NBPA Exec Dir Billy Hunter following Friday's regional meeting in L.A. stood alongside Lakers G and NBPA President Derek Fisher and about 30 players and "pointedly expressed his and the players' resolve to stand firm in the face of recent threats," according to Broderick Turner of the L.A. TIMES. NBA Commissioner David Stern last week said that if the two sides "can't reach an agreement Tuesday, his 'gut' tells him they will lose the Christmas Day games." Hunter Friday said, "If somebody is pointing a gun at my head, I'm going to point one back at him. That door doesn't swing one way. It's not just the players that are going to suffer if there are games lost. …The pain is mutual. If you're going to inflict pain on the players, then there is some pain inflicted on them as well." Fisher also "took exception with Stern's comments about canceling the Christmas Day games." Fisher said, "That's an arbitrary deadline to throw out on Commissioner Stern's part. We don't see it that way." Wizards C JaVale McGee was the "first player to depart from the three-hour-plus meeting well before it was over," and said as he left, "Definitely some guys in there saying that they are ready to fold. But the majority are ready to stand strong." Fisher later said, "Let me say this: The person that spent the least amount of time in the room can't make that statement. He's in no position to make that statement on behalf of the group." Fisher said that the players have "negotiated from receiving 57% of basketball-related income to 53%." He added that would be "equivalent to approximately $1.1 billion over six years" to the owners. But Turner noted the owners "want a 50-50 split, which the players rejected" (L.A. TIMES, 10/16). McGee later denied his comments, and wrote on Twitter, “I never said anyone is ready to fold! Media always wanna turn it!" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/15).
UNITED WE STAND: Hunter said before Friday's meeting, "I've got a group of ballplayers who are sophisticated enough and they've said to me, 'Billy, hold the line. This is what we want you to do.' So I'm doing the players' bidding. I may be negotiating with a short deck, or a small deck, but we're negotiating." He added, "So while we're willing to make some concessions, which we've already demonstrated, we're not willing to do or make as many concessions as the NBA wants us to make." Stern appeared Friday on ESPN Radio 710 L.A., one of many different interviews he conducted with national or large-market media outlets, and "cited contracts and the luxury tax as demands that the players need to acquiesce to in order for a deal to get done." Stern said the players "need to tell us we can have shorter contracts so that under-performing contracts can be replaced by high-performing contracts. And they need to tell us that the luxury tax can be considerably harsher than it already is" (ESPN.com, 10/16). Knicks F Amar'e Stoudemire said of the players' offer to lower their BRI share from the previous CBA, "I think 53 is fair for both sides. Right now we're not budging. We're at 53, and that's where we stand" (Bergen RECORD, 10/15). Wizards G John Wall said, "We're going to stand firm at 53. That's our number." Thunder F Kevin Durant: "We gave up some things, sacrificed some things, but we feel like they're not trying to meet us halfway" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 10/16). Durant also said, "The way the meetings (have) been going, it's just so slow. Us as players, we bring in a lot of the money. Hopefully we come to an agreement, but we got to stand firm" (THE OKLAHOMAN, 10/16). Stern said Friday that he is "not sure whether he can even get his owners to go for 50 anymore" (ESPN.com, 10/15).
