Jermaine O'Neal Comments on the Lockout

ESPN

"If it's about small-market teams not profiting, if the owners are really using that as a bargaining tool, if you're really concerned about it, then why aren't you profit-sharing like the other leagues are doing?" O'Neal asked.

"So do we accept a deal that totally butchers our game? Because what they don't understand, if you take out mid-tier deals and say, 'Fend for bare minimum at the bottom,' they'll be individualizing our game so severely."

Jermaine O'Neal has always been pretty well spoken and he hits it out of the park here on both points. It's inexcusable that the owners won't just revenue share amongst each other like all the major sports do. And J.O. is right that teams with two players making huge money and the rest of the players all making the minimum would cause a ton of problems. No one would be comfortable just being a starter or a role player. Everyone would be gunning for those coveted 2 high paying spots.

It's never a wise decision to remove the middle class. Looking at another form of entertainment- movies. Imagine if directors could only pay the 1 or 2 stars in a movie large salaries and they'd have to fill out the cast with a bunch of B actors and extras? Good supporting actors are key. Basketball would take a turn for the worse with this hard cap system the NBA owners are suggesting.