***There is an addendum noted with a star for those who read this before 6:00 p.m. PST on 11/30/11***

The summary could be written in three words:  The players lost.

That's it, that could be the whole column.  Listening to Billy Hunter and his side following the settlement was borderline hysterical.  I just hope nobody seriously believed a word they were saying.  I mean really, when Adam Silver is saying that the NBA didn't get everything it wanted . . . yeah, the NBA got everything it wanted.

I know I touched on this before, but how did everyone not know we were going to get to this result?  This was mangled by the players' representation from the get go.  Why were Billy Hunter, Derek Fisher, and some NBA stars the main players in this, no pun intended, on the players' side?  If this was a game of 21, fine.  But in a negotiation for a $40 billion pie?  Yes, $40 billion.  10 years, $4 billion per.  And somehow Kevin Garnett yelling at a room full of geniuses with graduate degrees happened.  Good job NBA Players Association.  Well played.

To review:

1.  Less money for the players.

2.  Shorter contracts in terms of years for the players.

3.  Luxury tax up.  No, this does not encourage spending on players.

All of the other talk is really just smoke and mirrors.  Let's put it this way, when would you have rather come into the league, now, or five years ago?  I thought so.

I am not at all surprised we got here.  I am surprised at the horrible negotiating employed by the players' side of the table. 

The players had one and only one chip to play this entire time:  Decertification.  The owners were ready to sit on their hands until hell froze over, unless . . . unless they saw a three year legal battle looming, in an uncertain field like antitrust law, a field of law requiring very skilled legal minds.  Do you know what happens when you require the help of very skilled legal minds for uncertain litigation that would carry on for a few years?  You pay a fantastic sum of money.  Then, if you lose, you are subject to treble damages (read 3x the amount claimed in damages).  That is a lot of money and a whole lot of risk.  Outside of that, what were the owners really worried about here?  The owners were negotiating with a side where 60% of the people declare bankruptcy within 5 years of retirement.  Yes, you read that correctly.  60% of NBA players declare bankruptcy within 5 years of retirement.  So why on Earth were Billy Hunter and his buddies he was helping in charge of this?   Why were NBA players anywhere near a negotiating table?  Do you know why players have agents?  To negotiate contracts.  I am not saying the agents should have been the ones negotiating the CBA, but I would select them to go to bat for me before I'd let someone with zero college experience go in there and scream, someone who gets paid to feed off of emotion and yell uncontrollably to fire himself up.  With every sentence I write I am more and more baffled at how these events transpired.

At the end of all this, the owners were presented with a well-laid out synopsis of the items that had been negotiated and settled.  The players got a rah rah letter shorter than this column telling them about all that they had won.  I don't know what to say about that.  "Hey guys, congratuations!  Less money!  Shorter contracts!  And it's nearly impossible to get any of the incentive money built in for the years following your rookie deal!"  Ok, maybe that's not a direct quote, but you get the picture.

***Addendum***

Here's an actual quote for one of the "wins" the players got as taken from their letter from Billy Hunter:

“Max Salary: A player finishing his rookie scale contract will be eligible to receive a maximum salary equal to 30% of the Cap (up from 25%) if he signs with his prior team and is either: 1st, 2nd or 3rd team All-NBA 2 times; an All-Star starter 2 times; or 1-time MVP.”

Awesome!  So all you have to do to qualify for the bump is, first, sign with your same team, second, be on the All-NBA team twice during your rookie contract/be an All-Star STARTER twice/win the NBA MVP award.  That's it, that's all you have to do.  So, the list of qualifiers includes Derrick Rose, Derrick Rose, and maybe Derrick Rose.  Winning!

***End of addendum***

The players missed paychecks and got nothing in return.  They went to bat to negotiate with expert negotiators, didn't hire anyone remotely qualified, played their one card four months too late, and then the expected is what transpired.  This would be like the players going up against the owners in the afore-mentioned game of 21 for $40 billion with every point counting toward a portion of that $40 billion pie and having David Stern and Adam Silver getting to choose anyone in the world to play for them against Kobe and LeBron and choosing themselves.  What is this the WWE?  For the players, if only this were fake.  I'm sick to my stomach . . . until opening day.  On to the football picks.

WEEK 13 PICKS

Seattle +2.5 vs. Philadelphia
Indianapolis +21 at New England (very possible NE will be covering after 1.5 quarters)
Denver even at Minnesota (TEBOW!)
Buffalo -1 at Tennessee
Oakland +3 at Miami
New York Jets -3 at Washington
Atlanta -1.5 at Houston (sorry, I won't be at work this weekend, I'm playing QB for the Texans)
Kansas City +8 at Chicago
Tampa Bay -3 vs. Carolina
Cincinnati +7 at Pittsburgh
Cleveland +7 vs. Baltimore
San Francisco -13 vs. St. Louis
New York Giants +7 vs. Green Bay
Dallas -4.5 at Arizona
Detroit +9 at New Orleans
San Diego -1.5 at Jacksonville

Last Week:  7-9
Season:        83-84-9