Mistrust the Process

The billionaire owners of the Philadelphia 76ers cut employees' pay not two weeks into the NBA shutdown.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

---

Workers on Their Way Home, Edvard Munch

The NBA either has a new vulture villain, or a nasty trendsetter.

Marc Stein @TheSteinLine

Sixers and Devils at-will employees were informed today that temporary salary reductions of up to 20 percent will be instituted for employees making more than $50,000 starting April 15 through the end of June, @NYTSports has learned

This does not impact players, but GM Elton Brand agreed to participate and …

Marc Stein @TheSteinLine

Contracted employees, such as members of the Sixers' coaching staff and front office, have also been asked to participate in the program but cannot be forced to do so, according to a person briefed on the situation who was not authorized to discuss it publicly

The important context:

Yaron Weitzman @YaronWeitzman

Josh Harris is worth $3.8 billion. David Blitzer is worth $1.3 billion.

Marc Stein @TheSteinLine

The Sixers and Devils consider this a temporary measure aimed at avoiding layoffs and, according to the person, have not reduced any health or 401K benefits for the teams' employees. It was not immediately known if any other NBA teams have instituted a similar program

Harris and Blitzer are the lead partners of the group that owns the Sixers and NHL’s Devils.

Twitter sleuths have determined that the Sixers have about 500 employees. If they made an average salary of $75,000, Harris and Blitzer are saving about $625,000 a month in expenses from this 20% cut. I know that having three commas in net worth doesn’t mean you can withstand any financial hit. I understand the concept of worth vs. liquid assets and all of that.

But you cannot convince me that dudes worth a combined $5 billion are unable to keep their employees whole not two f—king weeks into a generational crisis. Small business owners across the country are burning through savings and using loans against their homes and businesses in efforts to retain their employees through this crisis until the federal government gets some assistance out.

I’m not saying Harris and Blitzer have the cash sitting around to cover the losses right now. But if they wanted to take care of the people hawking season tickets and partnerships and running charitable giving and social media and the trainers and equipment managers and everyone who makes the Sixers work, they could. Without question.

I never asked for nothin' I don't demand of myself
Honesty, loyalty, friends and then wealth
Death before dishonor and I tell you what else
I tighten my belt 'fore I beg for help

What worries me is that Harris and Blitzer were comfortable being ghouls already at this point. Like I said, we’re not two f—king weeks into this crisis. The NBA suspended the season on March 11. And already one of the wealthiest ownership groups in the league is slicing up employees’ paychecks to cover expected losses. Is this the start of a trend? Have Harris and Blitzker created a permission structure by which other NBA franchisees will now act?

Or can Harris and Blitzker be sufficiently shamed such that other teams’ ownership groups stay the hell away from acts like this?

Here’s to hoping.

Meanwhile, why are billionaires so bad at PR?

Marc Stein @TheSteinLine

The Sixers and Devils, through Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment CEO Scott O’Neil, have confirmed @NYTSports’ report earlier tonight of salary reductions for full-time employees in both organizations with the following statement:

“In addition to supporting our people …” — no no no, you don’t get to claim that when you give “your people” 20 percent paycuts off the rip. And if you do decide it’s necessary you don’t implement or announce the paycuts before you have these “additional partnerships in Philadelphia, Camden and Newark” ready to go — you’d better have your good deeds in hand when word gets out about the bad.

---

An Alternate Model

Here’s a billionaire NBA franchisee who seems to be doing the right thing over and over again: Mark Cuban. Here’s a great rundown from Mavs Moneyball.

Cuban was the first team owner to announce arena and event staff would be paid as if the regular season had not been suspended. He agreed to reimburse staff for expenses at local restaurants in an effort to keep some Dallas joints going. And under his direction, the Mavericks have been doing some extraordinary, focused giving to food banks all over North Texas and ensuring nurses and medical personnel under enormous stress are getting fed.

Unlike Harris and Blitzer, Cuban isn’t focused on cutting expenses to maximize the preservation of his immense wealth. He’s trying to figure out how to use his immense wealth to maximize the help he can give.

Let’s hope he’s the example other franchisees follow.

---

Word to Kyrie Irving

kyrieirving

Thank you all for the birthday love, I’m extremely grateful for the support. Seeing the effects of COVID-19 reach our loved ones, our schools, our jobs, and access to food has really impacted me. I am excited to partner with @feedingamerica and @lineagelogistics to launch the Share A Meal campaign to help marginalized communities get the food resources they require during this time, and to work with our local partner @cityharvestnyc to distribute 250k meals to my neighbors in need across the NY area. In addition to that I am donating $323k to Feeding America and @lineagelogistics will match $200k of what we raise together.  I am asking my fans, friends, family and partners to join me in helping our communities by donating at the link in my bio. Thank you to everyone on the front line working to keep all of us safe, healthy, and fed. Together we can change the world one small gesture at a time.

March 23, 2020

---

Ziller Language School: Day 2

Thanks for the corrections in the comments yesterday. For Day 2, in honor of Carmelo Anthony and directed toward the Sixers ownership group, let’s learn some weird approximation of “get the f—k outta here!”

Spanish: ¡Vete de aquí, lo tengo!

Chinese: Gǔndàn, wǒ míngbáile!

French: Foutez le camp d'ici, je l'ai!

German: Verschwinde von hier, ich habe es verstanden!

Hindi: Bhaad mein jao yahaan se, mujhe mil gaya!

Russian: Ubiraysya otsyuda, ya ponyal!

Turkish: Siktir git buradan, anladım!

Slovenian: Pojdi ven, dobil sem ga!

Portuguese: Vaza já daqui, Xispa! — Abrigado, Pedro!

Latin: Et irrumabo adepto de hic et obtinuit eam!

Icelandic: Fáðu fjandann héðan, ég hef það!

---

Shout Out to Quincy Douby

Wow, Quincy Douby was a few years too early, wasn’t he?

He entered the league in ‘06 — almost a decade before the three-point boom — and was out by ‘09. The Kings were an absolute wreck at the time and slotted him as a point guard in part because Sacramento desperately needed a point guard after shipping Mike Bibby off for cap space and because the Kings had Kevin Martin, John Salmons and Francisco Garcia, all true shooting guards. Quincy Douby was in no way, shape or form an NBA point guard. Alas …

He once scored 75 in the Chinese league.

My favorite Quincy Douby anecdote that I can’t find a citation for right now is that he got an offer from Rutgers via a shooting exhibition he did while wearing a puffy winter coat. There has never been a basketball player who played more like he was wearing a puffy winter coat than Quincy Douby.

Shout out to Quincy Douby.

---

Thanks for your support. Be excellent to each other.