The ultimatum issued Saturday by the NBA to its players "not only threatens them with a worse labor deal, but also a massive pay cut if they do not make a deal" by tomorrow afternoon, according to Howard Beck of the N.Y. TIMES. A letter NBA Commissioner David Stern sent to the NBPA Sunday "contrasts the proposal on the table -- highlighted by a 50-50 split of revenues -- with a 'reset' proposal that would cut the players' share to 47 percent, roll back current contracts, impose a hard salary cap and reduce contract lengths." Stern in the letter addressed to NBPA Exec Dir Billy Hunter wrote, "We are hopeful that the prospect of a less favorable outcome for the players will prompt the players association to realize that the best deal that can be reached is the one the NBA is prepared to make right now." Stern closed, "Billy, I sincerely hope that we can reach an agreement over the next few days.” Beck notes the league's current proposal includes a soft salary cap in addition to the 50-50 BRI split. Other features include salary-cap and luxury-tax levels "in Years 1 and 2 of the new agreement will be no less than they were in 2010-11," but levels by the third year "will be adjusted downward to conform" to the new system. Also, a "10 percent escrow tax will be withheld" from player salaries, and players "will be paid a prorated share of their 2011-12 salaries." Beck notes the "'reset' proposal features a flex-cap system that contains an absolute salary ceiling -- to be set $5 million above the average team salary." In addition, the NBA "would roll back existing contracts 'in proportion to system changes in order to ensure sufficient market for free agents.'" Maximum salaries also "would be reduced" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/8).
CLOCK IS TICKING: Stern appeared on ESPN's "SportsCenter" last night and said the league "thinks that there’s a great offer on the table and what we told the players is it’s getting late. The only rational thing to do is for us to make that deal because given what’s going on in our business and our industry, it will get worse from there." Stern said the owners "are unified in their willingness to make this deal through Wednesday, and then they will be unified in their willingness to negotiate only over the 47% proposal that goes onto the table Wednesday at the close of business." He added that there is no timetable for when the entire '11-12 season could be canceled. Stern: "I don’t want to say when we would call off the season because clearly we’re not there yet and I don’t want to make an idle threat" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 11/7). YAHOO SPORTS' Adrian Wojnarowski reported the NBPA "offered to drop its revenue split to 51 percent on Saturday, but wanted several system items -- including sign-and-trade deals and full midlevel exceptions for luxury-tax paying teams -- as part of a new CBA." Sources said that Hunter "surprised some in Saturday’s mediation session when he suggested the players might be willing to drop to a 50-50 split, even when they had just stated their position as 51." One union lawyer "quickly corrected Hunter, saying he meant to say a 51-49 split, but officials on both sides believed Hunter meant what he said: 50-50" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 11/7).
WRITERS' BLOCK: In Boston, Bob Ryan writes if there "is to be an NBA season, this thing must end now." The owners "are classic bullies," and are "conjuring up every evil stereotype boss Capitalism can provide." Ryan writes, "Having extracted massive concessions from the players already, they now have issued an ultimatum: take this deal as it now stands by tomorrow, or it disappears and you’ll really hate the next one" (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/8). In Phoenix, Paola Boivin writes the owners "are blowing it," and the league has "lost our attention." Boivin: "The more Stern speaks, the more I find myself siding with players. He has just transformed himself from one of the sports world's more-innovative commissioners to one of its bigger bullies" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 11/8). In Houston, Jonathan Feigen wrote the time has come for Lakers G and NBPA President Derek Fisher, Hunter and the union leaders to "cast aside all those emotions that come from frustration and fatigue and do what is best for the members of the union, ignoring the deals they believe they deserve and working toward the best deal they can get." The option "to blow up the union and the season could get a better deal, but as with most explosions, it would cause more damage in every direction, to the players as a whole and especially to those whose livelihoods depend on the NBA and whom the players and owners keep insisting matter so much to them" (CHRON.com, 11/7). In N.Y., Peter Vecsey asks, "Is Hunter in jeopardy of losing his job? Sources say insurgents, led by Paul Pierce, are trying to get rid of him. If the season is lost or goes the union’s way, will Stern be de-commissioned?" (N.Y. POST, 11/8).
