ESPN's David Aldridge noted the word "lockout" has
"reentered the NBA lexicon." He noted NBA Commissioner David
Stern is "furious" with the NBPA for failing to ratify the CBA
agreed to last fall -- when it had the opportunity to do so at
its recent Board of Governors meeting. According to an unnamed
team exec, while it has not been discussed at the league level, a
July 1 lockout would have the "added impact of punishing some of
the leading dissidents among players who voiced support for
decertification" last summer, including Michael Jordan and Alonzo
Mourning. Acting NBPA Exec Dir Alex English believes the league
does not have the legal standing to enforce a lockout, citing
upcoming court cases between the two later this month
("SportsCenter," 6/7). In Chicago, Lacy Banks notes neither
Stern nor Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik "saw fit to quash but
obliquely encouraged" rumors of a possible lockout. NBPA
attorney Jeffrey Kessler believes the league wants to "promote
the specter of a lockout to perhaps scare the players into
accepting a lot of new small print that tightens the salary cap
even more." Kessler, saying the players are wiser and "more
united" than ever: "There is no longer a faction at all, even
though Stern would like to create a new schism" (CHICAGO SUN-
TIMES, 6/9). In St. Petersburg, John Romano warns not to
prematurely congratulate the NBA for their labor peace: "The NBA
was so bright, we thought" (ST. PETE TIMES, 6/9). In Tampa, Bill
Fay writes agents are "ruining" basketball. Fay: "Basketball is
doing a fast break down the trail of ruin blazed for so many
years by baseball" (TAMPA TRIBUNE, 6/9).
THE A TEAM: Kessler announced his new 11-man negotiating
committee to finalize the CBA: B.J. Armstrong, Frank Brickowski,
Chris Dudley, Patrick Ewing, A.C. Green, Chuck Person, Olden
Polynice, Steve Smith, Brian Shaw, Mark West and Rex Walters
(CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 6/9).
LEN-DING A HAND: Agent Len Elmore wrote a guest column for
the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS on solutions to the number of
underclassman making themselves eligible for the NBA. Elmore
proposed his ideas for an alliance between the NBA, NBPA and the
NCAA (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 6/9).
