The NBPA said that its players will receive "about" 57%
of the league's BRI this season, which is "about the same as
last season," according to Scott Soshnick of BLOOMBERG NEWS.
The union said that 57% of this season's revenue "would be"
$1.1B prorated over a regular 82-game season. NBA Deputy
Commissioner Russ Granik: "The real issue is what kind of
impact is this new system going to have when we get to the
third, fourth, fifth years" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 3/18).
HE SHOOTS, HE SUSHI'S? The Spurs and Timberwolves will
play in the Tokyo Dome on November 6-7 in the '99 NBA Japan
Games. The games, which will be televised globally to over
150 countries, mark the fifth time the league has held
regular season games in Japan (NBA).
NBA GOES PLATTNAM? In Philadelphia, Stan Hochman
reviews Larry Platt's new book on life in the NBA, "Keepin'
It Real," and writes that "it's about players, a fascinating
blend of twisted logic and insightful reporting." Hochman
calls the book's portrait of Pistons G Jerry Stackhouse the
"least flattering," as he "emerges as a whining
underachiever" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 3/18). In
Providence, Bill Reynolds writes on the book under the
header, "Gap In Culture, Generations Is Leaving NBA The
Loser." Reynolds writes that Platt "contends that the sub-
text of the new NBA is this old school-new school first, and
that it's a relatively new phenomena" (JOURNAL, 3/18).
NOT ALL FALK'S FAULT: ESPN.com's Jeffrey Denberg writes
that David Falk should not bear the blame for Stephon
Marbury's trade out of MN. Denberg adds that "everyone
knows" Nets G Stephon Marbury "is about money and ego ...
Marbury wanted out of Minnesota and Falk, who is an
unmitigated bully, got him out" (ESPN.com, 3/18).