Tag: Memphis

Spurs weren’t a part of the hardest hardline owners

Spurs owner Peter Holt has been walking a tightrope as the primary NBA owner in the labor negotiations because of his role as the chairman of the league’s labor relations committee.

That role has led many to believe he would be David Stern’s biggest ally once a collective bargaining deal is taken to the other owners.

And it might explain why the Spurs who were most forceful about turning down a recent compromise that was championed by Stern.

The Indianapolis Business Journal, citing league sources, indicated the Spurs weren’t included among the owners who sent a letter to the labor relations committe who were strongly opposed to Stern’s offer of a 50-50 split in the basketball related income with the players. 

Owners for Indiana, Atlanta, Charlotte, Denver, Memphis, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Portland and Sacramento said in the letter that they believe a 50-50 revenue split would have been a bad deal for the owners.

The players did not not approve the deal anyway, leading to an extension of the lockout earlier this week.

Z-Bo: Upset over Spurs still resonates for Grizzlies

Zach Randolph hasn’t forgotten about how good that Memphis’ six-game series victory over the Spurs felt last April.

He now might not be playing with the Grizzlies because of the lockout, but Randolph still is excited about one of the biggest series upsets in modern NBA history.

“It was a great feeling,” Randolph told Indianapolis radio station WFNI during a recent interview (hat tip:  Sports Radio Interviews.com). “The feeling was unbelievable. You could feel it. You can still feel it.

“Winning a playoff, going to the second round, game seven, it just got us hungry. We want to win a championship and to tell you the truth we are really ready to compete. That’s why I say the lockout happens when things are turning around, but once we get back in place we’re gonna be a team to be reckoned with.”

The Spurs certainly wouldn’t argue with that assessment, considering the way the season ended last year.

Randolph has struggled to stay in shape earlier in his career. But the unexpected playoff run is helping him steer away from the off-season burgers and fries that used to mark his diet.

“I’m doing this new training called chameleon training,” Randolph said. “It’s like special  ops. I’m just training and it’s really tough.”

The playoff run helped Randolph remake his image into one of the best players in the league. He’s determined to keep that edge once the lockout ends.

“The trainer said the training I had been doing was illusion training, like I had been doing fake training all these years,” Randolph said. “It’s something different for me and something good for me. I’ve been working out with him every day, taking my daughter to school and hoping we can get something worked out and get this season going on time.”

The Memphis franchise finished with incredible momentum after the unexpected playoff run. Randolph and the rest of the team can only hope the lockout is settled quickly.

12 NBA owners rank among Forbes 400 wealthiest Americans

All is gloom and doom around the NBA this morning with reports that training camps and preseason games will be postponed as the lockout continues.

NBA owners have maintained throughout the negotiations that the league’s financial model is broken. Players, they insist, receive too much of the money generated by the league.

Here’s a little fact that I find interesting after scanning the Forbes 400 of the wealthiest Americans. are NBA owners.

The NBA is represented on the list by the following owners:

No.          Owner                               Team                     Net worth                  Source

23.          Paul Allen                      Portland                   $13.2 B                    Microsoft, investments

60.          Rich Devos                    Orlando                    $5 B                          Amway

75.          Micky Arison               Miami                       $4.2 B                       Carnival Cruises

107.       Stanley Kronke           Denver                      $3.2 B                       Sports, investments

159.        Tom Gores                    Detroit                      $2.5 B                       Private equity

171.        Mark Cuban                  Dallas                        $2.3 B                       Online media

242.        Glen Taylor                  Minnesota               $1.8 B                       Printing

273.        Herbert Simon           Indiana                     $1.6 B                      Real estate

293.        Daniel Gilbert             Cleveland                 $1.5 B                      Quicken Loans

293.        Michael Heisley         Memphis                 $1.5 B                       Manufacturing

293.        Donald Sterling          L.A. Clippers         $1.5 B                       Real estate

309.        Joshua Harris             Philadelphia           $1.45 B                   Leveraged buyouts

Anybody else wonder why these elite businessmen want to get into the NBA if the business is so bad?