The recent gambling-related incidents in the NBA reopened an old wound the league had thought it had already cured. Reports of current and former NBA players being accused of committing nefarious actions, including allegedly faking injuries and trading inside information with gamblers, have many fans concerned about the integrity of the sport.

As much as fans would like to think every game is good, clean competition, there are pockets of these nefarious activities, such as the Tim Donaghy betting scandal, former Toronto Raptors guard Jontay Porter being permanently banned for violating gambling rules, and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier being arrested in connection with an FBI probe into an alleged sports gambling scheme. These disturbing incidents are ruining the purity of the game and forcing the NBA to make some changes.

The NBA is enacting several sports betting policies for its 30 teams, including changing injury reporting rules, according to ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania. Teams will be required to resubmit injury listings on game day between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. local time and update public reports every 15 minutes.

Sports is the best reality show. We watch because it takes us through a journey of emotions and we don’t know how it’ll end. With the explosion of sports betting, professional leagues are now in bed with betting sites like FanDuel and DraftKings. It’s getting more difficult not to think that some of these games are scripted. A bad play here or a bad call here, now makes you wonder if the fix is in.

Writer David Hill had this fantastic metaphor about the optics of gambling in sports: “The problem is that among the general public, the optics are unsettling. One day, we regulate betting on sports, and the next, we have a rash of cheating scandals. The common assumption is one of causality, when the truth is that it’s more likely a correlation. When you turn on the light, the cockroaches will scatter. If you turn it off again, they don’t disappear. They’re still there. The question isn’t whether legal betting is corrupting sports — it’s just how corrupt were they all along? And what more can we do — now that the light is on — to clean up the mess?”

NBA commissioner Adam Silver made a guest appearance on “Good Morning America” and addressed the betting scandal. His message to fans worrying about the game’s integrity? “The integrity is absolutely solid,” Silver said. The NBA commissioner said the investigation involving Rozier, who is accused of faking an injury to manipulate a prop bet, was an isolated incident and the league is working on guardrails to prevent another Rozier scandal.

Silver said he was deeply disturbed following the multiple arrests in a sprawling gambling probe, including Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Rozier, and former Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Damon Jones.

Silver said there’s nothing more important to the league — and its fans — than the integrity of the game.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the NBA is embroiled in a gambling mess. Gambling scandals are nothing new in the sport of basketball. As a matter of fact, it’s a big part of its history.

Here are the biggest basketball-related gambling scandals:

New York City area colleges involved in point shaving scandal (1950s). In 1951, allegations of point-shaving and match fixing in college basketball revealed widespread bribery and corruption involving major colleges and universities in and around New York City. The scandal has been mostly associated with City College of New York (CCNY) in which several players were implicated in point shaving and match fixing.

Boston College point shaving scandal (1978). The scandal involved a scheme in which members of the mafia recruited and bribed multiple Boston College players to manipulate the spread.

Tim Donaghy scandal (2007). Donaghy officiated NBA games for 13 seasons from 1994 to 2007, until he was caught in a gambling scandal. The FBI found Donaghy bet on games he officiated during his last two seasons and made calls that impacted the point spread. He was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for his role in a sports betting scheme.

Michael Jordan gambling escapades (1990s). Jordan paid off a convicted cocaine dealer for gambling debts. In 1993, a book by Richard Esquinas claimed Jordan owed him $1.25 million in golf gambling debts. The NBA investigated Jordan’s gambling habits but ultimately found he did not violate league rules regarding betting on NBA games. The 1993 investigation and Jordan’s subsequent retirement fueled a conspiracy theory that his retirement was a secret suspension.

Gilbert Arenas accused of hosting high-stakes poker games. Former NBA player Gilbert Arenas was arrested in July 2025 on federal charges related to an illegal, high-stakes poker ring he allegedly hosted at his Encino, Calif., mansion from 2021 to 2022. He was charged with operating an illegal gambling business, conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business, and making false statements to federal investigators.

Jontay Porter was banned for violating gambling rules. Former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter, the brother of NBA champion Michael Porter Jr., was permanently banned from the NBA in April 2024 for violating the league’s gambling rules. He admitted to investigators that he schemed to take himself out of games for gambling’s sake, pleading guilty to a federal conspiracy crime in the scandal that already got him banned from the league. After tipping off some of the men, the player claimed injury or illness and withdrew from the Jan. 26 and March 20 games after only minutes on the court, the complaint said. Porter played only briefly on those dates before complaining he was hurt or sick and exiting the games. His points, rebounds, and assists in both games fell below sportsbooks’ expectations.

