sidney lanier wrote:Pachinko_ wrote:I wonder what real incentive an owner has to make a winning team.
NBA teams are designed to go through cycles because of parity, cap and draft rules. Trying to maintain success long term is like trying to fight the whole universe, it's pretty much impossible. And yet you are guaranteed to make a tonne of money when you sell, and if you make some losses temporarily, those loses will be offset by the revenue sharing agreement, no big deal. I would argue that the popularity of the League in China and the real estate deals with the City are way way more important for the owners than wins are.
I actually also wonder what real incentives NBA GM's, coaches and even players have to make a winning team, but that is a much longer post.
I imagine some owners see only an investment, and for those owners W-L is not as important as EBITDA. However, I suspect LED are more like Ballmer and Cuban -- rich-guy owner-fans who care about winning an October regular season game as much as us less-well-heeled fans do.
The normal fan response seems to me to be incentive enough. The bigger danger, I think, is owners who love too much and end up failing to resist the temptation to meddle. I'm in the minority on this board in thinking that doesn't really happen too much and isn't happening with this crew.
Is meddling hiring the coach without the GM knowing?























