NBPA Exec Dir Billy Hunter and an agents advisory
committee met in Las Vegas yesterday to discuss "various
ways to provide financial aid" to players during the lockout
and "foremost among the options" is a series of exhibition
games featuring the league's "top players," according to Ric
Bucher of the WASHINGTON POST. Hunter will present the
options to 200 players set to meet in Vegas today. Hunter
and the agents met for three hours at Caesars Palace, and
afterward said they "were heartened by their resolve to hold
out until league owners drop their demand" for a hard cap.
Hunter: "We think the fight is just beginning. ... We're in
for the long haul." Bucher writes while "some agents were
displeased" that Hunter offered a luxury tax on salaries
greater than $18M, other agents "defended the move," and
said that "they couldn't negotiate by committee."
Strickland: "There's unprecedented unity" (WASHINGTON POST,
10/22). Hunter: "We're more solid than ever." USA TODAY's
Valerie Lister: "Other agents echoed the theme of
unification" (USA TODAY, 10/22). Agent Keith Glass: "The
overall tenor was that everybody's on the same page. We're
behind the union" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/22). ESPN's David
Aldridge reported, "If you were looking for the union to
fold or crack, the union and the agents today said, 'Not
yet.'" Aldridge added that the agents showed a "sense of
unity they haven't had in some time" ("SportsCenter," ESPN,
10/21). In Boston, Peter May reports that agents "came away
convinced that the Players Association is in good hands, at
least for now" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/22). In Philadelphia,
Stephen Smith writes that "agents stood behind [Hunter] like
soldiers in boot camp," and that judging by yesterday's
comments, "the entire NBA season is in jeopardy" (PHILA.
INQUIRER, 10/22). Agent Bill Duffy: "I thought we'd be
fighting, but it was the most harmonious agents meeting I've
ever been to. The deal the league has offered us is so bad
there wasn't even a need to discuss it" (AP, 10/22).