University of New Orleans point shaving incident. Former University of New Orleans guard Dae Dae Hunter said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that he participated in point-shaving. Hunter and two New Orleans teammates are among six players who had their eligibility revoked by the NCAA after an investigation. The Committee on Infractions found that Hunter, Dyquavian Short and Jamond Vincent, Arizona State’s Chatton “BJ” Freeman and Mississippi Valley State’s Donovan Sanders and Alvin Stredic either manipulated their performances to lose games, not cover bet lines or ensure certain prop bets were reached, or provided information that enabled others to do so during the 2024-25 regular season.

Gambling is deeply embedded in the sports landscape. With technological advancements and the ubiquity of mobile apps, placing bets has become easy.

Americans are more skeptical of legal sports betting than they were a few years ago, according to a Pew Research Center poll conducted over the summer. The survey found that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults say the fact that sports betting is now legal in much of the country is “a bad thing” for society and sports, up from about one-third in July 2022.

Younger adults are more likely than older adults to have bet money on sports in the past year, according to a Pew poll, with about 3 in 10 adults under the age of 30 saying this, compared with only 12% of adults age 65 or older.

Is there a fix for the problem? Unfortunately, the fix is in, and there is no turning back.

Seats are empty prior to the Knicks playing the Wizards at Capital One Arena. (Getty Images)

The wake-up call came on March 11. That’s when the NBA made the unprecedented move of suspending the season due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the league had been in talks for days on how to work out the logistics of playing in empty arenas. But when Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19, Silver had to act swiftly and decisively. He decided to put the season on pause.

“The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic,” the league announced.

Hours after the NBA halted business, the rest of the sports world followed. The NHL paused its season and MLB delayed the start of its 2020 regular season. The MLS also suspended its season and the NCAA gave a whole new meaning to March Madness after it canceled the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, marking the first time college basketball won’t have a champion.

Silver was asked if there’s a chance the rest of the NBA season might be canceled. He said there’s an outside chance it could be, but it is too early to make that call.

“I just don’t know more at this point,” Silver said on TNT’s “Inside The NBA.” “There’s another factor that may go to the seasonality of this virus. Talk to a lot of experts and some have a theory, just as a common flu, as the weather changes, we may see it peter out a little bit. Again, we don’t know. At this point, we are just waiting.”

And so we wait.

President Trump and the coronavirus task force that includes leading infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci established federal social distancing guidelines to combat the pandemic. Those guidelines call for Americans to work from home and avoid social situations, as well as unnecessary travel. Trump said the guidelines will remain in place through the end of April, which means the NBA season won’t be restarting any time soon.

Fauci has become somewhat of a cult hero amid the health crisis. Golden State Warriors All-Star guard Steph Curry even had Fauci educate his millions of followers on Instagram about the coronavirus and the Q&A reached 50,000 concurrent viewers. Warriors coach Steve Kerr was among those who watched the Q&A – which also caught the attention of former President Barack Obama – and he said Curry represented the organization extremely well. “Steph is incredible and I’m so glad he interviewed Fauci,” Kerr said.

By the way, Fauci is no stranger to basketball. He played for Regis High School in Manhattan, so Dr. J isn’t the only one who can operate on the court.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told CNBC that he expects the NBA will resume play before fans are allowed back in arenas due to COVID-19 concerns.

“We have to be very cautious, particularly as we try to come back,” Cuban said. “I think at first though we’ll play a lot of games without fans and then figure it out as some of the available medicines … become available, we’ll go from there.”

Cuban added: “The NBA is going to try to come back as early as we can without spectators, just on TV and streaming, and just give people something to celebrate.”

Cuban garnered widespread praise for expressing intent to support hourly Mavericks employees impacted by the postponing of games, and attention for his own reaction to the news.

Even if the NBA restarts the season in May, it will alter the league calendar significantly and we could see The Finals stretched through August. But Cuban told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols that having the NBA season in the summer might make the most sense.

