In the real world, there's a big difference between employees making concessions and business owners being guaranteed profits. In fact, even aftrr the concessions, if the owners are still losing money, employee wages are one of the first things to be paid.
Unions exist because without them, companies treated their empolyees like bathroom tissues.
It's reasonable for the players to accept enough of a cutback to make the NBA profitable overall (which is in the neighbrhood of a 50-50 split on BRI). It is not reasonable to expect the players to accept 39% of BRI to every individual owner is guaranteed a profit. If the NBA wants every owner to make a profit, first make the NBA profitable overall, and then share the earnings.
The owners aren't guaranteed profits. Most owners lost money this year. There is nothing wrong with the owners wanting to make money and not LOSE money on their business. They took all the risks, not the players, they should get most of the rewards. There is nothing wrong with that. The ironic thing is, you slam owners for wanting guaranteed profits then say that the players should guarantee their $$$. You can't have it both ways. Either you get guaranteed salaries and the owners get guaranteed profits or neither gets it.
Unions are garbage. They abuse the system. They cost society a lot of money. Why should a high school graduate working at GM get $80,000 for the rest of their life when a lawyer is struggling to get $40,000. If we got rid of unions building costs would drop, plumber costs would drop, car prices would drop, basically everything would become affordable. Unions are garbage.
Treated like bathroom tissues. I have a lot of employees. They get paid well, they get time off, they get lunch bought for them all the time, snacks at work, bonuses, etc. So, that is treating employees like bathroom tissue? Give me a break. To say that all business owners that hire non-unionized employees treat them like crap is a joke. Heck, I bet just as many non-union employees are being taken advantage of as unionized employees.
Take for example, Ronnie Price. I bet he doesn't want a lockout. He wants to play basketball and get paid. But because Derrick Fisher wants to ensure he gets the mid-level exception long after he deserves it, he makes Price, Hayward, Watson, Miles, Kanter, Favors, Burks, etc lose money and sit out. Unions are an old idea that aren't needed anymore.
I do agree with your last paragraph. Lock the players out, make the league profitable (which means making it competitive, cutting salaries, getting rid of guaranteed contracts, etc), then bring it back.
