No One Has Your Back: An NBA Lockout Story

by Jason Comack

Imagine this. You are an NBA player. You aren't a star. You don't make millions of dollars a year. You don't drive a Maybach. You don't have endorsement deals. You went to college, but the classes didn't matter. You were born to be a basketball player.

You make 780,000. It sounds like a lot but, that's before you lose half of it to taxes. Then another 25,000 goes to your agent. Then you have to pay your financial adviser 5,000 as well.

When it's all said and done you're left with 300,000 to pay the bills. You have a family to support. You have friends and distant relatives looking for handouts. You need these paychecks to keep up the lifestyle that comes with being an NBA player.

Now you are locked out.

You look for union leadership and find Billy Hunter. Do you trust him? Hunter makes three times as much as you do. He's looking to protect his own job. If he tried to secure a deal the star players didn't like he'd surely be fired. The longer he stretches the lockout the more money in his pocket. Hunters near retirement anyway. He won't be around to see the changes he's “fighting” for even be put into affect. You question where his allegiances lie.

You turn to your agent. After all he's your agent. You pay him to guide you. He'll be on your side...right? Then you realize he has a vested stake in many of the issues being debated in the lockout. After all 3 percent of your salary, over the life of your contract, goes into his pocket. Your career may last 10 years at best. His can span 30 plus. Whose side is he on?

You turn to you fellow players. The NBA fraternity. These men are your brothers. You all want the same thing...right? You look at the salaries of your “brothers” who are fighting to keep the lockout going. Kobe Bryant makes 25 million, Kevin Garnett makes 21 million, Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire each make 18 million. Are they really in the same boat you are? Are they really surviving paycheck to paycheck?

Then you find out these star players agents had the foresight to defer money when they signed new contracts. You might not be getting paid, but they are. You also find out these star players are organizing a tour of Europe that might net each player a cool million for just a couple weeks of work. More money then you've made in your entire career.

Not shockingly you didn't get an invite.

You start to wonder why there's been no sense of urgency till just now. You wonder why no one seems to care that tons of players like yourself are out of a job.

And then it hits you.

You look around and realize that no one has your back.

Like what you see? Read Jason on ProSportsBlogging.com ,you can also hear him every Monday and Thursday on the Sportswire from 6-7 on 88.1 FM and WCWPSports.com . Follow him on twitter at J_Comack