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Micky Arison, Owner Of The Miami Heat, Tweets Interesting Lockout Thoughts

by Brian Floyd • Oct 28, 2011 10:08 PM EDT

Miami Heat owner Micky Arison hopped onto Twitter on Friday evening after the NBA and NBPA broke off talks to end the lockout just hours earlier to share his thoughts on what just transpired. After days of optimism, the talks came grinding to a halt, all over the same revenue issues as before. So we're back to square one, with no deal, more cancellations and the same hard-line stances on the most important issue of all.

Arison's comments were cryptic, but may not have been wholly enlightening. Reading between the lines, though, one has to wonder if there's friction on the owners' side, or if Arison is saving face. Either way, Arison's public statements on Twitter were interesting, and at least make for some fun fodder.

@MickyArison
Micky Arison Honestly u r barking at the wrong owner. RT @GreedyNBAstards:guess what? Fans provide all the money you're fighting overyou greedy ass pigs
Oct 29 via UberSocial for BlackBerryFavorite RetweetReply

@MickyArison
Micky Arison Exactlly RT @FireAndyReidNow: i know its not ur faul at this point, its become childsplay. Grown men making stupid decisions over money.
Oct 29 via UberSocial for BlackBerryFavorite RetweetReply

@MickyArison
Micky Arison Now u r making some sense RT @GreedyNBAstards: Then can you bark at the other owners? This is RIDICULOUS!!!"
Oct 29 via UberSocial for BlackBerryFavorite RetweetReply

If I'm reading these right, it seems Arison is deflecting blame while throwing some of the other owners under the bus. From the looks of it, Arison is just as unhappy with the hard-line stances as the fans are, and the owners may not be as united as we thought.

Does it matter at this point, with negotiations stalled again? Probably not right now. But if there is friction, it could make for some interesting talks whenever the NBA and NBPA get back at it.

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Comments

Boomshaka

@MickyArison
Micky Arison
RT @peterramis: Heat ratings proved that fans want to see super teams in big markets instead of a ton of small market teams each with one st

by Jonesy24 on Oct 28, 2011 10:10 PM EDT reply actions

that is right

and stern knows this – the NBA is not the NFL – playoffs with small market teams in conference finals and finals will get terrible ratings. the NBA is a star league and a big market league. they need fewer teams (hey Stern – all those teams you have added, with the exception of Mia and Orl, they were all mistakes. good job. don’t retire or anything), and the NBA needs its best teams to either have huge stars (Ok City), or be in big markets with big stars.

by bigperm33 on Oct 28, 2011 10:28 PM EDT up reply actions

In the NFL, it seemed at some point, the a small group of owners stepped forward to take control and see the big picture, see that the game is what matters, not their bottom line, and those were the owners who were able to get the deal done. In the NBA, it seems a group of owners have stepped forward, but unlike the NFL, these owners seem not to care about anyone else but themselves. they just want a system in place that makes them idiot-proof, protects them against bad contracts, and guarantees they make as much money as possible. Players are not blameless, but it just seems to me these NBA owners who are making the demands (and stern too) are perfectly content with canceling games. they want their money, and they don’t care about anything else. let me ask this – does any other sport have the restrictions on contracts that the NBA does? max years, max dollars, mid level exception, all those other rules. How about this NBA – figure on a revenue split, figure on a cap number, and get rid of all the other restrictions. Those don’t help, and those restrictions as much as anything else lead to the big contracts (for ex – the magic wanted Rashard lewis – they couldnt just outbid seattle by an extra year or a little more money, but they had to go up to the next level to get their player. that led to him being grossly overpaid). here is one other thing for the owners to know – contracts are done trying to predict the future – you can’t do that, you will never be able to protect yourself from all bad contracts. those happens. good teams and smart owners adjust. the bad ones dont. it is not the players’ job to stop the owners from making bad decisions – but that is what the owners want and that is what the owners are not giving in on.

by bigperm33 on Oct 28, 2011 10:17 PM EDT reply actions

Really?

Won’t go into detail, but, I went to this site to read what the Miami owner had tweeted. Being a naturally curious person I then read the three comments under the story. Usually, I mind my own business. In fact, I have never commented on any story ever. But in this instance, I feel I must. Specifically the quote, “does any other sport have the restrictions on contracts that the NBA does?” The NFL has “non-guaranteed” contracts which is much more restrictive. If for example a NFL team would have made a “Rashard Lewis” mistake, they would just cut him. Problem solved. When the NBA owners tried to follow their NFL counterparts and tried to negotiate for the same clause, the NBA players went crazy. The owners took it off the table because the players said they would “never” agree to it. Also, the NFL has a “hard” as opposed to a “soft” salary cap. This is again much more restrictive. The NBA owners tried to put in the same salary cap as the NFL. It didn’t work. Once again, the players said they would never accept the “hard” cap. Finally, you alluded to the NFl “owners stepped forward to take control and see the big picture, see that the game is what matters, not their bottom line.” That is because the NFL Bri split is 52 for the owners and 48 for the players. How is it then that if the NBA owners are asking for a 50/50 split they are greedy?
As a teacher, I am constantly trying to give my students real life examples for literary definitions. What is irony? When the basic guidelines which make the NFL the most popular and profitable sport: 1. non-guaranteed contracts (which allows the Raiders to be competitive after drafting Jamarcus Russell, and the Lions to make a comeback after Matt Millen) 2. a hard salary cap (which allows a team like the Packers to not only have a team in Green Bay but win a Super Bowl) and 3. having the owners and players look at the big picture and negotiate a 52/48 BRI split to allow each team to make a profit and put the league on sound financial footing are the very bargaining items the NBA players have labeled “blood” items and will never accept. The NFL is not the most popular and profitable sport by accident. It is the players and owners working together that allows it.
Now, I will do a 180. I agree; it is the owner’s fault. The owners and David Stern made a marketing decision to put the players in front of the teams. They are now reaping what they sowed. I don’t feel the least bit sorry for them. The players do feel they are bigger than the league because they have been so “enabled.” Who did this? David Stern, and now he complains about the monster he has created?
There does need to be a compromise though. The model in Miami in the long run will not work for the entire NBA. Kevin Durant may stay, but, both Dwight Howard and Chris Paul are going to big markets. Three, four years max. there will be five maybe six Batmen and 22, 23 Robins. That will be the ruin of the NBA which is a sport I love. This year worked because of the “hate” for Miami. That was a novelty, and people grow tired of a novelty in a hurry..

by rbish44 on Oct 29, 2011 3:22 AM EDT reply actions 2 recs

Arison & Riley are to blame

These talks would have been less contentious if it were not for the Heat ownership/management had not colluded with Wade and the other two to join forces in Miami. Yes, they may well have been forced to act in defense against other franchises like New York but their actions were bad for the game long term. The system hence needs to be fixed and as I see it (according to the changes I read are in the pipeline) the Heat will need to possibly relinquish/trade one of the threesome or have scrubs playing in the rest of the positions…or pay an exhorbitant tax going over a salary threshold. This in a nutshell is why Arison is so pissed. He has been vetoed by his lodge bros. I love it.

by Bendit on Oct 30, 2011 9:44 PM EDT reply actions