NBA Referees Expect To Be Locked Out When Exhibition Play Begins

National Basketball Referees Association (NBRA) Exec Dir Lamell McMorris Thursday said that the NBA's referees "expect to be locked out when exhibition play starts Oct. 1 after contract negotiations with the league broke down this week," according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. McMorris in a statement noted that the NBA has "begun to contact replacement referees to work in the preseason and perhaps the early part of the regular season." McMorris said of the dispute, "We understand that everyone in the country is facing tough times, but the NBA is continuing to make money, sign large marketing and television contracts and expand their business internationally." McMorris added that the referees proposed a $2.5M reduction to the estimated $32M referee budget, "which includes freezing salaries for the 2009-10 season in addition to reducing travel costs" by 15% and per diem by 7%. However, NBA Exec VP & General Counsel Rick Buchanan Thursday in response to McMorris' comments said that talks "collapsed because the referees' union changed its mind after agreeing to accept the league's proposals on retirement benefits." Stein noted the league's contract with the referees expired September 1, but "no further talks are scheduled between the sides with only 20 days" left before October 1. The referees have "scheduled a meeting in Chicago next week to discuss their next steps" (ESPN.com, 9/10). In N.Y., Howard Beck reports the "impending lockout is based on the referees' refusal to concede to all of the NBA's demands for significant cutbacks to the referees' budget." The NBRA's proposed reduction of the budget "represents a 10[%] savings to the NBA from the salaries it paid" during the '08-09 season. And while the NBA "maintains that cost-cutting is essential, the league has given raises and bonuses this year to the senior staff responsible for overseeing the referee program." Meanwhile, Beck notes the NBRA has been attempting to "negotiate a two-year contract to ride out the current downturn," though previous contracts "were for five years" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/11).

THE REPLACEMENTS: CBSSPORTS.com's Ken Berger noted NBA Commissioner David Stern and McMorris are "$700,000 apart on concessions," and "based on the acrimony of the talks thus far, it wouldn't be the least bit surprising if the league had replacement refs for preseason games." However, Berger wrote, "This would be no big deal, and it might actually be a good thing in the long run. The NBA needs to expand the training, experience level, and depth of its officiating talent pool, and putting some of the best D-League refs on the spot for preseason games wouldn't be a bad way to evaluate who's ready for the big time and who isn't." Berger wrote he does not "fault either side for taking the hard line, because that's what you're supposed to do in a negotiation," but repeating the "replacement ref fiasco of '95 would be disastrous, and it isn't in either side's best interests" (CBSSPORTS.com, 9/10). CSN Mid-Atlantic’s Ivan Carter said replacement refs “would be disastrous for several reasons, but three of them stand out. 1.) The regular refs, while often shaky, are the best in the world at what they do in a hard-to-call game and going to sets of inexperienced scabs would horribly hurt the quality of play. 2.) NBA players barely tolerate the refs they have as it is. ... 3.) We’re only two years removed from the Tim Donaghy gambling scandal” (“Washington Post Live,” CSN Mid-Atlantic, 9/10).

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