An NBA committee is "discussing a plan that could save
the owners of some high-salaried teams millions by
grandfathering in the salaries" of NBA players like Lakers C
Shaquille O'Neal and T'Wolves F Kevin Garnett "for the
purpose of calculating a special owners tax," according to
Liz Mullen of the SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The plan "would
benefit teams," such as the Lakers and T'Wolves, that signed
players to lucrative deals before the recent CBA, which set
maximum salaries for players (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 2/21).
STERN WARNING? In San Diego, Nick Canepa wrote on the
state of the NBA, and noted that Commissioner David Stern
"was given an awful lot of credit for the NBA's rise. I
don't know if he's taking bows for what's happening now.
Attendance is down. TV ratings are down. Ticket prices are
playing above the rim" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/19). In
UT, Rich Evans wrote that Stern is "in denial" about the
league's drop in popularity (DESERET NEWS, 2/20). On "The
Sports Reporters," Bill Conlin said the league has "too many
teams. Too many meaningless games. Too many kids who came
out early who should be getting themselves well-known in
college. A lot of trouble for the NBA right now." But
William Rhoden responded, "The game is not in trouble. The
game is probably better than it has ever been. ... I think
what the NBA has to learn to do is learn how to reinvent and
remarket itself." Rhoden: "What's happened to the NBA is
people are beginning to see [skin] color in a way that they
have never seen it before. ... The great miracle about
[Michael] Jordan was that here was a black guy, but we made
you look at somebody who was not black. He is neutral. Now
what you're seeing is a whole group of young people who are
bringing their culture into the game, not necessarily
concerned with neutralizing themselves" (ESPN, 2/20).
