76ers Owner Harold Katz "hopes -- wishes, prays -- the NBA
players vote to accept the six-year collective bargaining
agreement that has been approved by the owners and the executive
board of the players association," according to Phil Jasner of
the PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS. Katz: "No one will know anything
until the vote is taken, but I'm assuming the deal will be
approved because we've given them everything they asked for. I
hope this goes through, because the alternative is not good, in
fact it's nightmarish to even think about. ... The players have
seen the books. We've shown them everything. Anyone who has
seen the books know (the players) have a very fair share"
(PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 8/22).
NEWS FROM CANADA: Agent Jeff Austin, on next week's
decertification election: "It's going to be damn close. A lot
of my clients believe strongly in decertification, but a lot of
them want to take the deal, too, to avoid the risk of the season
being lost. The majority vote will be decided on how many
players show up and from which side" (Michael Clarkson, TORONTO
STAR, 8/23). Grizzlies GM Stu Jackson: "I may eat my words, but
my sense is that the players will ratify the agreement. Talking
to the other general managers in the league and getting a sense
from things you hear and read, I think the tide has turned. ...
My sense is that the players don't want to see basketball not be
played this year. They're very cognizant of the situation that
happened in hockey and baseball and most of them don't want that.
It's a real credit to their knowledge of the sports world around
them" (Gary Kingston, VANCOUVER SUN, 8/23). In a story on the
unveiling of Vancouver's GM Place, Daphne Bramham of the
VANCOUVER SUN writes, "If the labor dispute continues, [Grizzlies
Owner Arthur] Griffiths said it will cost the Grizzlies 'lots.'
How much, he said, is almost impossible to estimate" (VANCOUVER
SUN, 8/23).
