NBA owner praises NHL's hard salary cap
FAIRFAX, Va. — Washington Wizards majority owner Ted Leonsis told local business leaders Wednesday that he expects the NBA soon will have a hard salary cap similar to the NHL's model.
NBA commissioner David Stern said that's not necessarily true — and warned that Leonsis could be punished for discussing private league business.
"We're negotiating and that was one of our negotiating points," Stern told The Associated Press, "but collective bargaining is a negotiating process, and that was not something that Ted was authorized to say and he will be dealt with for that lapse in judgment."
FAIRFAX, Va. — Washington Wizards majority owner Ted Leonsis told local business leaders Wednesday that he expects the NBA soon will have a hard salary cap similar to the NHL's model.
NBA commissioner David Stern said that's not necessarily true — and warned that Leonsis could be punished for discussing private league business.
"We're negotiating and that was one of our negotiating points," Stern told The Associated Press, "but collective bargaining is a negotiating process, and that was not something that Ted was authorized to say and he will be dealt with for that lapse in judgment."
"In a salary cap era — and soon a hard salary cap in the NBA like it's in the NHL — if everyone can pay the same amount to the same amount of players, its the small nuanced differences that matter," he said.
said he felt the NHL's system "is a good one."
"It's working," he said. "The teams are very, very competitive. There is no way that big markets teams can outspend small market teams. So when the season starts everyone thinks their team can compete for the Stanley Cup."
"It's working," he said. "The teams are very, very competitive. There is no way that big markets teams can outspend small market teams. So when the season starts everyone thinks their team can compete for the Stanley Cup."
"There's a hard cap in the NFL, there's a hard cap in the NHL, and that was something that was part of our initial proposal," Stern said. "But we're open to a deal and it depends what the deal is."
Given the direct connection between spending and success in the league and also taking into consideration an economy that is crippled in regions I've been saying the NBA needs a hard cap to level the playing field and to stop tailoring the whole model to the few elite top teams, after all those teams would not have the vast money making opportunities without all those smaller market teams who are at times struggling to balance the books.
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