“The only reason we haven’t played games past June 12 in the past is because our TV partners. As you guys know, households using television in the summer drops significantly. Well, the TV landscape has changed dramatically over the past three years, four years, and so those numbers and those equations have all changed significantly,” Cuban said. “But because there’s not a lot of competition — there’s only regular season baseball — I don’t think necessarily until August, but I can easily see us playing the last seven to 10 games of the regular season to get everybody back on course, and then going right into the playoffs going into July, if not August.”

Cuban is one of the strongest voices on the league’s board of governors. He won’t just be dropping radically ideas without the benefit of some hard intel.

The NBA has been a step ahead the rest of the sports world during this historic health crisis. Whenever Silver decides it is safe to resume games, you can expect others to follow.

A rare genetic disorder ended Isaiah Austin’s basketball career. (GETTY IMAGES)

Adam Silver has only been NBA commissioner five months but he has already delivered two landmark moments.

First, Silver dropped the hammer on Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling by banishing him from the league after it was found that he made racist remarks.

Second, Silver and the NBA made an incredible touching gesture Thursday night by allowing Isaiah Austin to fulfill his dream of getting selected in the NBA draft.

Between the 15th and 16th picks, Silver announced that the NBA was selecting Austin.

Just over a week ago, the 7-1 sophomore center from Baylor was diagnosed with Marfan syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that affects the heart. It ended his playing career. The illness was discovered during a physical for the draft.

“For Commissioner Silver to even invite me here was a tremendous blessing and it just shows how much class that man has,” Austin told the Associated Press. “It’s really been a tough week for me, and it’s been really rough. I’ve just had a tremendous amount of support from everybody around the world, telling me they’re praying for me and everything. I can’t thank everybody enough.”

Austin added: “I have a whole life ahead of me. I’m not going to sit here and I’m not going to sulk about not being able to play basketball anymore, because I can still be involved with the game somehow or some way.”

When Austin’s name was called he hugged family members, put on a generic NBA cap, walked up to the stage and posed with Silver just as all the drafts picks did when their names were called.

“Just being around all the draftees and seeing my friends get drafted, it just brings joy in my heart because I know how hard we work to get to this point,” Austin said. “I’ve been through it. … Just to see how people persevere through their own problems, because everybody has their own problems. It’s touching and it’s heart-warming, really.”

Social media exploded when Austin was selected. All-Stars like Kevin Love and Kevin Durant were clearly moved.

Love posted on Twitter: “Happy Isaiah Austin was able to hear his name called at the NBA draft. Very cool to see.”

Durant said: “Adam silver is such a classy man! That’s love right there. I’m emotional for him. Damn I love that.”

It was one of the best moments you’ll ever see in sports. It was a great moment for Austin and a classy move by the NBA.

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling’s racially insensitive remarks spark a firestorm of criticism. (GETTY IMAGES)

Adam Silver’s first major decision as NBA commissioner was swift, forceful and warranted.

Silver announced Tuesday that the league is banning Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling from the NBA for racially charged remarks he made during an argument with his alleged mistress. Sterling is also fined $2.5 million, the maximum allowed by the league, and Silver urges the NBA Board of Governors to force Sterling to sell the team.

The decision was justified because of the gravity of the situation.

Sterling has a long history of being insensitive toward minorities. Twice in the last 15 years he was sued for discriminating against blacks, Latinos and Asians. Those who have come to know Sterling — arguably one of the worst owners in sports — are well aware of his reputation. His views are straight out of the mind of a plantation owner. He’s Cliven Bundy without the Cowboy hat and ranch.

When TMZ obtained the audio recording between Sterling and his female friend, V. Stiviano — who is half his age — the rest of the world got to know the real Donald Sterling. When TMZ gets a hold of something it spreads like a forest fire.

Here’s part of their conversation published by TMZ and Deadspin:

V. Stiviano: I don’t understand, I don’t see your views. I wasn’t raised the way you were raised.

Donald Sterling: Well then, if you don’t feel—don’t come to my games. Don’t bring black people, and don’t come.

V: Do you know that you have a whole team that’s black, that plays for you?

DS: You just, do I know? I support them and give them food, and clothes, and cars, and houses. Who gives it to them? Does someone else give it to them? Do I know that I have—Who makes the game? Do I make the game, or do they make the game? Is there 30 owners, that created the league?

DS: It’s the world! You go to Israel, the blacks are just treated like dogs.

V: So do you have to treat them like that too?

DS: The white Jews, there’s white Jews and black Jews, do you understand?

V: And are the black Jews less than the white Jews?

