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Leagues and Governing Bodies

HUNTER CALLS FOR COMPROMISE; MORE NBA REFS INVESTIGATED?

          NBPA Exec Dir Billy Hunter continued to call on NBA
     Commissioner David Stern to revisit the league's one-year
     suspension of Latrell Sprewell.  Hunter: "I don't think it's
     an issue of backing down or looking bad.  It's about
     ensuring the success and longevity of this league."  More
     Hunter: "We hope the commissioner might be inclined to
     revisit so that we don't have to engage in any more
     bloodletting. That may prove even more detrimental not only
     to Latrell but probably moreso to Coach Carlesimo and the
     NBA.  I think the league will take a hit on this" (USA
     TODAY, 12/15).  Stern, asked by the N.Y. POST's Peter Vecsey
     if the league would compromise on the suspension: "I'm
     locked into nothing and precluded from nothing" (N.Y. POST,
     12/14).  In N.Y., Mitch Lawrence wrote Stern "becomes a
     coward if he backs down" from the suspension.  He added the
     league "scored a huge PR win" in suspending Sprewell. 
     Lawrence: "Now, it's going to reverse itself and subject
     itself up to a torrent of negative criticism?  The fallout
     would make Stern a laughingstock" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 12/14). 
          AROUND THE LEAGUE: In his ESPN SportsZone column, David
     Aldridge called on Charles Barkley to continue his threat of
     a player boycott of the All-Star Game.  Aldridge: "I think
     it would have been great for the All-Stars to force the
     league's hand. The power these young men have is incredible,
     yet they never seem to realize it" (SportsZone, 12/14).  In
     N.Y., Mike Wise wrote the Sprewell incident "further
     polarized a league headed for turbulent times.  As the two
     sides move toward labor negotiations next year, the divide
     grows."  MSG President Dave Checketts: "It could be divisive
     down the road if we allow it to be" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/14).
          SPREWELL NOTES: In Tampa, Bill Fay criticized the
     staging of Sprewell's press conference: "Lining the table
     with lawyers while six teammates stand behind you like hired
     bodyguards smacks of confrontation, not conciliation.  Hard
     to feel any sympathy when Latrell and his team were striking
     an 'Us Against Them' pose up on stage" (TAMPA TRIBUNE,
     12/14)....In L.A., Mark Heisler wrote that the NBPA's Billy
     Hunter is "the one man gaining stature in this mess."  He
     was "an unknown when it started, but he's the best reason
     the defense veered away from a race-based argument" (L.A.
     TIMES, 12/14)....Kermit Washington, who was fined a "then-
     record" $10,000 and suspended 60 days for punching Rudy
     Tomjanovich in '77, said Sprewell should "get rid" of
     Johnnie Cochran as his "presence ... makes its seem to many
     middle type of people that Latrell is trying to get away
     with something" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 12/12).
          MORE REF PROBLEMS? In N.Y., Mitch Lawrence reported
     that "the bad news isn't going to stop for the NBA.  League
     sources say that the IRS is going to bust 15-20 more
     referees in their Travel-gate investigation and that the
     feds plan on making a big splash by announcing the
     indictments" over February's All-Star weekend.  Two refs,
     George Tolliver and Hank Armstrong, "who were suspended in
     the probe" have taken settlements from the league and both
     will be paid $110,000 (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 12/14).
          A TIRED ACT? The NBA has "done away with the slam-dunk
     contest" around its All-Star Weekend, according to Mike Wise
     of the N.Y. TIMES.  The contest will be replaced by Two
     Ball, in which an WNBA player and an NBA player compete
     against other pairs (N.Y. TIMES, 12/14).

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