http://www.sbnation.com/hamsandwich/201 ... y-cut-espnDavid Stern Takes A Lockout Pay Cut, And The B.S. Express Rolls On
LAS VEGAS - JULY 12: NBA Commissioner David Stern addresses the media during a press conference following the board of governors meetings at NBA Summer League on July 12, 2010 at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
David Stern has been on a public relations blitz during the NBA lockout, and he's doing it all free of charge. But look a little bit closer, and the picture gets a lot more complicated. Plus: Remembering Korey Stringer, early reviews for "Watch the Throne", and more.
Aug 3, 2011 - David Stern has been in the news all week. On Monday we found out that he makes as much as $23 million-a-year as NBA commissioner. On Tuesday, he announced a lawsuit against against the Players Association and appeared on ESPN. And Wednesday's big news tells us that contrary to earlier reports, Stern won't be taking a salary during the NBA Lockout.
All of which clouds the issue. Of course David Stern's not taking a salary during the NBA lockout. The owners won't be generating any money, and the players won't be getting paid, either. How is it news that David Stern would choose not to get paid?
It'd only be relevant if he still tried to collect his eight figures. While we're talking about salary, though... Something Stern said on Tuesday afternoon struck a chord.
During an interview with Jay Harris on ESPN, Stern explained that the economy's changed, and the system needs to change, too. "Since the players get 57 percent of every dollar and we've seen their salaries go from $250,000-a-year to $5.2 million... I actually take some pride in that, because that meant that the revenues were growing, and we could be in a position to see players making that much money. But it's time for a reset, and we don't think the union is ready for that reset."
First off all, the figures he mentions are confusing. The average salary at the start of the last lockout (in '97-98) was $2 million, which is slightly different than salaries ballooning at a 95% rate. More importantly, what Stern forgets to mention is that while players got paid more, so did he.
We have to go back to 1990 to put this in perspective. Back then, players made an average of $860,000, and Stern made $3 million-per-year (more than all three other major sports commissioners combined, according to the New York Times). And now his salary's jumped to somewhere $15 million between $23 million, depending on which reporters you believe.
So while individual players are getting paid $4 million more thanks to inflation over the long term, David Stern's making between $12 to $20 million more than he did in 1990. Not necessarily some grand inequality, but a perfect example of Stern's selective reporting.
If you were to hear that David Stern's annual salary has grown by $20 million over the past 20 years, you might conclude that NBA's been growing steadily, and everyone's getting rich. You might not blame the players when you they're salaries have grown by $4 million. And if everyone's getting rich individually, but teams are losing money, you might think that's a problem that should be solved among the teams.
You won't do any of that, though, because you'll never hear anything like the truth from David Stern and the owners, as they try to take us all for a ride on the "bull Express."
Tuesday was just the latest example of a dichotomy between numbers and truth that hangs over this lockout. No matter how many out-of-context statistics it takes to make his case, David Stern's job is to paint the players as greedy and unreasonable, and make himself and the owners look like innocent victims. He's good at it, too. Did you hear he's working for free?
