The negotiations between the NBA and NBPA for a new CBA are not "just over money," but also the length of a new agreement, according to Marc Berman of the N.Y. POST. A league source said that during the most recent negotiation last Thursday, the union "raised the length of its proposal" to make it a six-year CBA. The owners, however, are "holding firm at 10 years and did not budge Thursday with a counteroffer, leaving the gap at four years." The league source indicated that the NBPA is "vehemently opposed to locking itself into a 10-year deal because the new television contracts will dawn in six years and revenues are expected to soar." Berman notes the two sides "likely won't meet until around July 15." The league and union are "talking this week, but only over audits to compute the luxury tax for this past season, the final year of the expired CBA" (N.Y. POST, 7/6). Legal experts believe that the NFL's "four-month-long labor dispute and ongoing antitrust case would play a key role in determining the next steps in pro basketball's labor stoppage." They said that NBA players could await the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling on the NFL lockout, "or proceed to decertify themselves and file their own antitrust suit against the NBA in a more favorable federal court setting." NBPA Exec Dir Billy Hunter and his legal advisors are "closely watching for the 8th Circuit ruling in the NFL case, and both the NFL and NBA players groups have New York attorney Jeffrey Kessler as a counsel." Boston Univ. law professor Michael Harper said that if the NBA players "file an antitrust case it's likely to be in a more employee-friendly section of the country, such as Northern California or New York City" (L.A. TIMES, 7/2). Sources indicated that NBA players "must be well aware that the courts are perhaps their best and only option if they want to get back on the court" before '12 (BOSTON HERALD, 7/2).
LEAGUE DISPUTES REPORT: The NBA is "disputing a report questioning its financial losses, saying the estimates used as the basis of the article 'do not reflect reality.'" A N.Y. Times blog post written by Nate Silver titled "Calling Foul on NBA's Claims of Financial Distress" called the NBA "fundamentally a healthy and profitable business." The report, based on estimates prepared by Forbes and Financial World magazines, claimed that the league had an "estimated operating income of $183 million in 2009-10, making a 5 to 7 percent profit during the life of the collective bargaining agreement that expired last week." NBA Senior VP/Marketing Communications Mike Bass asserted the information is inaccurate, saying Forbes "does not have the financial data for our teams and the magazine's estimates do not reflect reality." The NBPA "has frequently questioned the league's financials, saying it believes there were losses but not anywhere near what the NBA has stated." But Bass contends that the league "never had a positive net or operating income in the last CBA and that 11 teams had net losses" of more than $20M in the '09-10 season (AP, 7/5). The blog has been updated to include the NBA's response. NBA Senior VP/Basketball Communications Tim Frank said that the league lost $340M during the '09-10 season. He added, "The information from Forbes that serves as the basis for this article is inaccurate and we do not know how they do their calculations." Silver generally writes for the N.Y. Times's "Political Calculus" blog, but his column on the NBA’s finances, slightly edited, also appears above-the-fold in the national print edition Sports section today. Citing the Forbes numbers, Silver states the NBA's "claims of financial hardship should be viewed more skeptically" than that of the NHL when it canceled the '04-05 season (NYTIMES.com, 7/5). Click here to read the NBA's full response to Silver's article.
COST OF DOING BUSINESS: NBA Deputy Commissioner & COO Adam Silver said that "part of the problem compared to the last two CBAs ... is the increasing price of business today." Silver: "Costs have risen much faster than revenues over the course of this deal." USA TODAY's Jeff Zillgitt reports "revenue increased about 10% a year at the end of the CBA that expired in 2005 but 3% in 2008-09, 1% in 2009-10 and 3% to 4% last season." At the same time, Silver said that "expenses and salaries rose at a higher rate." Players received 57% of basketball-related income (BRI) in the last CBA, and NBA Commissioner David Stern said, "The percentage is too high and the cap is too soft -- because the system that we got in '98, which has morphed to a 57% system, doesn't allow profitability." Silver admits that the NBA "incorrectly estimated the impact of a luxury tax." Clubs in "position to spend more than $70 million on payroll and pay a tax spent liberally." Silver: "It became business as usual to pay the tax, and therefore it created a league of haves and have-nots" (USA TODAY, 7/6).
