Adam Silver And The New CBA Are Destroying the NBA

Adam Silver And The New CBA Are Destroying the NBA

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus became the Emperor of Rome in 54 AD. If you were to talk to any historian (or internet personality who is fixated with Rome), you would quickly discover that Nero was an awful Emperor. His expensive building projects nearly bankrupted the empire, had his own mother killed, and he believed himself to be an actor and participated in shows while being Emperor. In case you didn’t know, actors were not looked too kindly upon by the Romans.

If one historical source is to be believed, then what I just mentioned pales in comparison to how mad Nero was. According to the Roman historian Cassius Dio, Nero was the catalyst for the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD. Other Roman historians both back this up, others dispute it, but Dio gives us an interesting picture. Dio states that while Rome was lit ablaze, Nero sat gleefully in his palace, singing and playing the lyre.

Adam Silver acknowledges TV Ratings are down, says fan interest is not ‘lacking’

History is the Greatest Teacher

Like Nero, Adam Silver is the fifth man to hold office in his respected profession. Silver became commissioner in 2014 and took up the task of preserving the legacy that David Stern had built over the previous 30 years. While I have had fun watching the NBA during Silver’s time, I’m not sure the product that I am watching is better or worse.

Viewership in the NBA is dropping to historical lows (considering the past 30 seasons). Viewership on ABC alone has dropped well over a million on average. Mind you, ABC is where the primetime games are supposed to be played when it is their night to host. The Friday, October 25 game between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks had a viewing audience of under 900,000. These two teams just played in the Eastern Conference Finals.

I will say, I do think a lot of people are still watching the NBA. Most tend to pirate games rather than pay for the overpriced NBA League Pass Experience. It makes zero sense that if you live near the broadcasting region of the team you root for that you cannot buy the specific package.

The NBA’s Great Fire

I could spend much more time talking about viewership, how boring the All-Star game is, double standards regarding certain players, how the NFL stole Christmas, etc. But those are not what makes Adam Silver the worst, or how he equates to Nero. Different sources give different reasons as to why Nero decided to burn Rome (if that really was his intention). Regardless of specific reasons, sources that claim Nero burned Rome make it clear that Nero had his vision for something grand, and was willing to let Rome burn to rebuild in what way he saw fit.

The new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is equivalent to the fire that struck Rome. The intentions of the new CBA were to try and create parity so more fan bases would watch. If anyone that is good has a chance to win, why not watch my team more? In the end, the CBA is going to cause a lot more headaches and heartaches than foreseen, yet Adam Silver seems not to care.

The new CBA punishes teams that do things the right way. We were all tired of seeing teams like the Los Angeles Lakers get the biggest free agents throughout the decades when their GMs couldn’t draft to save their lives. As much as I hated the San Antonio Spurs when they were winning all the time, they drafted well and did things the right way. Even the first Golden State Warriors ring has my utmost respect.

Adam Silver Cares Too Much About Parity

Hating What Is Good

Imagine, if you will, your favorite team sucks right now. Now let’s say they draft good and a few years from now are in the finals. They may or may not win, but that isn’t the point of this close-to-life example. At some point, those young players are going to want new, expensive contracts. If you have two max-contract level players, that’s about all of the current roster you will be able to keep. A year after winning an NBA title, there are already talks of the Boston Celtics having to ship Jrue Holiday off because of his expensive contract.

I don’t think people really know all the limitations that come with being a “Second Apron” team in the NBA. To qualify as a second apron team, you have to be roughly $17 million above the luxury tax. The luxury tax was already a decent deterrent because the longer a team stayed there, the more the owner had to pay to the league. But now, the restrictions are incredibly stupid. If a team is above the second apron level, they cannot:

1. Use the taxpayer mid-level exception
   – Teams can’t sign mid-tier free agents using the exception.
2. Aggregate salaries in trades
   – Teams can’t combine multiple players to match salaries in a trade, severely limiting trade options.
3. Trade future 1st Rnd picks freely
   – Teams are only allowed to trade a certain number of future 1st-round picks
4. Take back more salary in trades
   – Teams must match outgoing and incoming salary dollar-for-dollar.
5. Sign buyout players
   – Teams cannot sign players who were waived mid-season if that player had a salary above the MLE
6. Send cash in trades

I mean, this is just ridiculous, right? Good luck to all us NBA fans on hoping to have a Spurs/Warriors/Bulls run in the future. I would also suggest that you do not buy a jersey of any player on your team, since odds are they will not be sticking around much longer. Luka Doncic is a mega star. Now he is no longer with the Mavericks. I know we clown Nico Harrison for making that move, but the money Luka would have demanded, plus Harrison’s bad roster construction, hurt him worse than ever, thanks to the new CBA. I think the basketball gods took pity on Dallas fans and gave them Cooper Flagg as restitution, but how long will he stay if these restrictions stay in the next CBA?

Draymond Green believes Luka Doncic trade is byproduct of new CBA

Playing the Lyre

Adam Silver has to be happy seeing OKC and Indiana in the NBA Finals. OKC still has some time, but the CBA monster is coming for them, too. This monster will come for anyone who finds success in this league. If you’re a bad team, you probably aren’t signing big-time free agents. If you do, you will have to agree to a sign-and-trade and give up assets in return rather than making yourself attractive to star players. Draft good? Well, I hope you’re cool with your 3rd option going the way of James Harden.

The worst part about all this is that I honestly don’t know if Adam Silver seems to care. He has his vision for the NBA . Nothing else matters. It hurts me to say the NBA is a declining product, but the cries of true fans fall on deaf ears when it comes to things like pricing or the product on the court. He will happily play his lyre and let the league crumble just as long as he gets his way.

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