Ted's Been Fined $100,000 (It's official, too)

Chocolate City Jordanaire · Post #1 » by **Chocolate City Jordanaire** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 12:52 am

Ted was fined for commenting on salary cap negotiations.

Is it fair? Why or why not?
Do you think Abe, were he still alive, would have received the same fine?
Do you think (edited) STERN'S relationship with Ted Leonsis is strained? Ted is a big Gilbert fan. Gilbert was given direction by Stern not to talk about the gun incident.

Do you think this puts a damper on the Wizards season? Why or why not?

How long has Stern been commissioner? Too long?

Is Stern abusing his power?

ANSWER ANYTHING YOU WISH OR ADD SOMETHING I"VE OVERLOOKED.

My thoughts: How the hell long has Stern been commissioner?

Post #2 » by **Ruzious** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:04 am

Is it really a big deal - or just a learning experience for a rookie owner?

I'd think the subject matter he was talking about is probably more interesting than whether or not he got fined.

AceDegenerate · Post #3 » by **AceDegenerate** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:11 am

Seems pretty high for a fine, but I'm not up to speed on fines for owners not named Mark Cuban.

If anything, the fine surely brings him closer to Arenas being that they both now have felt the wrath of Mr. Stern.

hands11 · Post #4 » by **hands11** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:15 am

Chocolate City Jordanaire wrote:Ted was fined for commenting on salary cap negotiations.

Is it fair? Why or why not?
Do you think Abe, were he still alive, would have received the same fine?
Do you think Abe's relationship with Ted Leonsis is strained? Ted is a big Gilbert fan. Gilbert was given direction by Stern not to talk about the gun incident.

Do you think this puts a damper on the Wizards season? Why or why not?

How long has Stern been commissioner? Too long?

Is Stern abusing his power?

ANSWER ANYTHING YOU WISH OR ADD SOMETHING I"VE OVERLOOKED.

My thoughts: How the hell long has Stern been commissioner?

While it doesn't sit well that he was fined I can understand why he was. They are entering negotiations. It doesn't help the situation if Ted is out front voices his personal opinion like this. The owners and the league need to voice their ideas behind closed doors and let whoever they have assigned as the team to negotiate this to do it in the way they think is best. Ted messed up. He shouldn't have said what he did to a reporter.

Also, not sure this help him in any way with relationships with FA NBA players as a whole.

That said, I can see how it is harder for him to get that he shouldn't have said something. He is unique because he owns an NHL team also and I think he was already on record for voicing his opinion.

I think Stern would have fined any owner who did what Ted did.

I think you wanted to say Stern where I underlined. Strained. But this was a pretty big mess up for Ted if this ends up having a negative affect on negotiations. Now if this idea is already out there behind closed door, then it's probably not a big deal.

Overall, Ted messed up. Hard to get made at Stern for doing something.

WIZKID · Post #5 » by **WIZKID** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:22 am

David Stern needs to step down as commissioner

The power and overpayment have gone to his head
and made him dictator like to a certain extent.

Whoops, hope I don't get fined

The long arm of sherrif stern is pretty long.

Way to treat a new owner, one that has been successful in the NHL.

Ready for the suspension

WHO DOES THAT A-HOLE ANSWER TO??

Hey stern be a man visit Ted sit down in private read him the riot act, explain to him it can never happen again (MULLIGAN) and try not to flex you muscle in the press with a hefty fine.

It should be us, the fans, the league can do without Stern, it can't due without us.

Seriously who does he answer.

That fraction of man has pissed me off

long suffrin' boulez fan · Post #6 » by **long suffrin' boulez fan** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:32 am

Chocolate City Jordanaire wrote:Ted was fined for commenting on salary cap negotiations.

Is it fair? Why or why not?
Do you think Abe, were he still alive, would have received the same fine?
Do you think Abe's relationship with Ted Leonsis is strained? Ted is a big Gilbert fan. Gilbert was given direction by Stern not to talk about the gun incident.

Do you think this puts a damper on the Wizards season? Why or why not?

How long has Stern been commissioner? Too long?

Is Stern abusing his power?

I think it is safe to say that Ted's relationship with Abe is not what it used to be
ANSWER ANYTHING YOU WISH OR ADD SOMETHING I"VE OVERLOOKED.

I think it is safe to say that Ted's relationship with Abe is not what it used to be
My thoughts: How the hell long has Stern been commissioner?

AceDegenerate · Post #7 » by **AceDegenerate** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:33 am

@WojYahooNBA wrote:No league fines owners, coaches and players more for telling truth than the NBA. I want a trade? The ref blew it? We want a hard cap? Shhh.

I thought that tweet was fitting from Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski.

KiNgSbOi · Post #8 » by **KiNgSbOi** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:43 am

Can you say....ouch!

Hoopalotta · Post #9 » by **Hoopalotta** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:50 am

Ruzious wrote:I'd think the subject matter he was talking about is probably more interesting than whether or not he got fined.

