Mendelsohn combines exhaustive research and a smooth narrative to tell the complex story of the salary cap, full of remarkable characters, unpredictable twists, and unforgettable anecdotes. . . . Basketball and sports fans interested in what goes on behind their favorite team’s closed doors will find this an important and accessible account of the NBA’s salary cap and how it has affected professional sports, for better or worse. A unique history.”—Library Journal
“To follow the NBA one must follow the money. To follow the money and to understand how and why players earn the staggering sums they do, intricate knowledge of the league’s labyrinthian salary cap is required. In The Cap Joshua Mendelsohn delivers a most comprehensive and well-written history and breakdown of the NBA’s economic bylaws and, in effect, a compelling evolutionary tale of the professional game, its principal characters, and the guiding fiscal policies behind its explosive global growth.”—Harvey Araton, author of When the Garden Was Eden
"A legal thriller, a close account of the tortuous 10-month negotiations, in the mid-1980s, for the big play that eventually put both the NBA's players and the owners in the win column."—David M. Shribman, Wall Street Journal
Today the salary cap is an NBA institution, something fans take for granted as part of the fabric of the league or an obstacle to their favorite team's chances to win a championship. In the early 1980s, however, a salary cap was not only novel but nonexistent. The Cap tells the fascinating, behind-the-scenes story of the deal between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association that created the salary cap in 1983, the first in all of sports, against the backdrop of a looming players' strike on one side and threatened economic collapse on the other.
Joshua Mendelsohn illustrates how the salary cap was more than just professional basketball's economic foundation-it was a grand bargain, a compromise meant to end the chaos that had gripped the sport since the early 1960s. The NBA had spent decades in a vulnerable position financially and legally, unique in professional sports. It entered the 1980s badly battered, something no one knew better than a few legendary NBA figures: Larry Fleisher, general counsel and negotiator for the National Basketball Players Association; Larry O'Brien, the commissioner; and David Stern, who led negotiations for the NBA and would be named the commissioner a few months after the salary cap deal was reached.
The Cap explores in detail not only the high-stakes negotiations in the early 1980s but all the twists and turns through the decades that led the parties to reach a salary cap compromise. It is a compelling story that involves notable players, colorful owners, visionary league and union officials, and a sport trying to solidify a bright future despite a turbulent past and present. This is a story missing from the landscape of basketball history.
Today the salary cap is an NBA institution, something fans take for granted as part of the fabric of the league or an obstacle to their favorite team's chances to win a championship. In the early 1980s, however, a salary cap was not only novel but nonexistent. The Cap tells the fascinating, behind-the-scenes story of the deal between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association that created the salary cap in 1983, the first in all of sports, against the backdrop of a looming players' strike on one side and threatened economic collapse on the other.
Joshua Mendelsohn illustrates how the salary cap was more than just professional basketball's economic foundation-it was a grand bargain, a compromise meant to end the chaos that had gripped the sport since the early 1960s. The NBA had spent decades in a vulnerable position financially and legally, unique in professional sports. It entered the 1980s badly battered, something no one knew better than a few legendary NBA figures: Larry Fleisher, general counsel and negotiator for the National Basketball Players Association; Larry O'Brien, the commissioner; and David Stern, who led negotiations for the NBA and would be named the commissioner a few months after the salary cap deal was reached.
The Cap explores in detail not only the high-stakes negotiations in the early 1980s but all the twists and turns through the decades that led the parties to reach a salary cap compromise. It is a compelling story that involves notable players, colorful owners, visionary league and union officials, and a sport trying to solidify a bright future despite a turbulent past and present. This is a story missing from the landscape of basketball history.
The Cap: How Larry Fleisher and David Stern Built the Modern NBA
The Cap: How Larry Fleisher and David Stern Built the Modern NBA
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Editorial Reviews
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940178927366 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | University of Nebraska Press |
| Publication date: | 10/24/2020 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
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