HUNTER'S IN THE ARMY NOW; PLAYERS TALK OF BARNSTORMING TOUR

          NBPA Exec Dir Billy Hunter said he is "not worried
     about the league rattling its sabres about altering" the CBA
     this summer, according to Glenn Rogers of the SAN ANTONIO
     EXPRESS-NEWS.  Hunter: "First of all, I don't buy
     (Commissioner David) Stern's claim that the league is in
     financial trouble and that 15 or 16 teams are going to lose
     money this season.  Not after they just signed those new TV
     contracts worth billions of dollars.  Show us the books." 
     Hunter went on to say that the union is "a lot more
     organized" than it was during the owners lockout in '95. 
     Hunter: "Stern has an international army of 700 people. But
     I have an army of 350 players.  If the owners were to (fight
     us and lock us out) today, we'd take them to the wall.  We
     know we are the product" (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 1/7).
          ON TOUR: Jazz players met with a union rep on Wednesday
     to discuss labor strategies and talked of the possibility of
     staging games on their own if the owners lock them out,
     according to Michael Lewis of the SALT LAKE TRIBUNE.  Jazz
     player rep Chris Morris said that the union "has discussed
     hiring trainers on its own to help care for players if they
     decide to organize games themselves, but he did not provide
     any other specifics."  Lewis: "Intriguing as it might seem,
     the barnstorming idea Morris mentioned is probably not much
     more than public posturing" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 1/8).