00:00Do you think the rising valuations are appropriately reflected in how players are getting paid?
00:06Or do you think something needs to change in that formula to reflect just how lucrative these teams have become?
00:15My answer is no.
00:16What I think needs to change, I think players should, and this is one of the things I was mentioning that causes some of the frustration,
00:21I think players should be able to invest alongside in ownership groups and business opportunities.
00:27I don't understand why that's ever been a thing, but it's like you're an athlete and they make it seem like they can control how much wealth or growth that you can actually accumulate.
00:39I think that's wrong.
00:40I also think that just like any other major corporation, like when you are, if you work for Apple or if you work for Nike or if you work for anywhere,
00:51like if you're a CEO, if you're someone that's been on the board for a large amount of time, you get equity in a company at some point.
01:00Like you are a part of it.
01:01And I think athletes should be looked at in the same way.
01:05Like you play for the Celtics for 20 years.
01:08Like you should get a piece of equity because you helped accumulate the growth, you know,
01:15and that's the part that gets lost in translation is the growth from an organization, you know,
01:22a growth from a company or a corporation, you know, the sweat equity that you put in.
01:28You get compensated just like for doing your job, but you don't get compensated for the growth.
01:34And in major corporations and companies, you do, or at least some of the big ones, you know.
01:39So that's something that, you know, I would propose.
01:44I have proposed, but, you know, we'll see.
01:48We've got another CBA coming up.
01:50I mean, this is an idea that's gained a lot of traction recently in private equity, too.
01:55You know, Pete Stavros at KKR has been a big proponent of this, that if you give rank and file employees, players,
02:01whatever it might be, equity, they'll care more about the success of the company.
02:06They'll be more invested in it.
02:07But you said, you know, it's something you proposed.
02:10Do you feel like it is gaining more traction among other players?
02:13Do you hear it talked about more among your colleagues?
02:15No.
02:17I think the NBA shuts it down any chance they get.
02:19I mean, when it comes down to it, it's all about leverage.
02:23And as players, we're still building our leverage, getting on the same page.
02:29So, you know, even if it's the right idea, if it's the right thing to do,
02:32it won't matter to the NBA unless we all come on to the same page.
02:36They're not going to do it unless we tell them this is what we want.
02:39So from a player's standpoint, we just got to get more collectively on the same page.
02:44And I think the future is, you know, the possibilities are endless.
02:49But, you know, nobody wants to pay anybody these days.
02:55Everybody wants to, you know, take as much of the piece of the pot as they possibly can.
02:59And that's just how business in America and capitalism has worked.
03:05So until we can kind of, like, get on the same page and formulate what we want,
03:12when we want it, and how we want it to look, you know, nothing will change.
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