Occupy Madison Square Garden

By Matthew Burr

The whims of the most powerful dictate what the rest will receive. That's been true forever, and it remains true today.  As the ongoing NBA lockout, as well as the Occupy Wall Street protest has shown, the awesome power of self-interest means that the rest are just going to have to accept their diminished portions. You’ll eat your peas and damnit, you’ll enjoy them. 

There are many parallels to be drawn between the NBA's ongoing stalemate and the struggles of Occupy Wall Street's "99%" to obtain economic equality. It all comes down to money, and the NBA players, like workers across the United States who have found their union memberships have recently attracted a controversial stigma, are simply fighting for their fair share. But those who possess all the wealth have no incentive to give it to them. Who is going to force them to budge? In a negotiation, you don't get what you want unless you have something of value. The 99% has nothing to tempt the wealthiest 1%. In both cases, the struggle is alarmingly one-sided. 

Among the grievances expressed by the Occupy Wall Street protestors is the fact that about a quarter of all the income earned in the United States is owned by the wealthiest 1% of the U.S. population. Upward social mobility used to be a key tenant of the American Dream. In the 30's and 40's, incomes in the United States were converging, and during the economic boom following World War II, the middle class wasn't a bad place to be. Today, it's a struggle. The middle class just isn't reaping any of the benefits of economic growth, because those benefits are being withheld. From 1980 to 2005, 80% of the increase in the United States economy went to the wealthiest 1%. Conservatives may call them job creators, but in reality, they belong on TLC's 'Hoarders'. 

It's unfortunate for my comparison that in the case of the NBA lockout, pretty much all the participants are members of the top 1%. It may even seem insensitive. But there are still parallels that help explain why these two struggles are stuck spinning their wheels in the mud. There are various complicated issues stalling the negotiations for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), but the major sticking point is the division of basketball related income (BRI). The old CBA saw the players earning 57% of BRI, with owners pocketing 43%. The owners contend that it is not worth it to have another NBA season with anything close to those levels. They've reportedly offered the players 46% of BRI, and they haven't really budged. Apparently, at a player's gathering at New York's Park Avenue Hotel which featured a handful of star NBA players, Lebron James was insistent that they not give up any more than 53% of BRI to the owners. The gulf between the two sides is drastic, and it represents a whole lot of cash. 

I certainly agree with anyone who would take umbrage with my referring to an athlete making hundreds of thousands of dollars as a victim, however, for the sake of analogy bear with me. Among the "victims" of the ongoing stalemate in the NBA labor negotiations are small-name, veteran players like Keyon Dooling. They rely much more on a steady paycheck than someone like Lebron James. And the owners, especially those who frequently find themselves in the red at the end of the NBA season, just aren't going to agree to finance a non-profitable industry. As the lockout drags on and regular season games begin to be shaved from the schedule, the financial impact becomes greater on lower-paid veterans. Something has got to give, and that is going to take everyone putting some greater good on a higher plane than their own self-interest. 

The same concept applies to the struggle for income equality in the United States. We all have to put the greater benefit of society ahead of everything else. That means empowering the middle class again and we can't do that until the political process stops coddling the wealthiest 1%. Despite what you may have read or seen on television, this is the unifying cause of the Wall Street Protesters. They want a government that doesn't enable the wealthiest 1% to hoard the vast majority of economic resources in this country by means of corporate welfare. And it's not because they're selfish. It's because they want what's best for the country, not what's best for the rich. 

NBA owners and players need to put the game of basketball ahead of their own selfishness. The owners appear to be insisting on too little, and the players don't seem to grasp the economic realities of the negotiation. The NBA is the pinnacle of the sport of basketball. Madison Square Garden has been called the 'Mecca' of the sport. Maybe the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators, defying police and 

ridicule from certain political pundits only blocks from the Garden,
have something to teach the entrenched major players in the NBA
labor negotiations. 

Split BRI 50/50 and put the game of basketball first.