Labor negotiations between NBA players and owners "once again reached an impasse" yesterday, and NBA Commissioner David Stern said that the league "will cancel the first two weeks of the 2011-12 regular season if a deal is not reached by the start of next week," according to Adrian Wojnarowski of YAHOO SPORTS. Stern also "announced the cancellation of the remaining two weeks of the preseason and set Monday as the deadline to save the Nov. 1 start of the regular season." The league and NBPA "don't have another negotiating session scheduled after talks broke down" yesterday. Wojnarowski noted there were "moments in Tuesday's negotiations when a deal appeared to be within reach," but NBA and NBPA officials "couldn't narrow the economic gap between them enough to close an agreement." Six of the league's top agents who have been "pushing for the union to decertify are expected to talk with their clients within the next day and determine what next step to take." NBPA Exec Dir Billy Hunter said decertification is "something we have to give some thought to." Lakers F Kobe Bryant and Celtics Fs Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce were "among the players who attended" yesterday's session. Sources said that Garnett was "extremely emotional in a meeting with players before the full negotiating session." He "rallied the players, who would begin to miss paychecks around Nov. 15, to hold firm on the BRI split" proposed by the players (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 10/4). ESPN's Chris Broussard said, "Expect them to get back at the bargaining table within the next three or four weeks." Stern has warned that "as the sides go apart for awhile, their positions are likely to harden because every game lost is millions of dollars for the players and for the owners." Broussard: "It could be tougher to make a deal, now that they’ve gone their separate ways for a little while” (“Mike & Mike in the Morning,” ESPN2, 10/5).
JUST NOT THEIR DAY: Lakers G and NBPA President Derek Fisher said yesterday, "Today was not the day for us to get this done. As of this moment, we've broken off negotiations." Asked when the next negotiating session would be, Hunter said, "Maybe a month. Two months. Your guess is as good as mine. Our guys have indicated a willingness to lose games." Stern indicated that the negotiating session ended "after he told union leadership he'd ask league owners to accept a 50% split of basketball-related income, and the union answered such a share was 'unacceptable.'" He added, "It's fair to say we made good progress with our owners, but the players said no. We're disappointed. This would be a good thing to do. This made a lot of sense." The commissioner "estimated $200 million in lost revenue by axing 114 exhibition games." Stern said, "We're looking down the barrel of an extraordinary hit to the owners and players." He added, "We'd like not to lose the first two weeks (of the regular season), but it doesn't look good" (L.A. TIMES, 10/5). Hunter said that players "would not accept a bad deal to get back to playing games and were prepared" to lose games. Fisher said, "We've never taken that prospect lightly. Even though we're basketball players, this is not a game to us. We're taking this process seriously" (WASHINGTON POST, 10/5). NBPA outside counsel Jeffrey Kessler said in an e-mail, "Players were completely united and believed that the 53 percent offer which they made was very substantial and enough of a sacrifice to get a fair deal and save the season. They recognized that they will lose money with the cancellation of games which they may never recover but this is a sacrifice they are prepared to make to preserve a fair system for future generations of players" (Liz Mullen, SportsBusiness Journal). CSNBayArea.com's Matt Steinmetz said there is "no chance" the regular season will start on time. Steinmetz: "Everybody seemed to agree that we were going to get to this point" ("Chronicle Live," Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 10/4). In West Palm Beach, Ethan Skolnick writes under the header, "Even Starting the NBA Season In Mid-November (Two Weeks Late) Looks Like A Longshot Now" (PALM BEACH POST, 10/5).
INSIDE THE MEETING: CBSSPORTS.com's Berger cites sources as saying that the league and union "are only about $80 million a year apart on the economics" of a new CBA. After the owners "offered the players a 50-50 split of revenues that effectively was a 47-percent share with about $350 million in expenses deducted first, the two sides met in small groups in the hallway while each side's larger group caucused in separate rooms." The league side included Stern, NBA Deputy Commissioner & COO Adam Silver and Spurs Owner and NBA Labor Relations Committee Chair Peter Holt. The players were represented by Fisher, Bryant, Garnett and Kessler. Sources said that the "league -- sensing the opportunity for a deal was there -- proposed essentially a 50-50 split with no additional expense reductions over a seven-year proposal, with each side having the ability to opt out after the sixth year." Additional sources said that the league's offer "came in a range of 49-51 -- with 49 percent guaranteed and a cap of 51 percent." Stern said, "There was a real opportunity to make progress," adding he and Silver "felt comfortable and confident that we would be able to report to the players that we could move to the next subject, because the split had been accomplished." While the owners "were caucusing, a member of the players' group returned with a counterproposal -- effectively 52 percent of basketball-related income for the players with no additional expenses deducted." The players' counterproposal "followed the format presented by the owners -- a 51-53 percent band, though sources gave different accounts of whether the players' offer included a guarantee at 51 percent and a cap at 53" (CBSSPORTS.com, 10/5).
