Who do you support?

[7-Day Dray]

But don't forget. The Banker works his ass off, doing over 80 hours a week. The Doctor, can get called up any minute and has to show up that minute, and works more than the Banker. Same with accountants and Lawyers, the top earners don't get paid by sitting on their asses. They have to deal with a lot of **** Athletes and Actors wouldn't last a minute doing these jobs.

The league minimum player is getting paid 473K, sitting his ass on the bench tweeting on his blackberry.

And here you have it folks, professional athletes don't work.

They got to be top 400 in a global sport by super blackness powers.

You honestly wanna compare a doctor's job to playing a game?

So you don't think NBA players were their asses off?

[roundhead0]

Anyone else wish there was a "Fans" option on this poll?

"Fan" option is just a cop out. Fans are not a part of the collective bargaining. The point is to determine which of the two parties--owners or players--you think has the more reaonable position in the collective bargaining.

[roundhead0]

So you don't think NBA players were their asses off?

Comparing ANY standard profession to pro athelete is silly. It's an entertainment industry. They get paid based on the popularity and ability to raise revenues, not based on how hard they work.

[40 Guzzle]

real world anecdote:

this doesnt have too much to do with the lockout per se, but it relates (keep reading):

A few years ago my company moved to a completely different software architecture and sourced the work to some bigshot software engineers in India. Once the project was complete we kept one of the engineers on as an expert consultant who knew the system back to front so we could have a guy in-house who could handle any issues or updates required.

Dude was a genius & a prodigy, loveable personality... but a bit corny, we nicknamed him 'crocodile' because he dressed like crocodile dundee, this guy showed up to work every day in australian outback gear, as if he was alligator hunting or something, every day.

A couple of my co-workers raised their eyebrows and started making comments like 'this aint right, we cant show up to work looking like that'

of course you cant, you arent in the top percentile of your profession, LOL

which is why the NBA dress code is silly to me

[theSkinny]

Anyone else wish there was a "Fans" option on this poll?

"Fan" option is just a cop out. Fans are not a part of the collective bargaining. The point is to determine which of the two parties--owners or players--you think has the more reaonable position in the collective bargaining.

But what if you think both parties are equally wrong and assumed all of this could have been avoided in the first place?

[Parataxis]

So you don't think NBA players were their asses off?

Comparing ANY standard profession to pro athelete is silly. It's an entertainment industry. They get paid based on the popularity and ability to raise revenues, not based on how hard they work.

That's pretty much the same for any profession though. Do you think the partners at a firm care if their law associate is 'trying really hard' or coasting? Not if he's getting results. If he's bringing in clients and completing cases well, the effort he puts in is irrelevant.

The same goes for most other jobs. Yes, if everything else were equal, effort might (might) be a factor - but it comes way below results, moneys brought in, client relations, and everything else.

People don't get paid for 'working hard' as if that's some constant quality - they get paid for results, regardless of the amount of work.

[Ponchos]

So you don't think NBA players were their asses off?

Comparing ANY standard profession to pro athelete is silly. It's an entertainment industry. They get paid based on the popularity and ability to raise revenues, not based on how hard they work.

If Jordan Bird and Magic did not work hard and did not bust their asses and live up to every last ounce of potential that they could possibly muster, the NBA would be making about 1/3rd the revenues they make today.

[highness]

People are underestimating the impact that the entertainment industry has on our daily lives. Imagine a world without sports and other forms of entertainment. The entertainment industry provides us with a much needed escape from our daily lives. Without it life would just be depressing lol.

[lobosloboslobos]

Work hard? Work hard? Are you fing kidding me? Oh yeah it's HARD to workout for 3-4 hours a day when you have professional trainers and nutrionists and assistants taking care of your every need. It's HARD WORK in the NBA when you have between 3 and 5 months of the year OFF. It's HARD WORK to be an NBA player when you get paid in one year what an average middle-class person makes in their lifetime and whole neighbourhoods make in a decade or two in many parts of the world, including some in NBA cities. Yea it's HARD WORK to play the game you love then rest up in a 5 star hotel. Yeah that is some HARD WORK.

Cry me a f***ing river. Or get a real job anywhere in the real world, the kind where you have to bust your butt for 8-12 hours a day for a barely living wage and nobody to suck up to you and look after your every need, where nobody cheers for you, no groupies hang around to blow you, where you don't get freebies thrown at you all the time. Oh yeah, being an NBA player is HARD WORK.



Nobody is saying those guys don't 'work hard' but if you don't understand the difference between their hard work and the kind other people do then all I can say is you were either born a rich SOB or one day you will find out the difference the hard way.

EDIT: sorry. in a nasty mood. but seriously...you've heard of the 1%? NBA players are part of the 1% just like owners. don't give me this hard work stuff...

[ronleroy]

^ nicely said. I haven't got one convincing thing that anyone said that convince me to side with the players.

