NBA NEWS & NOTES: THE AGE OF COOPERATION?

     ESPN's David Aldridge says to "expect even more cooperation"
between the NFLPA and the NBPA now that Billy Hunter has been
chosen as the NBPA's new Exec Dir.  Aldridge noted that Hunter is
"a good friend" of NFLPA Exec Dir Gene Upshaw, and Upshaw, the
MLBPA's Don Fehr and the NHLPA's Bob Goodenow, meet on a regular
basis to share info on legal issues.  Upshaw:  "If somebody makes
bad law, it affects all of us" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 7/26).
     BATTLE OF THE BUCK:  The WASHINGTON POST's Mark Asher looks
at the lucrative contracts of NBA free agents  Curtis Polk,
President of David Falk's FAME:  "We're not going in there with
ski masks and guns.  They don't have to pay it if they don't want
to."  Asher notes the deals raise questions whether owners such
as the Bullets' Abe Pollin or the Hornets George Shinn "can
afford" to bid against corporations and media moguls (WASHINGTON
POST, 7/28).