DS: A hundred percent, fifty, a hundred percent.

V: And is that right?

DS: It isn’t a question—we don’t evaluate what’s right and wrong, we live in a society. We live in a culture. We have to live within that culture.

V: But shouldn’t we take a stand for what’s wrong? And be the change and the difference?

DS: I don’t want to change the culture, because I can’t. It’s too big and too [unknown].

V: But you can change yourself.

DS: I don’t want to change. If my girl can’t do what I want, I don’t want the girl. I’ll find a girl that will do what I want! Believe me. I thought you were that girl—because I tried to do what you want. But you’re not that girl.

The comments were downright disturbing, but not stunning. In today’s world, if you think racism doesn’t exit then you must be hiding under a rock. No matter how far we’ve come as a society and no matter how many times we’ve moved forward, there is still a large portion of society who are racists and bigots. Sterling is not the first nor the last billionaire who thinks the playing field should not be level.

Other NBA owners didn’t exactly condemn Sterling’s remarks until a couple of days later. They have their own skeletons in the closet. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says he doesn’t want to associate himself with an owner who have racist views, but punishing owners for making ignorant statements is a “slippery slope.”

Sterling must not like prosperity because it took three decades for his franchise to finally enjoy a winner on the basketball court. The Clippers were the laughingstock of the NBA until Chris Paul joined forces with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan to form Lob City in 2011.

With Doc Rivers at the helm, the Clippers are legitimate championship contenders this season. But after Sterling’s skeletons spilled out into the open, the Clippers name is sullied again.

The players silently protested at the start of Game 3 of their playoff series with Golden State by removing their warm-up sweaters and dropping them at center court. They flipped their T-shirts inside-out so the Clipper logo doesn’t show on their chest or back.

Paul says the team is unified more than ever and moving forward because they don’t want one man to ruin the season. But you can see the stress on Paul’s face. He looks fatigued from all the off-the-court drama he has to deal not just as a player but as president of the NBA Players Association.

Rivers also looked stressed. As much as he wanted to focus on the series with the Warriors, the Sterling debacle is inescapable.

The Clippers head home to L.A. for Game 5. But being at home probably won’t keep them safe from the dark cloud that hangs over the entire organization.

“We’re going home now,” said Rivers. “Usually that would mean we’re going to our safe haven. And I don’t even know if thats true.”

Joel Huerto is editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

David Stern, who turned 70 last month, has been NBA commissioner since 1984. (GETTY IMAGES)

NBA Commissioner David Stern will retire on Feb. 1, 2014, 30 years after he took charge of the league. He will be replaced by Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver.

The announcement came at an NBA Board of Governors meeting Thursday.

Stern told owners during their two days of meetings of his plans, and the board unanimously decided Silver would be his successor.

”I decided that things are in great shape and there’s an organization in place that will ultimately be led by Adam that is totally prepared to take it to the next level,” Stern said.

Stern, who turned 70 last month, became commissioner on Feb. 1, 1984. He has been the NBA’s longest-serving commissioner, establishing the league’s brand around the world, presiding over team expansion and overseeing the establishment of the WNBA and the NBA Development League.

”You’ll be remembered as the best of all-time,” Silver told Stern, sitting to his left on a podium during a news conference.

Stern said he decided on his plans about six months ago, having guided the league through a lockout that ended nearly a year ago. He said the league is in great shape and he’s confident in Silver, who has been the league’s No. 2 since 2006.

”I don’t know what else to say other than to recite what I told the owners yesterday in executive session,” Stern said. ”I told them that it’s been a great run, it will continue for another 15 months, that the league is in, I think, terrific condition.”

Stern is the one who got it there, taking over what was a second-rate league with little-to-no TV presence and making basketball one of the world’s most popular sports.

He cited the success of the 1992 Dream Team, which helped spark the league’s international explosion, but said everything ”just keeps getting better than that.”

”For the most part it’s been a series of extraordinary experiences and enormous putting together of pieces of a puzzle and it goes on forever,” Stern said. ”And there will always be another piece of the puzzle and so the question is at what point do you decide that, let someone else do it? That’s the point that I’m at now.”

Stern was the league’s outside counsel from 1966-78, then its general counsel before becoming executive vice president of business and legal affairs from 1980-84. He replaced Larry O’Brien to become the league’s fourth commissioner.

The NBA has added seven franchises during his tenure.

Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor, the outgoing chairman of the Board of Governors, said the average player salary had grown from $250,000 when Stern took over to $5 million.

The league has reported huge increases in ticket and merchandise sales, and TV ratings are at an all-time high.

”There are all kinds of other business metrics we could look at that would define David as one of the great business leaders of our time,” Silver said.

Taylor and Spurs owner Peter Holt, who is replacing him as board chairman, said the owners will work to have a contract with Silver by April. Silver came to the NBA 20 years ago and served a variety of positions before becoming the deputy commissioner in 2006.

Stern said he wouldn’t leave until he knew there was a successor ready, and he has repeatedly said Silver is ready for that role. Stern said he would always remain available to take a call and help the league.

”Life is a journey and it’s been a spectacular journey,” Stern said. ”Each step along the way there are things that you have to do, things that you maybe wish you hadn’t done. But I don’t keep that list, and so I’m totally pleased and I’m particularly pleased with the transition of which we’re now embarking.”

Story from the Associated Press

Derek Fisher, president of the National Basketball Players Association, speaks at a press conference at Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers. Fisher is joined by Chris Paul (left) and Maurice Evans (right). (GETTY IMAGES)

Commissioner David Stern and his band of greedy NBA owners had been basking in the glow of their complete annihilation of the players on the negotiating table.

The owners wanted a higher luxury tax on teams that go over the salary cap threshold, they got it. The owners wanted to reduce the years on guaranteed contracts, they got it. The last remaining chip for the players, the basketball-related income or BRI, went down faster than the stock market. The owners wanted a 50-50 split on BRI, they got it.

The collective bargaining negotiations have become a complete blowout for Stern, his deputy Adam Silver, and the hardliners led by Peter Holt of the San Antonio Spurs, Paul Allen of the Portland Trail Blazers and Dan Gilbert of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Even the great Michael Jordan, once the face of the National Basketball Players Association during the 1998 NBA lockout, has joined the dark side.

Yahoo! Sports basketball writer Adrian Wojnarowski compared the one-sided labor talks to a 30-point blowout on the basketball court. Stern and the owners throwing alley-oop passes, pressing fullcourt, keeping their starters in late in the fourth quarter as they run up the score on the players.

On Monday, the NBPA finally had enough. Union president Derek Fisher and executive director Billy Hunter put an end to the owners’ in-your-face celebration by slapping an antitrust lawsuit against the league.

Fisher went Kevin McHale on Stern, clotheslining him on a breakaway and dropping him on the floor like Kurt Rambis.

Fisher and the more than 400 members of the players’ association are disbanding as a union and are taking the NBA to court. Not the basketball court, but the court of law. Fisher told members of the media who were gathered in New York for the NBPA press conference that the players cannot comment further on the current state of the lockout because of legal issues.

This is something basketball fans have been fearing for months, which is a lost 2011-12 season, but it had to be done. The disclaimer of interest Hunter referenced to the media is not something the majority wanted but it was the only way to stop the owners from railroading the players.

The NBA players have been and are willing to negotiate a fair deal. The mere fact that they moved down from 57% to 50% on BRI should have told the owners that they are conceding and just wanted to save face and avoid further humiliation. All the players wanted at this point was a little tweak in the system so they can have a little bit of freedom in free agency. That’s all.

But the owners laughed at that last request from the players and proceeded to slap high fives and kept piling on. The owners didn’t want just a slice of the pie, they wanted the whole box and the sauce.

The players didn’t want to file the antitrust lawsuit, but the owners forced their hand. The NBA lockout continues because the owners are unwilling to call off the dogs. The owners were not satisfied with a blowout victory. They wanted to absolutely destroy the union. That is the biggest reason why the 2011-12 season is in jeopardy.

Gordon Gekko may have said that “greed is good.” But in these tough economic times, greed is definitely not the answer to solving the current state of the NBA system.

Even though the lawsuit is now hanging over everyone’s heads, it doesn’t mean either side cannot continue to negotiate. Stern and the owners can still reach out to the players, but they have to deal with their lawyers first. Nonetheless, there is still a six-week window in which both sides can get back to the table and hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement.

The players have said all along that they are open to negotiate with the owners, and there is still time to save the season. It is up to the owners to extend their hand and meet the players halfway.

