The NBPA will not vote on the CBA that the owners ratified
on Friday, but rather NBPA Exec Dir Simon Gourdine said he would
attempt to contact NBA Commissioner David Stern today "to request
a new round of talks with the league," according to this
morning's N.Y. POST. NBA spokesperson Jan Hubbard "said the
league likely would not take any action on the labor front until
Thursday at the earliest." The draft will be held tomorrow in
Toronto. The N.Y. POST's Thomas Hill reports "significant
opposition" among the players to the luxury tax. Gourdine: "It
is clear that without a major fix on the tax, it is not a
proposal that we would put to a vote" (N.Y. POST, 6/27). Stern
told the N.Y. TIMES that no plans had been made to resume
negotiations (Murray Chass, N.Y. TIMES, 6/27).
DECERTIFICATION ROLLS ON: The NLRB is proceeding with plans
for a July 5 hearing on decertification of the players' union,
according to Murray Chass in this morning's N.Y. TIMES. Since
Friday's meeting of player reps, where it was decided to reopen
talks on certain points, NBPA Exec VP Charles Smith "has been
saying that the threat to terminate the union as the players'
collective bargaining representative no longer exists." Chass
notes, "But no one else has echoed that view." Jeffrey Kessler,
the attorney representing the 17 players seeking decertification:
"Charles Smith is completely wrong. To my knowledge, not a
single player in the NBA has indicated he wants to take back his
position." Kessler was proceeding "full speed ahead" with
decertification, hoping to attain signed notices from more than
50% of NBA players (N.Y. TIMES, 6/27).
NO ANSWERS BY DRAFT DAY: Noting that it is a "guessing
game" as to what teams will be able to pay draftees and how free
agents will fit into their plans, ARIZONA REPUBLIC's Lee Shappell
describes NBA team execs as "exasperated." Suns Player Personnel
Dir Dick Van Arsdale: "It's very confusing. So much is up in
the air right now because of what the players have done" (ARIZONA
REPUBLIC, 6/27).
