Andrew wrote:Oh, playing without a three-point line is a gamechanger for sure. I remember playing Jerry West's NBA's Greatest game in NBA 2K12. The first time around I fell behind late, and hit a shot at the buzzer that, if the three-point line were in effect, would've tied the game and sent it into overtime. You don't realise how useful it is to spark rallies and cut into deficits until you don't have that extra point!
Andrew wrote:Great win! And without a three-point line to jumpstart it, too!
Andrew wrote:Growing pains for sure. Like I said though, hopefully Big Bill will still arrive some day!
Andrew wrote:Sounds promising!
Andrew wrote:A knee injury in this time period definitely isn't good news, but here's hoping medical science has progressed a little faster in this reality!
Andrew wrote:The thing about contracts back in the day is that teams basically held a player's rights until they traded or sold them; even after a player retired! When Bob Cousy and Dave Cowens made their brief comebacks with the Royals and Bucks respectively, the Celtics actually had to agree to trades first. Free agency as it exists today wasn't really a thing until the late 80s. Honestly, the more I've read about it recently, the more it makes me think about what "player loyalty" really means.
Conversations about free-agency hypotheticals must begin with Oscar Robertson's landmark court case, which prompted the start of the modern-day offseason. The Hall of Famer filed the antirust suit in 1970, though it wouldn't reach a verdict until six years later. As president of the players union, his 1970 suit against the NBA contended the draft, option clause and other rules restricting player movement were violations of antitrust laws.
The suit was settled in 1976, when the league agreed to let players become free agents in exchange for their old team's 'right of first refusal' to match any offer they might receive. This eventual ruling marked the beginning of free agency as we know it today, allowing players to move around the league as they saw fit and ending teams' restrictive and lengthy control over their on-court assets with the interminable option clause.
Tom Chambers remembers when an NBA player’s destiny lied with the whims of his team. Before 1988, you could be drafted or traded. Signing with another team after your contract was up, however, was not the wide-open option it is today. Even if your team was willing to let you go, they had to receive compensation. In short: if you were good, chances were you weren’t going anywhere. “There was no such thing as free agency,” Chambers said. “If a team had you, then you had to sign with that team unless they traded you. You really couldn’t move. There was no movement at all. Therefore, contracts were kind of locked into what you could make.”
Seattle, however, appeared less than thrilled with the state of their frontcourt despite Chambers’ presence. They pulled off a draft-day trade to bring up-and-coming forward Michael Cage to the team. They had drafted another long-limbed, athletic forward in Derrick McKey the year before. Days later, it became official. Players whose contracts had concluded would be truly free to choose their teams if they met two conditions -- have been in the league seven years or more and have played through two NBA contracts. As a player who met both requirements and whose talents would be in high demand, Chambers, it turned out, would be the perfect pioneer for the NBA’s new frontier of free agency.
Andrew wrote:It definitely took a while for players to get the autonomy they have now, and even then, rookie contracts favour teams with their options and subsequent restricted free agency. One can see it from the teams' perspective of course, as they're taking a chance on a player in the Draft, and then investing in their development and making a financial commitment to them. At the same time, it's treating players like commodities and enforcing restrictions that few of us would consider fair when it comes to employment.
Andrew wrote:Seems only appropriate for the Lakers to replicate real history there. The Blazers' time will come!
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