NBPA Exec Dir Billy Hunter said he will meet Tuesday in
New York with NBA Commissioner David Stern, according to Ira
Winderman of the Fort Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL. Hunter made
his remarks in South FL where he attended Alonzo Mourning's
weekend charity event, "Summer Grove," that culminated in
Sunday's exhibition game in Miami Arena. Hunter's meeting
with Stern will be the first between the two sides since
June 29. Hunter: "We're going to sit down and get some idea
of where we are." Hunter said he is prepared for lost games
at the start of the season: "Either of the two sides has to
feel some pain. The owners feel they've got to get a
lockout until January to achieve what they feel they have to
achieve. And we're not going to capitulate" (SUN-SENTINEL,
7/20). From Mourning's event in Miami, Stephen Smith of the
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER writes, "Resembling a politician
during campaign season, Hunter worked the room inside Miami
Arena, conversing with every player in sight. His message
was that collective resolve is mandatory if the players'
association doesn't want to get pummeled by the league"
(Stephen Smith, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 7/20).
PLAYERS REAX: Heat G Tim Hardaway, on the length of the
lockout and the players' solidarity: "I've got a good
feeling now, but as we get closer to the season, who knows?"
(MIAMI HERALD, 7/20). Heat F P.J. Brown: "I'm thinking this
thing may last up to the season -- or beyond." Sonics G
Gary Payton: "I'm thinking it'll be done by sometime in
September" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/20). Wizards F Juwan Howard, on
today's player salaries: "I didn't set the market, the
owners did. They paid it out." Payton: "I don't think that
the guys who haven't deserved anything, haven't won
championships, or haven't proven themselves in the NBA
should come out and get $20 million" (CNN, 7/19).
THE PR BATTLE: In Miami, Greg Cote writes, "Both sides
are substantially wrong here. ... The public relations
disaster slowly unfolding, by degrees, will be the onus of
the NBA players -- two thirds of whom are millionaires."
Cote adds, "The league needs a hard but escalating salary
cap without the Bird rule. On this, the owners are right."
(MIAMI HERALD, 7/20). In Fort Lauderdale, Mike Berardino
writes that the players "like to draw an analogy to what is
happening at General Motors, but they would be well-advised
to abandon that strategy. It's hard to muster sympathy for
coddled athletes with an average salary of $2.6 million.
They openly exacerbate the situation when they try to link
themselves with assembly-line workers making $15 an hour"
(SUN-SENTINEL, 7/20). A DETROIT NEWS editorial questioned
claims that teams are losing money while asking for public
subsidies and notes that the "only reasonable response is to
treat these consistently failing franchises like any other
unsuccessful business. Fold them up and distribute their
assets." As for a possible new players' league, the
editorial stated, "They are welcome to try, although it is
hard to see where they would play or how they could afford
to pay for themselves" (DETROIT NEWS, 7/18).
RESERVE FUND: Hunter told CBS SportsLine's Mike Kahn
that the NBPA has $6M in the bank, a commitment of support
from other players associations and a 20-person board of
player agents working on an alternative season televised on
Fox and/or CBS. Hunter: "If the owners are going to be
persistent with the lockout, we're well-financed for the
process. Besides the money we have in the bank, players will
turn over (individual) licensing money" (SportsLine, 7/18).
PLAYER BAN? NBA Deputy Commissioner and USA Basketball
President Russ Granik said that USAB is "considering a push
to exclude" NBA players from the Olympics after the problems
with the World Championship team. Granik: "The subject has
been raised" (BLOOMBERG BUSINESS NEWS, 7/19).
