World News – US – Trading Baskets: News off the field will be busy

« Trading Baskets » is a weekly NBA column written by Reagan Griffin Jr.. And Eddie Sun. The book « delivers » the weekly installment, to continue an ongoing dialogue to challenge the way fans think about basketball. Click here to read last week’s release.

The NBA will be back in action by Christmas after the League and Players’ Union agree on December. 22 start date and season of 72 games are slightly truncated.

Basketball fans definitely rejoice. After the sudden stop of four months due to COVID-19, we’re basically getting the equivalent of an entire calendar year of NBA action – the bubble started in late July and the next season will end around the same time.. It’s like a 24-hour news cycle, but with good feelings only.

But before the first ball drops, there is a whole bunch of transactions to work through in the two weeks before players report back to training camp. Prospects should be forged, free agents signed, disgruntled players circulated. The popularity of Trade Machine suggests that Offseason is as much as part of the NBA crowd as the actual season.

Along with announcing a new season, the NBA and NBPA have also agreed on terms regarding salaries and financial outlook.. This news is mostly hidden behind the headline but it will be very important for the league going forward. It included information about the salary cap and the luxury tax line – both numbers will remain the same even with sharp drops in revenue and player pay cuts – a maneuver used by team owners to mitigate financial crises like COVID-19.

Why is this important? Among many other influences, this means: the free agents will get their fair share of the money, the teams will operate under similar restrictions to the maximum payroll and the players will not lose much of their pay, as was previously feared..

These new provisions have been written in legal language and full of technical jargon, which explains why most fans have not bothered reading and processing them.. After all, we enjoy and encourage the sport as a win-lose competition. All other things are very administrative. And if we understand that professional sports are businesses, we separate the more enjoyable aspects of it from the ordinary.

Free agent deals and contracts are fun; Talking about luxury taxes and their returns, not much.

But however boring or impersonal these judgments appear, it is important for basketball fans to understand what they are and how they affect the different groups within the league.. Yes, that means you have to take care of collective bargaining agreements, salary accruals, TV ratings, and revenue streams..

For example, starting the season near Christmas Day increases viewership for networks, which limits potential player payouts.. Sure, it’s in the league’s best interest to play games, but players also want to get paid, and broadcast partners also want to reach the largest number of audiences..

The essence of professional sports is imagination, but everything about it is anchored in a messy, authoritarian, and sometimes good reality..

Enabling the player made the idea of ​​a « superstar » an entertainment source into a powerful agent of change. League owners and owners often want to uphold the sacredness of the sport, but they have to make realistic decisions with good or nefarious motives.. Players, owners, and NBA offices are always looking to make more money, wrest more control and dictate more narratives, often at the expense of others..

Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the NBA has been engaged in a geopolitical struggle (see: Daryl Morey and China), at the forefront of an impending international crisis (see: Rudi Joubert) and leading efforts to achieve social justice.. If it wasn’t clear before basketball was more than just a game, last season made it painfully clear.

The not-too-distant future offers nothing but more conflict. Lack of attendance and loss of revenue is stressing the owners, and the next round of CBA negotiations will become even more contentious; We may be heading towards a scary shutdown.

We might enjoy the NBA for its hardwood product, high-flying dippers and magic shooters, but the league just got more. It is imperative that we at least understand what is happening outside of court, as much as we are emotionally invested in the action attached to it.

Eddie Sun is a sophomore student at the University of Southern California’s School of Journalism in Annenberg, via the Bay Area. Interested in sports, popular culture, identity and the intersections between them.

Annenberg Media is a student-led, supervised, multi-platform newsletter funded by the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism.. Many journalists work weekly shifts in the newsroom, known as the media center, to fulfill curricular requirements. Annenberg Media is independent of the university’s administration. Please direct news advice and press releases to mediacentereditors@gmail. Com

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