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Jamison feels players are better prepared for
lockout than they were in '98 |
TEAM DEFENSE: Cavaliers F Antawn Jamison last week said that NBA players are "more prepared as a result of the last lockout." Jamison noted that the NBPA had been "informing members of a possible work stoppage for four years," and he contends that players are "more unified today" than during the last lockout in '98. Jamison: "It's totally different from what it was when I first got into the league." He believes that a new CBA "will either get done quickly or the whole season could be lost" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 7/2). More Jamison: "This go-around, pretty much all the players are unified in knowing that we're going to prepare for the worst. This is what we feel is right for us. It's a business" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 7/2). Hornets G Chris Paul on Friday said, "The biggest thing with this whole situation is we’ve all been trying to prepare for this for a few years. The union is going to do everything possible. But guys have been aware that this was a possibility. Guys should be fine" (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 7/2). Thunder F and player rep Kevin Durant: "We're not going to give in. We're going to stick with it until we come out with a good deal" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 7/5). In Detroit, John Niyo noted the players "insist they're more unified than they were" in '98, but "we're about to find out if they really are, because Stern and the owners seem determined this one won't end until there's a hard salary cap and guaranteed franchise profits instead of guaranteed players contracts" (DETROIT NEWS, 7/2). Florida Int'l men's basketball coach Isiah Thomas, a former NBPA VP, said, "The perception game, the media game, is a game that the players are going to have to win. ... Bottom line, they need to win the perception game this time because they didn’t win that game in 1999" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/2).
WATCHING THE CLOCK: CBSSPORTS.com's Ken Berger noted despite the "doom-and-gloomy way the word 'lockout' sounds, and all the uncertainty and risk it implies, there's virtually no time pressure on the NBA and its players' union to rush back into the negotiating room any time soon." Based on "how the league's most recent lockout played out in 1998, there will be a series of drop-dead dates on the calendar," and the first is July 15. The sides have a "stated goal of scheduling the next bargaining session" by next week, and that "must be met." Berger: "If nothing else, the two sides need to get back to the bargaining table simply to demonstrate their stated commitment to getting a deal. They need to show each other that they're not interested in wasting a month, which could come back to haunt them later" (CBSSPORTS.com, 7/1). In Orlando, Brian Schmitz wrote, "We all know that this labor battle doesn't officially start until around Nov. 15. That's when players will miss their first regular-season paychecks. ... Until Nov. 15, everything else is a show of moxie and muscle by players and owners" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 7/3). SI.com's Dan Shaughnessy wrote, "Why would any normal person care about an NBA lockout in July, August and September? ... Truth be told, a lot of us won't notice if they don't start the season on time. The NBA is all about the playoffs" (SI.com, 7/5). In Sacramento, Tom Couzens wrote, "Go ahead, shut down the NBA in July and August, when usually the only activity is the courting and signing of free agents. Get this settled by Sept. 1, no games will be missed, and fans will forgive and forget" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 7/3).
TIME FOR SOME CHANGES: In San Diego, Nick Canepa wrote the NBA lockout is the "best thing that can happen to the league, which needs to be grabbed by its ankles and shaken until it comes to its senses." Canepa: "Do not confuse this lockout with the NFL’s. The NFL has nowhere near the troubles pro basketball has. It’s said 22 of the NBA’s 30 teams will be losing money. The NFL does not lose money anywhere" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 7/3). In Boston, Gary Washburn wrote, "To prevent this train wreck that the NBA insists on causing, there needs to be true compromise, but the vision of billionaires arguing with millionaires over a $4 billion pie doesn’t exactly encourage a working-class fan base to embrace the league. And neither does the ridiculous and vindictive act of stripping the players’ images, as if the fan is truly foolish enough to believe it’s anything more than a juvenile power move" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/2). In Dallas, Tim Cowlishaw wrote, "NBA fans, you're just going to have to ride this one out. Unlike the NFL, which I never thought for a moment would cancel regular-season games, the NBA will not play a full season in 2011-12" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 7/5).
