Who needs the NBA, really? And who needs to get paid? Most people, including myself, have rolled their eyes at every #LetUsPlay tweet that’s filled their Twitter timelines since Monday, since the players are actually saying #LetUsPlayForTheDealWeThinkIsFair. It’s not that their proposal isn’t fair, it mostly is (but not in totality), same as the owners, depending on how you look at it (and which version of the Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde owners’ proposals you’re looking at). It’s that the players don’t just want to play. They want their money. Particularly as much of it as they can reasonably salvage from this extortion from the owners.
But Danny Granger? He’s putting his money where his mouth is. Or not putting his money where his mouth is. Something like that. Granger tweeted earlier this week:
I say we play all the games Stern canceled for charity....Wed Oct 12 18:01:43 via Twitter for BlackBerry®
Danny Granger
dgranger33
You want to win public support, forever? That. Exactly that. Doesn’t have to be every guy. You get 8 out of 10 starters and you’ve got enough for it to seem like an NBA game with a few injuries. Need a place to play? Pack a Boys and Girls Club to the rafters. Use concert halls, street parks, everything. It would be guerrilla basketball and it would instantly put fans in each city on your side. Don’t have to play all of them. But play enough of them and you look like athletes who genuinely care about their fans and their work. You create enormous goodwill, which will penetrate with local businesses, businesses which the NBA needs at the sponsorship level.
It’s not going to win you the lockout. But by God, it will erase the idea that you’re sniveling greedy overpaid millionaires who only care about the game as long as they’re paid. PS, if you market it right, you’re going to become the basketball version of the indy band everyone loves before they sign with a major label.