BLAME GAME: Bulls G Derrick Rose said that "blame for the NBA's current labor impasse rests squarely with team owners, not players." Rose said the owners "aren’t thinking about anything that we’re saying. They’re not taking into consideration (anything) that we’re trying to give them" (AP, 10/15). Stoudemire "believes he knows where to place the blame for the NBA's aggressive stance against the players' union" -- Suns Managing Partner Robert Sarver. Stoudemire said of Sarver, "He's probably the main guy that's pushing for this lockout." But Stern said Stoudemire's comments are "contrary to every fact." Stern added, "Nothing could be further from the truth." Stoudemire indicated he does not believe that Knicks Owner James Dolan "is among the hard-liners who would accept losing an entire season." Stoudemire said of Dolan, "I think he's ready to get this thing done" (NEWSDAY, 10/15). Meanwhile, in N.Y., Christian Red noted Stoudemire "did not back off recent comments that the players would form their own league if there is no NBA season." Stoudemire said, "It's definitely realistic. It's all about the evolution of thought. If we put our minds together and really come up with a great game plan, we could. But the first goal is to play NBA basketball and try and get this thing resolved." Red noted Stoudemire "did not elaborate on how such a new league would be funded or where games would be played" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/15).  |
Stern discusses possibly canceling more games
during last week's media tour |
MORE CANCELLATIONS? Stern appeared Friday on SiriusXM Radio and said the cancellation of more games is "dependent upon when the players say it's time to make a deal." He added, "We've moved and moved and moved and the players have to move. But they're talking about sitting out a season or two seasons. That kind of rhetoric is very sad to me, to have very gifted athletes who will be giving up the last years of their careers, in some cases, and the largest salaries in sports" (
N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/15). In N.Y., Mitch Lawrence wrote Stern "made it sound as if in a span of eight days he's going to go from cancelling the first two weeks to wiping out the entire season," which is "not likely, since we're only in mid-October." Lawrence noted when it comes to the NBA season, Stern "is going to swing his ax incrementally." But the "elimination of games, a few weeks at a time, wouldn't have gotten him the big, pro-owner headlines and sound bites that are a big part of the league's strategy in this ugly labor war" (
N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/16). In Ft. Lauderdale, Ira Winderman wrote, "It is nothing short of ludicrous to be talking on Oct. 13 about the dire state of games on Dec. 25. This isn’t a deadline, it’s a threat" (
SUN-SENTINEL.com, 10/14).
WAR OF THE WORDS
: Heat G Dwyane Wade said that the NBA "has done an 'amazing' job in getting its message out to basketball fans during the lockout," adding that the players "have not wanted to take the same approach as the NBA on the battle of perception." Wade said, "We haven’t done a great job of complaining. That’s what the NBA has done, they’ve done a great job of complaining. We haven’t done a great job of that so no one sees our side. They more so see the owners’ side" (
AP, 10/14). Knicks F Carmelo Anthony said, "I don't think we're getting our message out there. The owners are definitely doing a great job getting their message out." Anthony indicated that the "reason the owners have been successful in relaying their message to the public is because the Players Association is outnumbered." He said, "They have David Stern and the owners, we only have Derek Fisher." Anthony also suggested that the players "should hold a press conference and give their point of view to help improve their public image" (
N.Y. POST, 10/15). In DC, Lee Friedman wrote the labor negotiations "are as much a political and PR campaign as they are a labor dispute," and the NBPA is "badly losing the message war." The owners' "unreasonable offer has boxed the [union] into negotiating against itself." Friedman wrote union leadership is not to blame, but they "don't seem to have any strategy to push back against the owners and try to make this lockout as painful for the owners as it is for the players" (
WASHINGTON POST, 10/15). On Long Island, Alan Hahn wrote Stern's "media blitz" Thursday and Friday was a "calculated hit, a measured, careful effort to infiltrate the thoughts of the hundreds of anxious players who were watching, listening and worrying." Hahn noted the players "are being pulled in many directions." They are "being implored to stay loyal to a union that often seems overwhelmed by Stern and Co. in these negotiations," while also "being advised by a group of high-power agents who have no faith in the union leadership." Hahn: "Stern has the brush, and as the sides enter into non-binding mediation Tuesday, he's crafting another public relations masterpiece" (
NEWSDAY, 10/16).
IN OTHER NEWS...
: YAHOO SPORTS' Adrian Wojnarowski cited league sources as saying that after "initially forbidding front-office executives from attending college basketball practices during the lockout, the NBA has changed course and informed teams they can now do so." The league office "relented on its original rules after team executives lobbied hard about how much of their player evaluation depends on the ability to attend practices, as well as games" (
SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 10/14). Meanwhile, in Indianapolis, Mike Wells reported the U.S. Conference of Mayors "sent a letter to the NBA and its players union encouraging both sides to end the lockout to avoid economic problems in cities." The group "wants to form a sports alliance that helps provide a resource for cities on ways to work with the major sports leagues" (
INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 10/16).
