By N.J. Thompson

Note: The opinions below do not necessarily represent those of InsideHoops.com

Patrick Ewing was a warrior on the court and noble off the court. While there has been plenty of fanfare over his on-court career, I want to acknowledge his foresight and resolve off the court.

Remember the lock-out shortened season of 1998-1999? The representative for the players was none other than Patrick Ewing. Even though I was a huge fan of him as a player, I gained even more respect for him during that time. After being locked out and in dead-end negotiations with the owners for what should have been the first two months of the season, Patrick Ewing reluctantly presented the final offer of the NBA owners to the NBA Player's Union (many players were clamoring that the union reps and lawyers were dragging their feet, and that the players should be allowed to ratify whatever was on the table). Along with that league's offer came the owners' ultimatum that if this deal was not ratified, the season would be canceled. Only 5 players voted against the collective bargaining agreement - Patrick Ewing being the most vocal. Looking at the landscape of NBA transactions today, I think the case can be made that Patrick's vision of doom for the "little guy" is manifesting today. Basically, the "little guy" cut his own wrist that winter, and the premature ending of several careers will be the result.

As a Knick fan, I have great memories of Herb Williams, of Maurice Cheeks, of David Wingate, and of half-a-dozen other over-the-hill players at one time or another sitting at the end of the bench waiting to make a contribution. Many of them were former all-stars, but all of them were true professionals that gave the Knicks leadership in the locker room and had just enough left in the gas tank to help us out come playoff time when someone got hurt in foul trouble and they were called into service for a few minutes.

But I think those days are just about gone. One of the "benefits" the players got in that collective bargaining agreements was a "graduated league minimum", which was thought to raise the salary of the "average" player by increasing the minimum a player could make based on how many years he had played in the league. So while a rookie could be paid as little as (for instance) $400 thousand, a player with 10 years in the NBA could not be signed for less than $1 million. With the luxury tax now taking effect, the graduated league minimum will most likely shorten the careers of several of the guys who voted for that short-sighted stipulation. In essence, the players who fought so hard to make sure that the veteran players are fairly compensated made age discrimination financially prudent in the NBA. Ironic, but true.

Here is an example: The luxury tax stipulates that for every dollar a team exceeds the salary cap, that team must pay the league a dollar (so if team X has a $45 million payroll, they must pay the league an additional $5 million). The salary cap is about $40 million. If the general manager of team X has already signed 10 player for $39 million, he now has other factors in selecting who will be at the end of his bench. Is the general manager going to be inclined to sign 2 veterans making at least one million each (which will cost him upwards of a million in luxury tax money), or is going to pick to unheard of rookies from the USDL or somewhere that he can get for million combined (with no tax)? You guessed it, be prepared to see more "nobody's" in the league than ever. Instead of quality vets, be prepared untested players to fill out rosters from now on.

The net effect, well, like Big Pat predicted, today's "big guys" will get less money, and the "little guys" will have shorter careers. Which is appropriate for a group of guys who basically forfeit one third of the season, then signed essentially the same offer the owners had been making from the beginning. Guys like Mookie Blaylock and B.J. Armstrong may become less attractive then players like Tyson Wheeler and Pepe Sanchez. (If you are saying "Tyson Who" or "Pepe What" - that is exactly my point). Like Ewing said, those who had big contracts at the time (including Ewing's 4-year-$64-million deal with the Knicks) were not affected because their deals were already done. I wonder if he chuckles about that at all, an "I told you so" type of laugh. If I were him I would. He was willing to sit out a season - probably his last good season - for guys who just could not see this coming.

A noble man indeed.