What I'd like to know if what Ted was wearing when he said it. Also, could turbulence in Stern's love life have led to the fine being heavier? What is he anyway, a Libra?

Induveca · Post #10 » by **Induveca** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:21 am

Actually I am surprised he wasn't fined more, I am sure he got dressed down verbally as well. This next CBA is a major negotiation, and some progress by all reports had already been made.

Huge Leonsis supporter as most on here know, have a history with the man. But this really could hurt negotiations with the NBAPA. Leonsis saying that just means he is voicing the opinion of most of the other owners. He tipped the owners hand, and now players will be refusing a hard cap from the very beginning.

Leonsis just made the CBA negotiations tougher. It's a lot easier to propose something like that after you lay out all the financials and slowly attempt to sway your opponent into the same line of thinking. Leonsis just f-d that up. That being said, with him it may have been on purpose. Maybe the commish was thinking this CBA would be agreed as the last reign of the "soft cap" with a hard cap coming next time around. Maybe Leonsis and a group of owners just weren't happy with that.

Wouldn't put it past him to take spending 100k with the expectation of it making him a few million.

GhostsOfGil · Post #11 » by **GhostsOfGil** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:29 am

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76p_ncbffCE[/youtube]

o ya, david stern has been commissioner since 1984

MJG · Post #12 » by **MJG** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:32 am

I think that it's a bit high, but I'm sure Stern wants to send a message to all the other owners to keep their mouths shut on the topic, and a nice big wallet punch in response to fairly harmless comments is a good way to do that.

CaPtaiN eYeSaNo · Post #13 » by **CaPtaiN eYeSaNo** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 4:03 am

He should have just said that it was his first day... :nod:

verbal8 · Post #14 » by **verbal8** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 10:39 am

It would have been better if Leonsis had just stuck to talking about the NHL in his comments. However the amount of the fine seems excessive to me. If Leonsis had said the NBA owners want to limit the players to 53% of BRI(basketball related income), then I could see the severity of the fine. Giving up a key detail of the owner's negotiating goals would weaken the owners position. However merely stating that he expects/wants a system like the NHL system is not really giving the players any significant leverage.

Nivek · Post #15 » by **Nivek** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:17 pm

The fine may seem over the top considering Ted's newness as majority owner, but it was necessary for several reasons. First, Ted's not new to sports ownership or collective bargaining. He's been through it in the NHL, I'm sure the owners are given talking points that they're expected to deliver, and any comment like this from an owner can have a huge impact on negotiations. Stern had to respond swiftly and harshly to a) make sure all the owners know to keep their yaps shut, and b) to communicate to the players union that this is still a negotiation -- that nothing has been decided yet.

Ted screwed up. Pay the fine and learn from it.

Post #16 » by **Ruzious** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:51 pm

Hoopalotta wrote:
Ruzious wrote:I'd think the subject matter he was talking about is probably more interesting than whether or not he got fined.

What I'd like to know if what Ted was wearing when he said it. Also, could turbulence in Stern's love life have led to the fine being heavier? What is he anyway, a Libra?

A good sense of humor is not permitted here. You can expect the usual fine from Pine and Miller.

Btw, pink bunny slippers, and I'll leave the rest to your twisted imagination.

sashae · Post #17 » by **sashae** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:01 pm

Yeah, that was not smooth on Ted's part, and 100% justified by Stern considering the size of the negotiations with the PA and the league. Considering there's been talk of a lockout over these negotiations, Ted making them any more difficult is certainly not going to be a good thing, and makes the 100k paid look like peanuts in comparison.

Nivek · Post #18 » by **Nivek** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:21 pm

Something that's worth talking about is how the hard cap will work. Miami, for example, could be in cap hell almost immediately with the kind of money they're paying the Super Friends. If the league implements a hard cap that's anywhere close to the current cap, Miami will likely end up either having to trade one of their Supers or fielding a team of those three plus 9 minimum salary guys.

On the other hand, the Wiz should be in good shape given the cap flexibility they now have.

Hoopalotta · Post #19 » by **Hoopalotta** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:33 pm

The hard cap would likely have a few years to get adjusted with something of a short term legacy soft cap, but yeah, Miami would be particularly hard hit as they've got more big long term contracts on the books than anyone I can think of and must plan accordingly.

It could also be something of a hybrid system with a hard cap existing in sync with a lower 'base' cap figure and a luxury tax, but just limiting the absolute limit of how high your salary can go. In other words, imagine something like today's system, but with (for example) a soft cap @ $52 million, a tax line @ $64 million and an absolute limit of $72 million. Could be that the tax line then forces teams to pay out $2 for every $1 over the limit. I don't really have anything to go on an d just made that up, but it seems less radical and therefore plausible.

Post #20 » by **LyricalRico** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 3:31 pm

I have a different take. This isn't the first time he's spoken out to Stern's chagrin, so I'm wondering of this isn't somehow calculated on his part. Ted's not stupid, he's NOT new to sports ownership, and he's not even new to the NBA. Not sure what he could gain from these comments, but I'm not 100% convinced that these are accidents.