# Per the Cavaliers owner's letter to fans, how is LeBron James leaving a "cowardly betrayal"?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/per-the-cavaliers-owners-letter-to-fans-how-is-lebron-james-leaving-a-cowardly-betrayal/546108>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [July 9, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/per-the-cavaliers-owners-letter-to-fans-how-is-lebron-james-leaving-a-cowardly-betrayal/546108 "2010-07-09T16:44:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/per-the-cavaliers-owners-letter-to-fans-how-is-lebron-james-leaving-a-cowardly-betrayal/546108/81 "2010-07-14T16:30:47Z")

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> [@Marley23](#):
>
> If the union had no beef with him we wouldn’t be discussing a lockout. No question the players are getting rich. Still the consensus is that for Stern’s 30 years as commissioner, he has consistently kicked the ass of the players’ union on behalf of the owners. The players are making much more money but so are the people who own the teams. The bottom line from what I can see is that before the '98-'99 lockout, there were no restrictions on player salaries. [Now there are](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1014974/index.htm). And after the upcoming dispute (or lockout), there will be greater restrictions on salaries. [Here’s a little about that.](http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-labortalks020610)

Kicked the players ass? Please, if having my ass kicked means having my salary increase a million percent, might I have another.?

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/per-the-cavaliers-owners-letter-to-fans-how-is-lebron-james-leaving-a-cowardly-betrayal/546108/82 "2010-07-14T17:56:47Z")

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> [@zamboniracer](#):
>
> Kicked the players ass? Please, if having my ass kicked means having my salary increase a million percent, might I have another.?

Yeah, yeah, I know the players are getting rich. The owners are getting richer. That’s not the point. The point is that when the players and owners disagree on labor issues, the owners get much more of what they want than the players do, and Stern is generally credited for that.

Just for the sake of comparison, Kevin Garnett became the highest paid player in the NBA when he signed a deal for six years and $126 million. He was 21 and in his third year. This was seen as a huge contract (it was the biggest in North American pro sports history at the time) and a sign of major problems. That helped lead to the lockout. This past year, a maximum contract was six years and $119 million even though the NBA is doing so much more business overseas than it did a decade ago, ticket prices are up, and so on. LeBron James’ maximum contract as a seven-year player who has won the last two MVP awards was less than what Kevin Garnett got at 21. And after this next impasse is settled, the next time the biggest star in the league signs a new contract, it’ll be for less than that, and probably fewer years. Are they still going to be rich? No question. But I’m not seeing the paper tiger-age here.

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