NBA teams will continue to receive TV rights payments
from their network partners for up to a full season, which
"is the best reason for thinking that the NBA season will not
start on schedule next fall," according to Glenn Dickey of
the S.F. CHRONICLE. That fund "makes a dandy little war
chest" if CBA negotiations stall, and "in a labor fight,
groups do not put together contingency funds unless they
expect to use them." Dickey writes that while he has "some
sympathy" for NBA owners because of the "huge salaries" they
must pay their stars, he writes that "they've created many of
their own problems," with their decision not to share gate
revenue, implementation of a rookie salary cap and the Larry
Bird exemption. The "one glimmer of hope" in the talks is
that both NBA Commissioner David Stern and NBPA Exec Dir
Billy Hunter are "reasonable men interested in making a deal,
not posturing." But Dickey notes some of the rhetoric from
both sides and adds, "Sounds like war to me. I guess we
should be thankful for small favors: They'll be stopping the
games at the start of the season, not on the verge of the
season's climax, as baseball did" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 5/14).
JUST ASK PUDDY: In Sacramento, R.E. Graswich wrote under
the header, "As NBA Declines, Baseball Is On Rise." He wrote
that predicting the NBA's demise has become "fashionable,"
and it's now "hip to talk about the troubles of a league that
not long ago was ground zero of hipness." He added that the
NBA "holds its breath and tries to sell us Kobe Bryant. TV
ratings are in decline. Overall attendance is flat" (BEE,
5/13). In Columbus, Rob Oller compares the NHL and NBA
postseasons and writes the NHL provides closer games and more
"upset potential." Oller: "Both the NHL and NBA reinvent
themselves come playoff time, but only the NHL comes out
better the second time around" (DISPATCH, 5/14).