According to Whitlock, Hunter and at least one member of the union’s executive committee confronted Fisher about their belief that Fisher’s push for a 50-50 basketball-related-income split with NBA ownership was part of a deal Fisher had privately cut with David Stern and/or Adam Silver to deliver the union at 50-50.

In response to Whitlock’s story, Fisher issued this statement to the players via e-mail on Tuesday: “Usually I wouldn’t even dignify absurd media reports with a comment. But before these reports go any further, let me say on the record to each of you, my loyalty has and always will be with the players. Anyone that questions that or doubts that does not know me, my history, and what I stand for. And quite frankly, how dare anyone call that into question. The Players Association is united and any reports to the contrary are false. There have been no side agreements, no side negotiations or anything close. We are united in serving you and presenting the best options and getting everyone back to work. The attempt by ‘sources’ to divide us will be unsuccessful. We will continue to work every day to do right by you, the businesses that depend on our league and our fans.”

Derek Fisher says he remains loyal to the union and denies any side deals with NBA commissioner David Stern. (GETTY IMAGES)

You could almost feel the frustration in Fisher voice as you read his note, and he is willing to put his reputation on the line to get his point across.

I’m going to defend Fisher on this one.

I have had the privilege to speak to Derek Fisher on more than one occasion as a member of the Los Angeles media covering the Lakers. I have followed his career since the day he became a Laker in 1996. I saw his first-ever pro game while playing for the Lakers summer league team 15 years ago. I have seen Fisher go from little-known reserve guard to starting guard for the five-time world champion Lakers. I have seen Fisher grow from an inconsistent jump shooter to one of the best clutch shooters in the history of the game.

Whenever I spoke to Fisher, he always looked me in the eye and articulated his message in a very calculated and well-thought-out manner. Unlike many NBA players, Fisher is genuine and truly cares about his job. You may not get a true sense of what he is all about by watching him on the court because, quite frankly, the man plays like a bulldog and is not afraid to bite back.

But in reality, Fisher is about as level-headed as they come off the court and is very balanced. He is a real stand-up guy. Having said that, I don’t think there was a side deal between Fisher and the league. I just can’t imagine Fisher, who has never backed away from a challenge, giving in and taking shortcuts. That’s not who Fisher is, and TNT’s David Aldridge agrees with me.

“Derek Fisher has killed himself these past eight months. He must have gone across the country 20 times,” Aldridge said on NBA TV. “I don’t buy at all the notion that Derek Fisher has somehow gotten a side deal with David Stern. I just don’t believe that knowing how hard Derek Fisher has worked in trying to get a deal done for the players. Is Derek and Billy on the same page at everything? I’m sure they’re not. I’m sure David Stern is not 100 percent in agreement with the owners. We know that for a fact because Micky Arison just paid $500,000 [for comments he made recently].

“Derek Fisher doesn’t do side deals with anybody. I don’t believe that. This is a high-character guy.”

Now, I’m not going to say Whitlock is in the wrong here either. I’ve never met Whitlock but I am very familiar with his writing, and is a well-respected journalist. It is not clear who his source is, but one thing that is clear is Whitlock has put his reputation on the line by building his story around this source.

Before we shame Fisher for this alleged deal with Stern let us not forget the fact that Fisher is not a lawyer. He is a basketball player and he is merely thinking and acting like a basketball player during these labor talks. Hunter, on the other hand, is a veteran lawyer who knows a thing or two about negotiating labor contracts. Hunter has far more experience in these heated negotiations than Fisher.

So, why is Fisher getting crucified for acting and thinking like a basketball player?

Fisher is smart enough to know that if a 50-50 deal is the only roadblock in the lockout then he’s probably saying to himself “let’s do this!” And I’m sure he’s not alone. He probably heard enough voices in the players’ union that a 50-50 split is acceptable.

As union president, Fisher has to pacify the superstars and the non-superstars. He has to please Stern and Hunter. And he has to deal with the agents who is at the forefront of the BRI battle. Try wearing Fisher’s shoes for a change and see how you deal with all this nonsense. I got your back, D-Fish.

Joel Huerto is editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

NBA players union executive director Billy Hunter (GETTY IMAGES)

Back in 1998, the NBA suffered a huge financial setback and public relations black eye when the league wiped 32 regular-season games and the best it could do was put together a 50-game schedule that started in January. Union executive director Billy Hunter was asked who won or lost in the collective bargaining war and explained that neither side came out unscatched.

