In U.S. District Court of Manhattan yesterday, Judge
Barbara Jones "denied the N.B.A.'s motion to stay a
jurisdictional hearing by John Feerick regarding a request
for arbitration filed by the union two weeks ago," according
to Selena Roberts of the N.Y. TIMES. Roberts: "Last night,
Feerick listened to arguments for just over an hour
concerning whether he had jurisdiction to arbitrate a
grievance filed by the union on behalf of players whose
contracts call for them to be paid during the N.B.A.'s
owner-imposed lockout. Once Feerick decides the
jurisdictional issue, which could take a day or two, a
hearing on the merits of the case will be scheduled."
Following the union's request for arbitration, the NBA sued,
claiming that it should not have to pay salaries during the
lockout and that it should not have to go to arbitration.
The league also asked for Feerick to be removed as
arbitrator, saying his term had expired (N.Y. TIMES, 7/31).
ONE PLAYER FOR A CAP: Hornets G David Wesley told Dwain
Price of the FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM that he is not against
the league establishing a hard cap: "Even if you make $15
million for five years, that's a lot of money, and we have
to understand that. I think as players we have to
understand that we have to put a cap on salaries. You'll
always have those guys in the league that say, 'You can't
put a cap on this because I'm bigger than that.' But you
can't be bigger than the league. The league is made up of
(348 active) player, so you can't be thinking about just
yourself." But teammate Bobby Phills said, "We're going to
stand hard on the Larry Bird exception, because that allows
you to get paid your true value" (STAR-TELEGRAM, 7/31).
CASE DISMISSED: The TIMES' Selena Roberts reports that
Federal District Judge Vaughn Walker dismissed a $30M suit
filed by Latrell Sprewell against the NBA, in which Sprewell
claimed that his civil rights had been violated as a result
of his season-long suspension delivered last December (N.Y.
TIMES, 7/31). The AP's Bob Egelko reports that Walker "left
room for the suit to be revived, giving Sprewell's attorneys
30 days to tie their legal claims more closely to the facts
of the case. But Walker said they should seriously consider
dropping the matter" (AP/DETROIT NEWS, 7/31). Sprewell,
after the ruling: "We're going to be taking a look at the
suit. We will see if we can find some ways to hang our hat
on some of the things that the judge raised questions about.
If it doesn't look like we can do that, I'd be inclined to
let it go" (Bill Wallace, S.F. CHRONICLE, 7/31).
