I don't see where it's even implied that
what product an athlete endorses has shit to do with promoting the league. My point is, exposure through commercials and ads--ANY commercials and ads--does more to bring attention to the league than talking to the press after a game does. If you watch the commercials these guys are in, they're almost ALWAYS showing them playing basketball, with an implication that they use the product(Gatorade and Nike commercials especially put the sport in the forefront of their ads).
And let's not forget, the league runs its own commercials and spots all the fucking time. You know, "I love this game!" Just try and tell me that those don't bring more exposure than forced, paint by numbers press conferences. I also made the point that no matter what, the media will report on these leagues, regardless of how the players treat them. I mean, there's been more reporting on Payton not talking than there has been on anything he's said all season, so your argument gets completely lost here. Dennis Rodman and Michael Jordan snubbed post-game conferences all the time, and it didn't do anything to make the press stop reporting on them and the public stop paying attention to them.
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That's because they know who's right in that matter.
So, you know for a fact why the players union wouldn't protest fines like that? Got them on speed dial or something?
Maybe it's because the fines are so small and are only given to players making multi-multi-millions of dollars('cause, who else would the media be waiting to talk to after a game, Paul Shirley?), there's no point in protesting. Or maybe it's because the league still lets them get away with doing as much pot as they want, so they won't risk pissing anyone off over something as trivial as $5,000 fines. I don't know why the union doesn't mind the fines, and I don't care. Post-game press conferences don't do shit in promoting the league, and both sides probably know it.