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NBPA officials are upset with Stern for
publicly disclosing owners' offer |
PRESS CONFERENCE FALLOUT: SI.com's Chris Mannix reports union officials "were furious that Stern publicly disclosed" the owners' offer. Some indicated a belief that the offer was "put out to drive a wedge between the union," and Mannix notes in "some ways, it had that effect." Player sources said that, while "needing further details, a 50-50 split sounded fair" (SI.com, 10/5). In N.Y., Howard Beck notes after yesterday's meetings, neither Fisher nor Hunter "mentioned the 50-50 proposal" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/5). In Houston, Jonathan Feigen wrote by the time Stern and Silver "held their press conference, following shortly after the players' in the next room, [Stern] had stolen the public relations high ground." Feigen noted Stern "looked surprised and disappointed that his offer was rejected," but Hunter "seemed determined to fight, saying anyone could guess as well as he when the next meeting would be." When Hunter "talked tough about players' willingness to miss games, Stern and Silver sounded chagrined." By giving the second press conference, Stern and Silver were able to "emphasize all they had done to end the work stoppage." Stern, "by emphasizing again and again the offer to split income evenly ... sent a message to the public and players that the deal on the table was not bad at all." Feigen: "In truth, the players have done the compromising. ... Stern, however, framed the argument in a way to put pressure on the players" (CHRON.com, 10/4). SI's Mannix said, "We’re reaching the point where it could quickly become an ugly PR war because both of these sides have drawn their lines in the sand and refuse to go any farther.” Mannix: "They are extremely close right now to being able to at least find some kind of middle ground on the financial split. If that’s the case, I am absolutely perplexed that they’re not sitting in room negotiating this thing right now” ("The Dan Patrick Show," 10/5).
WHAT COMES NEXT? In Newark, Dave D'Alessandro writes maybe it is "finally time when Hunter steps away and decertifies the union." Decertification has "always been the nuclear option, and one that nobody but the agents want to consider." However, that may be what the players "need to call the owners' bluff." D'Alessandro: "The last thing Stern wants is to have this end up in court. A judge is likely to look at the framework of the last agreement, and make changes from there. ... But if Hunter digs in, the owners continue to have time on their side. They are the ones who have won every thrust-and-parry. They were the ones who never put their revenue-sharing plan on the table, which would have been the first good-faith gesture in this process" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 10/5). YAHOO SPORTS' Kelly Dwyer wrote the owners "never had any intention of starting the 2011-12 season on time, correctly assuming they wouldn't get what they wanted from NBA players until the first wave of paychecks went uncashed" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 10/4). In L.A., Bill Plaschke wrote, "Opening night is cool, the Christmas Day spectacle is neat, but does anybody really pay close attention until after the All-Star game?" Plaschke: "The NBA players need to take a pay cut and go back to work in a sport that will be healthier because of it. ... What happens if the players take that horrible pay cut? They will still be the highest-paid team athletes in American pro sports" (L.A. TIMES, 10/5). TRUE HOOP's Henry Abbott wrote, "If feeling the pain of lost income, something that applies to all players and some owners, is the key to getting each side's best offer, maybe this can be a repeat of 1999, with both sides experiencing life without basketball for a few months before the bargaining gets serious enough to end with a handshake" (ESPN.com, 10/4).
SPANNING THE GLOBE: Agent Marc Fleisher yesterday announced that his client, Jazz F Andrei Kirilenko, "signed a three-year contract with professional Russian basketball team CSKA." Kirilenko's contract with CSKA "features an out clause that will allow him to return to the NBA as soon as the three-month work stoppage ends." The deal also features "an out at the end of every CSKA season" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 10/5). Meanwhile, USA TODAY's J. Michael Falgoust notes Bryant continues to consider an offer to play with Italy's Virtus Bologna. Stern said of Bryant, "That's his right. If he does that, we wish him well. We want him to be safe, play well and eventually come back ready to resume if and when we make a deal" (USA TODAY, 10/5). Reports yesterday indicated that if Bryant turned down Virtus' offer, Spurs G Manu Ginobili, who has played several seasons in Bologna, "had agreed to sign" with the team. But agent Herb Rudoy, who reps Ginobili, "emphatically refuted that report, writing in a text message, 'Not true!'" (MYSANANTONIO.com, 10/5).
