Magic Johnson: Contraction Might Improve the NBA

Filed under: NBA Rumors

David Stern spent a portion of his season tip-off conference call with the media last week discussing the in-progress labor negotiations, which in the very worst case might lead to a lockout ahead of the 2011-12 season. Part of the conversation involved the subject of contraction, a sensitive one not only for the small market cities who might be in jeopardy of losing a team, but also for the league at large when considering its overall viability and growth as both a sport and a profitable enterprise.



"The issue of contraction is one that has to be discussed in the context of collective bargaining with the players, whether if there are markets where there may not be buyers for teams that are looking to be sold, that raises the issue of contraction," Stern said. "But it's a sensitive subject for me because I've spent 27 years in this job working very hard not only to maintain all of our teams but along the way add a few.



"I think that's a subject that will be on the table with the players as we look to see what's the optimum way to present our game, and are there cities and teams that cannot make it in the current economic environment. I'm not spending a lot of time on it."

 

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Full story at http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/10/24/magic-johnson-contraction-might-improve-the-nba/