“Did we blink? I guess we both blinked,” Hunter said hours after a new deal was reached in January of 1999 to save the season and the playoffs.

Fast forward to 2011 and we are in the same place again. Deja vu!

It’s like a bad Hollywood sequel. “The Lockout II” stars David Stern, reprising his role as the commissioner, and Hunter returns as the union’s embattled executive director. “The Lockout II” introduces a couple of new characters, Derek Fisher replaces Patrick Ewing as the union president and Adam Silver takes over for Russ Granik as the league’s deputy commissioner. However, the storyline and plot remains the same. Ultimately, the big dramatic final scene the players are expecting won’t reach the cutting room floor because the ending has already been written.

Even the script from the league hasn’t changed, just needing some very minor editing. Granik took the podium and addressed the media in 1998 and said the current system is broken. Silver didn’t have the benefit of a podium in 2011 but his message was basically the same. He said on Monday that the current system is broken.

Contrary to what Hunter said 13 years ago, the big winner from the 1998 lockout were the players. Let’s face it, from 2000 to 2010, the players – especially the superstars – enjoyed the fruits of the very long and hard labor debate of ’98. If the players didn’t think they won the last fight, then check out these numbers:

— $19.2 million for Gilbert Arenas.

— $21.2 million for Kevin Garnett.

— $21.3 million for Tim Duncan.

— $22.1 million for Rashard Lewis.

— $25.2 million for Kobe Bryant.

Those were the estimated salaries earned by each player last season. Kobe certainly earned his paycheck but you can argue that the other four were severely overpaid. Arenas was a bit player for the Orlando Magic and has never been the same since multiple knee surgeries. Duncan and Garnett are well past their primes and Lewis’ contract was like stealing money and is the very reason why the system has severe flaws.

The players will argue that nobody put a gun to the owners’ heads when they wrote these massive checks, so the players have a very good argument there. However, the owners will argue that under the current system overpaying for talent is the only way to stay competitive.

Two former NBA players who lived through the 1998 lockout were Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller. Barkley, who now works as a studio analyst for TNT, recently said on NBA TVs “Game Time” that besides revenue distribution the one gigantic issue hovering over this year’s lockout is competitive balance.

“We can’t have all our stars playing in just the major markets. It’s not fair to the game, it’s not fair to the system,” Barkley explained, an obvious strike at LeBron James’ highly debated decision to leave Cleveland for Miami last summer.

“This thing is about competitive balance,” Barkley continued. “Commissioner Stern, who I tell people is the best commissioner in sports and it has been that way for a long time, he’s not gonna let the NBA [become] like pro baseball where it is top heavy. All the teams with the most money get all the stars and then we have 10, 15 franchises dormant. He’s not going to let that happen.”

According to NBA insider David Aldridge, the Los Angeles Lakers’ team payroll reached $110 million last season. Meanwhile, the Sacramento Kings had an estimated team payroll of $44 million.

One way to combat the disparity between the have and the have-nots is having a bonafide superstar in each market. “You can have a bad team in a small market, but at least if you have a star that team can make money,” Barkley said. “You’ve got something to sell to the public. But if you are not gonna have these stars in these small markets they are not gonna survive.”

Miller, who also works for TNT, agrees with Barkley but has a pointed message for the owners. “Stop overspending on these mediocre players!” the former Indiana Pacers guard said on NBA TV. “Maybe you should hire better general managers who can evaluate talent better. There’s no way you give Rashard Lewis $120 million, a 30-year-old shooting guard in Joe Johnson $130 million, Travis Outlaw five years $30 million. Start looking at your general managers. That’s the reason why we are in this mess in the first place because you can’t assess talent well.”

Miller predicts the players will blink and there will be a 50-game season, starting in January. However, Miller also said he wouldn’t be surprised if the whole 2011-12 season is wiped out. Barkley sees a lost season if the players don’t agree to the 50-50 revenue split on basketball related income.

“If they get a 50-50 split they can make money. If they get a hard cap that can work, or they can have a better revenue sharing system,” Barkley said. “The NBA has been preparing not to play this season for two years. When they went through the whole LeBron thing for the whole season, then the Chris Bosh thing happened. Then you have the whole ‘Where is Chris Paul going next, where is Dwight Howard going?’ You can see the NBA saying ‘We’ve got to stop this.’ ”

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him @onemanfastbreak.