"The NBA could be on the verge of using more replacement
refs than ever," writes Phil Jasner in this morning's
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. "Or it could be close to striking a new
deal with the locked-out regular staff. Sounds more like the
former than the latter." NBA Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik
said a third replacement official will be added to current two-
man crews beginning December 4 should the NBRA reject the
league's latest offer. That offer, a five-year deal, would give
the refs an average pay increase of 10%, with an immediate raise
of 17%. The proposal, including playoffs, puts starting
officials pay at $85,000, up from $68,000 last year and the
original '95 salary of $74,000, neither of which includes
playoffs. Top officials would receive $261,000 -- up from
$177,000 last year and the scheduled rate of $201,000. NBRA
General Counsel Fred Slaughter said linking regular-season and
playoff pay is "matching apples with kumquats." He also noted
the league rejected the refs' compromise offer of a four-year
deal. Commissioner David Stern said the league has asked union
officials to put the offer to a vote of the membership.
Slaughter: "The membership told us to come back to them when we
had a deal. This doesn't sound very good" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY
NEWS, 11/17). The TORONTO SUN quotes Slaughter as saying the
"major single problem" is the length of the deal (Craig Daniels,
TORONTO SUN, 11/17). Slaughter: "The NBA has, in the some 40
days that we've been doing this, have moved from a 6% average per
year over a five-year period to just about 9.5% average per year
over a five-year period. ... That snail-pace approach, that's not
gonna get it done" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 11/16).
FROM THE SIDELINES: In Milwaukee, Michael Bauman calls the
performance of replacement refs "a joke" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL
SENTINEL, 11/17). In Minneapolis, Dan Barreiro credits Stern's
ability to "get things done": "Well, it's time for the
commissioner to work his magic again" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE,
11/17). SPORTS ILLUSTRATED's "Scorecard": "Attention,
commissioner David Stern: Your game is going down the tubes."
SI sees Stern in an "absurd power struggle" with the refs, and
accuses him and the NBA of "pettiness and paranoia" in
controlling images of on-court violence during the replacements'
tenure (SI, 11/20).
