NBPA Exec Dir Billy Hunter gives his "first exclusive
interview" since the end of the lockout to the CHICAGO SUN-
TIMES' Lacy Banks and said he is "pleased" that "many
players are maxing out in their respective salary
categories." In looking at the new CBA, Hunter said, "Too
much focus is always placed on high-end players. What
pleases us most is how all the other guys are benefiting."
Hunter also calls rumors of friction between he and NBPA
President Patrick Ewing "bull," and also notes that his job
"is not in jeopardy." Hunter, on the WNBA negotiations for
a CBA: "We're obviously going to strike a deal with some
issues that we think are important. But the reality is we
don't have the (financial) staying power. So there is no
great mystery here. We are anxious to get an agreement the
women can live with" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 2/10).
THEY STILL DO LOVE THIS GAME? In Oakland, Carl Steward
noted strong attendance numbers during the NBA's opening
weekend, and wrote that the free-ticket preseason strategy
created "a perception that demand for the product was still
very high [and] it was also a nice cheap way to say, 'We're
sorry.'" Steward: "If the NBA can make the same quick
amends with its more casual TV audience, it will have worked
a miracle resurrection" (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 2/9)....In
Vancouver, Lowell Ullrich wrote that it was "hard to find
much fan backlash" at the Grizzlies home opener on Monday,
and that "for the most part, you had fans happy the NBA was
back" (PROVINCE, 2/9)....In Minneapolis, Terry Collins
writes that attendance for the T-Wolves home opener was
announced at 16,422 and despite 2,500 empty seats,
"basketball was alive and well in the Twin Cities." MN Gov.
Jesse Ventura, addressing the crowd: "It's about time!"
(STAR TRIBUNE, 2/10)....In Atlanta, Steve Hummer questions
if a shorter season and more affordable seats is a "short-
term solution or shining model for the future for the NBA"
(ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 2/10)....In Dallas, Tim Cowlishaw
writes that given a choice, "most fans would take a 50-game
regular season over 82 games, especially given the price of
the modern ticket." Cowlishaw: "But when those Finals
arrive in June and there's no Jordan ... that's when the
game will feel the impact of his exit" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS,
2/10). The Suns streak of consecutive home sellouts ended
at 390 on Tuesday. Suns VP/Corporate Sales Harvey Shank:
"The lockout is a factor, and the fact we have been sold out
so long makes a lot of people [think] there aren't any
tickets" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 2/10).
STILL WORK TO BE DONE IN CANADA? The Raptors sold
14,577 tickets to their home opener last night, but Donovan
Vincent writes that there were "yawning patches of empty
seats." Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment VP & GM Robert
Hunter: "To get those opening numbers on an opening night
here, we're quite pleased" (TORONTO STAR, 2/10). Also in
Toronto, Chris Young writes that there were "empty swatches
of gold and red seats" at the team's home opener. Young:
"The league's propaganda machine and its NBC partners in
malarkey were sending out the message with everything but a
sledgehammer: the fans are back. ... But there's just one
thing. The fans aren't back" (TORONTO STAR, 2/10). In
Canada's MARKETING MAGAZINE, Corporate Marketing Associate's
Senior Dir Michael Lysko writes a "Commentary" on the NBA in
Canada. Since the Raptors and Grizzlies arrived in '95, the
NBA brand "has been so poorly managed that even the pre-
lockout momentum ... may not have been enough to salvage the
game in Canada." Lysko: "Almost from the moment the
franchises were granted, the clubs seemed to squander the
goodwill the league had built" (MARKETING MAGAZINE, 2/8).