

    In the meantime, Mr. Hunter has been sending flyers to players' homes for two years to make sure they know to cut expenses. Derek Fisher of the Los Angeles Lakers, who is the president of the players' union, has been recording lockout-themed podcasts that are emailed out to players, and the union is issuing an instruction manual that explains tips for saving money, like renting houses instead of buying them and trying to keep a strict limit on fancy cars.

    New Jersey Nets guard Jordan Farmar said every penny he spends is part of a long-term budget he prepares for himself to make sure he doesn't end up like "the players who make millions of dollars and still somehow end up living paycheck to paycheck."

    One of the first things Mr. Farmar said he did with his money was purchase several rental properties in Los Angeles, so he could "make my money work for me."

    Mr. Jones of the Heat, who is the players union's secretary-treasurer, was a finance major when he was at the University of Miami. He said he tried to keep himself on a 20/80 budget when he joined the league in 2003—spending 20% of his salary, saving 80%. When he played for the Suns from 2005 to 2007, he rented an apartment in Phoenix while paying off a mortgage and taxes on a home he bought in Miami. If he came into the league now, he said, he would have only had one property at a time.

    Mark Bartelstein, an agent whose firm represents more than 30 players, said that even though most players have financial advisers, "the key isn't having one, it's actually listening to one."

    When asked how the union is encouraging younger players to save money, J.J. Hickson, a 22-year-old first-round pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers, said: "I don't know anything about that saving stuff."

    Write to David Biderman at David.Biderman@wsj.com
     
    #1 alaskansnowman, Nov 23, 2010
    1 person likes this.
  2. Steve_Francis_rules

    Steve_Francis_rules Member

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    That seems to be taking things a little far. I'm pretty sure the players get per diem.
     
    #2 Steve_Francis_rules, Nov 23, 2010
  3. ferrari77

    ferrari77 Member

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    Yeah but I think he meant he saves the per diem as it's enough to spend on a lavish meal so he'd rather just go cheap and keep the rest of the money.
     
    #3 ferrari77, Nov 23, 2010
  4. ferrari77

    ferrari77 Member

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    Also, the less said about JJ Hickson's ignorance at the end of the article the better. The guy will learn about "saving stuff" by this time next year. Dumb@##.
     
    #4 ferrari77, Nov 23, 2010
  5. da_juice

    da_juice Member

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    I remember hearing about rondo trying to save as much as he can for next year.
     
    #5 da_juice, Nov 23, 2010
  6. DonnyMost

    DonnyMost Member

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    Sounds like a lockout is exactly what these guys need.
     
    #6 DonnyMost, Nov 23, 2010
  7. Dei

    Dei Member

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    Suuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrre sounds like they're giving up a loooooootttt.
     
    #7 Dei, Nov 23, 2010
  8. Shroopy2

    Shroopy2 Member

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    In a social environment that is all about trying to "impress", frugality means little. It takes spending to attain status. If you want to be a "big figure" with people, you have to back that up with appearances of lavishness. To save, it requires getting out of the environment that encourages them to spend in the first place. I don't see that happening with the majority of the players.
     
    #8 Shroopy2, Nov 23, 2010
  9. Qball

    Qball Member

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    Part of the reason you're saying that is because Rockets suck this year =P. If Rockets were 10-3, a lock-out next year would suck for us.
     
    #9 Qball, Nov 23, 2010
  10. BEAT LA

    BEAT LA Member

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    I really wish Stern would stop threatening with another lockout. He doesn't realize his product is nothing without the players.

    Should they make contracts performance based like in Europe? For example Ron Artest's contract of $7 million would have a $4.5 million base that he gets no matter what. If he plays more than 70 games he receives $1.3 million, and more than 75 games would reach the full $1.5 million for playing x amount of games. If his team makes the playoffs, he receives another million dollars to reach his annual compensation of $7 million. As added incentive if his team makes it to the NBA finals, he receives an additional 1/6 of his current salary which would be an extra million dollars for him.
     
    #10 BEAT LA, Nov 23, 2010
  11. A_3PO

    A_3PO Member

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    IMO, performance based contracts have close to zero chance of happening. The main goal for the owners is to lower the player percentage of the total revenue pie. It's gonna be more along the lines of lowering (and maybe hardening somewhat) the cap, shortening max contracts, allowing owners to buy themselves out of mistake contracts. I think both sides will grandstand until the bitter end but something will get done so the season isn't affected much or at all. Both sides have too much to lose. Don't pay any attention to what Stern & Hunter say now because neither side has a reason to soften their public position. This is how collective bargaining with high-profile unions and major corporations works.
     
    #11 A_3PO, Nov 23, 2010
  12. Steve_Francis_rules

    Steve_Francis_rules Member

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    When you say the season won't be affected much, do you mean you anticipate even less of an interruption than the 1998-99 lockout?
     
    #12 Steve_Francis_rules, Nov 23, 2010
  13. rocketfan83

    rocketfan83 Member

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    Was Hickson the one that got evicted from his apartment? I recall some threat about that last year.....
     
    #13 rocketfan83, Nov 23, 2010
  14. Shroopy2

    Shroopy2 Member

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    NBA players more than any other sports can USE performance incentives to push them to play hard ALL season instead of coasting. Maybe a partial bits of that can be included, some difficult to attain incentives to act as sweetener on top of the current method.

    Though that might raise salary obligations again also, because teams would use added incentives to outbid each other with, signing bonuses and all that...Or, it CAN be like European ball where teams won't fork over the extra dollars because they want to keep that extra bit in the bank in case profit margins weren't that good for the season. You might get more Portland Darius Miles cases where the team wont WANT the player to reach incentives standards.
     
    #14 Shroopy2, Nov 23, 2010
  15. Blake

    Blake Member

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    I like the idea, but wouldn't it lead to everyone trying to just pad their stats? Or are you just talking about for number of games played?

    What about bonuses tied to games won? Might get teams to play harder
     
    #15 Blake, Nov 23, 2010
  16. A_3PO

    A_3PO Member

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    In my humble opinion, I expect MUCH less of an interruption.
     
    #16 A_3PO, Nov 24, 2010
  17. ElPigto

    ElPigto Member
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    I would suggest shortening the season then. I'm sure players going hard all the time would mean there would be more injuries. I'm not in favor of that either.
     
    #17 ElPigto, Nov 24, 2010
  18. Steve_Francis_rules

    Steve_Francis_rules Member

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    Interesting. From all I'm hearing, I'm preparing to just write off next season. Of course, that doesn't really bother me because the Rockets weren't going to win anyway. I think I'd take a lockout over another Lakers championship any day.
     
    #18 Steve_Francis_rules, Nov 24, 2010
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