It is interesting to see LeBron take this leadership role. He doesn’t have to do this. It doesn’t matter what CBA the NBA has someone of his stature is always going to get paid, but he sincerely seems to care about the 12th men and role players of the league.
“I am kind of the guy that has the power, I guess, without even having to put a name on it,” James said Monday after the league announced a nine-year extension of its TV deal with ESPN and TNT that begins in 2016-17. “I’m very educated and I will use what I have to make sure our players are taken care of.”
“The whole thing that went on with the last negotiation process was the owners was telling us that they were losing money. There’s no way they can sit in front of us and tell us that right now after we continue to see teams selling for billions of dollars, being purchased for $200 million, [selling] for 550 [million], 750 [million], $2 billion,” James said. “And now [Mikhail] Prokhorov is possibly selling his majority stake in the Nets for over a billion. So, that will not fly with us this time.”
“That’s a problem that we have,” James said. “Sometimes guys want money but are not educated. Guys want the best deal, but are not educated on what’s going on. There’s 30 owners, but there’s 400-plus players. We know we have to do what’s best for all the players, but at the same time, guys have to be educated about it so when the negotiation process happens, guys are not speaking just to be speaking and have no idea what’s going on.”
Can’t disagree with anything he said.