NBA owners will "decide today when they meet via
conference call whether they will impose a players lockout,"
according to USA TODAY's Roscoe Nance. The league's current
CBA expires at midnight on Tuesday, and if a lockout ensues
at that time, teams would "not be permitted to have any
contact with players" and players would not be allowed use
of the team's facilities to work out or have injury
rehabilitation (USA TODAY, 6/29). In N.Y., Peter Vecsey
wrote on Sunday: "League officials are pessimistic. They
don't foresee the hard cap/Larry Bird exception issues being
resolved until January, if then." But NBPA Exec Dir Billy
Hunter "envisions a resolution some time in October."
Vecsey: "Contrary to last lockout, NBA has approved all pre-
arranged summer charity games to take place in team arenas"
(N.Y. POST, 6/28). In Orlando, Tim Povtak wrote that Hunter
and "many" union members were in Las Vegas for a charity
golf outing. Each team's player rep will meet "in a more
formal setting" July 6 in Hawaii where Hunter will update
members (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 6/28). Hunter: "I don't believe
[the owners] ever intended to negotiate in earnest without a
lockout" (Lacy Banks, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 6/29).
UNITED THEY STAND? In L.A., Mark Heisler wrote that NBA
Commissioner David Stern "is right" to curb the game's
rising salary system and to end the Larry Bird exception,
which "makes a mockery" of the salary cap and is "bad for
most of the players." Heisler: "Unfortunately, the players
are as much in awe of their stars as anyone, falling in line
behind them with little awareness their interests diverge
when union leadership says, 'Don't let management split us.'
In fact, the stars are looking out for themselves" (L.A.
TIMES, 6/28). But player agent Steve Kauffman said, "It
seems like the players have been very well prepared by the
union to expect this day. Of my 17 clients, I have minor
concerns about one or two, and it would take a long lockout
to affect them" (Greg Logan, NEWSDAY, 6/28).
NEW IDEAS: In Philadelphia, Phil Jasner wonders why
able negotiators Hunter and Stern "can't resolve this
without a work stoppage." Jasner's solutions: limit the
number of players on each team who qualify for the Bird
exception, or limit the number of times a team can use it.
He also proposes adjusting minimum salaries based on years
of service (DAILY NEWS, 6/29). In Chicago, Lacy Banks
called for a longer rookie wage scale and wrote, "Veterans
aren't against that. It's the one bargaining chip they will
eagerly cash in because they hope that less money paid to
unproven young players means more money paid to veterans"
(SUN-TIMES, 6/28). In Boston, Peter May said the issue "at
the bottom of this whole, unseemly mess" is the guaranteed
contract: "There's absolutely no reason why the NBA should
continue this absurd practice of guaranteeing virtually
every single contract. There's also no chance that the
players will settle for anything less" (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/28).
COULD DECERTIFICATION WORK? BUSINESS WEEK's Aaron
Bernstein reports that if the players' union votes to
decertify, Stern "is ready with his own tactic." He will
ask the National Labor Relations Board to "charge the union
with failing to bargain, as federal labor law requires." If
the NLRB "agrees with the NBA, players couldn't argue in
court that their union has been disbanded." Stern:
"Decertification is just a bargaining tactic; the only way
out is to negotiate a fair deal." Bernstein adds the NBPA
has rehired attorney Jeffrey Kessler, who "helped to plan"
the '95 decertification attempt (BUSINESS WEEK, 7/6 issue).
PLAYERS REAX: Heat C Alonzo Mourning said owners have
created the current system: "Let's not make us look like the
bad guys. They [owners] created the market. ... We're
trying to benefit with the success of the league. ... We
make up this league. People come to see us play. They
don't come to see executives in the front office" (MIAMI
HERALD, 6/28). Bucks G Ray Allen: "I think we all have to
give up something in order for it to work out." Sonics G
Greg Anthony: "I think that everybody will be willing to
compromise" ("This Week In The NBA," CNN, 6/28).
PRESSURE POINTS? In Colorado Springs, Mike Spence wrote
that the NBPA "apparently is trying to pressure other
players (college, CBA, U.S. foreign-league pros, etc.) into
refusing to play" for the U.S. at the World Championships in
Greece this summer (CO Springs GAZETTE-TELEGRAPH, 6/28).
GOODWILL HUNTING: Syndicated columnist George Will
wrote on the NBA's labor problems, saying the conflict
"illuminates the evolving nature of professional sports in a
culture mesmerized by celebrity. Two excellent American
things -- freedom and prosperity -- are producing in the NBA
a dynamic with bad consequences for equality." Will: "As
ticket prices soar, NBA games may become like Broadway
shows: People will pay only for smash hits" (Mult., 6/28).
