Jordan: Trade Phil Jackson, Trade Me First!

"A hard salary cap?"

Billy Hunter let out a cold laugh and retorted without the slightest courtesy. "Mr. Gaston, are you trying to send the NBA back to the Stone Age? A player's value is determined by the market. They create enormous wealth and influence for you at the cost of their sweat, injuries, and even shortened careers. Now that you're making a fortune, you turn around and accuse the players of being paid too much?"

He rose to his feet, his voice echoing through the conference room. "And then there are Bird Rights. They are a cornerstone provision established by the league to reward loyalty and preserve team competitiveness. You want to eliminate them for no other reason than to further squeeze the players' value, so teams can recklessly replace veterans who devoted their entire youth to the franchise with cheap contracts! We will never accept that!"

"Billy, this isn't exploitation. It's for the healthier development of the league!"

Stern tried to ease the tension. "We need a business model with controllable, predictable costs. That benefits both the players and the owners."

"So this so-called 'healthy development' means the owners' profit margins?"

Ewing's hoarse voice rang out. As president of the Players Association, his calm gaze swept across every owner present. "What we see is you crying poverty while building ever more luxurious arenas and signing ever larger television deals. We have every reason to doubt your supposed loss figures."

The meeting reached a deadlock.

The owners refused to give an inch. They were determined to use these collective bargaining negotiations to completely reclaim the right to speak and establish a league order more favorable to management.

The players' side showed no sign of backing down either. Behind them stood hundreds, even thousands, of athletes who made their living