The post-lockout state of the NBA was examined in a
front-page feature in Sunday's N.Y. TIMES by Wise & Roberts,
under the header, "N.B.A., Once A Dream Team, Is Torn By
Fight For Control." With the high level of "mistrust" and
"animosity" between the league and its players evident
during the lockout, many observers -- from marketers to
labor experts -- wondered how the NBA, "the league that
fused pop culture, entertainment and sports into an
enormously popular commercial product," could "allow itself
to come apart so destructively?" But players, agents and
league execs said "the nastiness of the contract battle was
not all that surprising," as the league and players "had for
years harbored an expanding set of resentments." Agent
Keith Glass: "The N.B.A. is no longer fantastic. The
animosity that the players and owners feel for each other
right now insures that. ... They'll never work together
again like they once did." Isiah Thomas said that
"somewhere along the way, teams and players stopped policing
themselves. It became a leaderless league." One team exec
said, "A reasonable person could believe that the league --
which has made a good deal of money out of marketing itself
through the stars -- might not be so interested in doing
that in the future. We've never marketed a team or league.
We've spent a lot of time marketing our players as role
models. It's not unreasonable to assume that there would be
a change in that position now" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/10).
MORE RE-ENTRY: NBA Commissioner David Stern: "The most
important issue now is to use the depths of our despair at
losing the season to lead the way in changing the attitudes
of teams and players toward each other and toward the fans."
Stern added that obligations and commitments to fans "come
from players and teams working together. ... For reasons I
can't quite divine, for the last few years we've been
stepping back from that" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 1/10). Stern:
"Part of it, I think, was attributable to the union
necessarily trying to build its base and rally the players.
In so doing it portrayed the teams and the league as the
enemy." Stern's message: "Step back a little bit, give us
some room, and judge us harshly if we don't win you back,
but at least give us the opportunity to do that" (DENVER
POST, 1/10). Stern called the re-entry "Operation
Responsible." Stern: "The question is, 'What are the teams'
and players' responsibilities in this environment, given
their privileges?" Stern cited two parts -- marketing and
substance. Stern: "Along the way, we will come up with some
cute campaign that doesn't take us too seriously, but that's
not going to be the essence. The essence is whether we can
begin to change the relationship" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 1/10).
DON'T BE TOO CUTE: Rick Burton, Dir of the Univ. of
OR's Warsaw School of Sports Marketing, said the league
"better not be cocky" in trying to win back fans. Burton:
"This may be a three- to five-year process before they see
pre-lockout numbers in attendance and television ratings."
Stanford Univ. Economist Roger Noll: "If anyone is capable
of doing this, it's Stern. He's off the scale in terms of
commissioners" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 1/9).