[redred9]

yeah, i used to read a blog of a pro baller (who had just a cup of tea in the NBA but was big in Euro) and remember him writing about how very little there actually was to do as a ballplayer. Hit the gym, ride bike, go through drills and show up at the game. Hours and hours of just resting the body, playing video games or reading, getting into trouble etc. Basically not that busy a lifestyle at all compared to anyone doing 'normal' work. It was pretty eye-opening and funny.

It's really hard to feel sorry for the players if the owners are indeed losing money from their franchises.

[Ponchos]

Work hard? Work hard? Are you fing kidding me? Oh yeah it's HARD to workout for 3-4 hours a day when you have professional trainers and nutrionists and assistants taking care of your every need.

I wasn't aware that Isiah Thomas had professional trainers and nutritionists when he was 10 years old working on his dribbling every day for 9 hours a day.

[redred9]

Work hard? Work hard? Are you fing kidding me? Oh yeah it's HARD to workout for 3-4 hours a day when you have professional trainers and nutrionists and assistants taking care of your every need.

I wasn't aware that Isaiah Thomas had professional trainers and nutritionists when he was 10 years old working on his dribbling every day for 9 hours a day.

i wouldn't exactly call that 'hard work' in the sense we're talking about. Hell, I would have done that as well for fun if I could skip school without getting caught regularly.

[Ponchos]

Work hard? Work hard? Are you fing kidding me? Oh yeah it's HARD to workout for 3-4 hours a day when you have professional trainers and nutrionists and assistants taking care of your every need.

I wasn't aware that Isaiah Thomas had professional trainers and nutritionists when he was 10 years old working on his dribbling every day for 9 hours a day.

i wouldn't exactly call that 'hard work' in the sense we're talking about. Hell, I would have done that as well for fun if I could skip school without getting caught regularly.

Annnnd why did you assume he skipped school?

If you think Isiah Thomas had an easy childhood that did not involve working, I suggest you do some research.

[redred9]

Annnnd why did you assume he skipped school?

If you think Isiah Thomas had an easy childhood that did not involve working, I suggest you do some research.

the skipping school part was a joke, ok? I was the one trying to skip school same as everyone. And I think there a helluva lot of kids with tough childhoods who have to go to work.

[Ponchos]

Annnnd why did you assume he skipped school?

If you think Isiah Thomas had an easy childhood that did not involve working, I suggest you do some research.

the skipping school part was a joke, ok? I was the one trying to skip school same as everyone. And I think there a helluva lot of kids with tough childhoods who have to go to work.

Yep, lots of kids grow up poor and have tough childhoods.

Not many kids grow up the youngest of 9 siblings with a single mother, poor as hell, and have the incredible dedication to work at a sport and to compete to become one of the best to ever play the game.

[redred9]

Annnnd why did you assume he skipped school?

If you think Isiah Thomas had an easy childhood that did not involve working, I suggest you do some research.

the skipping school part was a joke, ok? I was the one trying to skip school same as everyone. And I think there a helluva lot of kids with tough childhoods who have to go to work.

Yep, lots of kids grow up poor and have tough childhoods.

Not many kids grow up the youngest of 9 siblings with a single mother, poor as hell, and have the incredible dedication to work at a sport and to compete to become one of the best to ever play the game.

dude, everyone has problems.

And everyone has 'incredible dedication' to different things.

[Ponchos]

dude, everyone has problems.

And everyone has 'incredible dedication' to different things.

And if their dedication is marketable and results in fabulous wealth, so be it. But some people seem to have a very base issue with "certain" people becoming wealthy.

[EG73]

Work hard? Work hard? Are you fing kidding me?

(etc)

Nobody is saying those guys don't 'work hard' but if you don't understand the difference between their hard work and the kind other people do then all I can say is you were either born a rich SOB or one day you will find out the difference the hard way

I agree with your post. And the comparison is not only with people job, but also with amateur sport. There is a lot of people who put more intensity, dedication, 'heart', etc in their sport than most NBA players. And they have not support, no income from the sport, and no external source of motivation (contract, reputation, etc). I know some people who put more dedication in their sports (ironman, karate, or just to be in good shape, etc) than a lot of NBA players. And the same for job : I'm not impressed at a kid who skip school to play basketball (the purpose is rarely to increase the probability of being a NBA all-star, and other kids skip school for other hobbies), but I'm more impressed at someone who put a lot of work and interest in a job with a low salary.

[ruckus]

Most of the comments that seem to side with the owners just come off as hate and jealousy. If making the NBA was so easy and required so little work, why are none of you in the NBA? How many of you are going to or have attended a NCAA college on a full-ride scholarship?

I'm firmly on the players side. They have less than 5 years to make their money and, God forbid they get an injury that cuts it short. I'm all for them making as much as they can in that short timeframe.