The NBA announced a new television deal on Monday that is worth $24 billion over the next nine years, which will be greatly beneficial to owners. But players aren't too excited about the deal and some of the league's biggest stars are making their opinions known.
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SBNation reports that Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant spoke out against the deal on his Twitter account, saying it is hypocritical how players are criticized for wanting maximum money while owners get to benefit off a sizeable deal like this one:
Per the new deal, ESPN and TNT retained the rights to show NBA games through the 2024-25 season. Bryant wasn't the only player to question why players should have their salary capped as Kevin Durant also commented on the disparity:
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LeBron James spoke about the deal on Monday, saying he thinks the Players Association should begin negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement sooner rather than later as both sides can opt out of the current deal after the 2016-17 season.
"At the end of the day, we will negotiate," James said, according to ESPN. "We know it's going to happen at some point because our deal is ending soon. We would love to do it sooner than later. We don't want to it to happen like it happened last time when we went into a lockout."
In 2011, both sides failed to come to terms resulting in a 161-day lockout that ended in December of that year. While James doesn't have an official title in the Players Association, he said he will use his influence as the best player in the world to make sure players are properly compensated.
"I am kind of the guy that has the power, I guess, without even having to put a name on it," he said. "I'm very educated and I will use what I have to make sure our players are taken care of."
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