In his Sunday N.Y. POST NBA column, Peter Vecsey wrote,
"I'm getting an unmistakable sense from those in the know
that the NBA's inescapable lockout of its players will
result in the cancellation of games for the first time in
league history." He added that "many normally optimistic
team executives are convinced the league will remain dormant
long into next season, perhaps obliterate the entire 1998-99
schedule." While "both sides appear uncommonly eager for a
fight," Vecsey wrote that "[a]lmost everyone in management"
feels that "until the players lose a month's wages, the
negotiations won't start for real; then they'll quickly
cave." For NBA Commissioner David Stern, "this is his
conclusive chance to gain control again," and Vecsey wrote
that he's told Stern is taking the "confrontation" with NBPA
Exec Dir Billy Hunter "very personally." Vecsey: "Obtaining
minor concessions and negligible compromises don't excite
him. ... Anything less than domination will [qualify] as a
failure, that's Stern's attitude" (N.Y. POST, 4/19).
BRING ON THE FIGHT: In Boston, Peter May: "Maybe it's
fitting that the NBA is going to close down for business
this summer. Maybe a state of collective amnesia will
descend over everyone and wipe away ... a most forgettable
season." Attendance on paper "looked solid, but anyone
attending an NBA game saw many, many seats that look to be
unoccupied. ... Bring on the lockout" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/19).
