NBPA Exec Dir Billy Hunter Thursday said the league's owners are trying to "break" the union, according to Chris Sheridan of ESPN.com. Following a meeting of player reps from the 30 teams, Hunter offered "some of the strongest public comments he has ever made." He said, "Their intention is to lock us out and break the union to achieve what they want to achieve." Hunter initially said that he "saw a 'ray of light' after the owners made their proposal during Tuesday's bargaining session, but in the 48 hours since he has retreated substantially from any cautious optimism while saying the owners are overreaching by proposing draconian changes that would significantly shift the share of revenues in the owners' favor." Hunter: "I think their real intentions are still what they were before, and I think that is to lock us out in an effort to break the union and to achieve what they want to achieve." Asked to elaborate, he said, "Let me refer to the comment make by Ted Leonsis, the owner of the Wizards, and at one time his comment was that (commissioner) David Stern had promised NBA owners and those individuals who might be interested in purchasing a franchise the kind of deal that was foisted on NHL players. And we all know what happened in that situation: The union was broken after a year-long lockout, and the owners as a result have been able to impose upon those players the worst deal in all of professional sports." Sheridan noted players were "particularly peeved that Stern termed their $500 million giveback 'modest,' and said the first time Stern ever mentioned a targeted median team salary of $62 million under a proposed 'flex-cap' system was when the commissioner told that number to reporters in a news conference following Tuesday's bargaining session." CBA negotiations will resume Friday, and Lakers G and NBPA President Derek Fisher said that the "players won't accept a bad deal to avert a work stoppage" (ESPN.com, 6/23).
TOGETHER WE STAND: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir reports 52 NBA players "gathered for a show of strength at a Manhattan hotel on Thursday, united in their determination to reach a deal that is not a drastic leap backward." Fisher said, "We’re not willing to accept an unfair deal. We’re unified in the sense of not being afraid." He continued, "I wish you could have been in that room to feel the energy, sophistication and level of understanding. There have been times in meetings with ownership where there’s been an implication of our lack of understanding of the system.” Fisher called that "insulting." Spurs F and NBPA VP Matt Bonner said the owners "want everything." Bonner: "They want extreme financial givebacks in terms of salary and a hard salary cap." While Hunter said that "the 'door is slightly ajar' to a new deal before the collective bargaining agreement expires Thursday, he seemed to doubt it" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/24). Cavaliers F and player rep Anthony Parker said on Thursday, "Coming out of the meeting today, my impression of our union is that we are more informed and unified than ever. We hope to avoid a lockout, but we are ready if that's what it takes to get a fair deal for players" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 6/24).
ON THE TRADING FLOOR: In N.Y., Peter Vecsey notes with the lockout looming, uncertainty about the NBA's future rules has "influenced trades" for the past few months. Not a "single one was made from April 13," when the regular season ended, until Thursday, when "each and every trade that went down was draft-choice related." In previous years, when a new CBA "wasn't being bitterly negotiated, numerous transactions, some significant, took place during the playoffs." A GM said, "Until we find out what the salary cap rules are going to be I don't anticipate anything of consequence happening outside of buying or exchanging draft picks" (N.Y. POST, 6/24). CBSSPORTS.com's Ken Berger notes there only were a "few of the usual money-moving hijinks Thursday night, only two teams taking on significant salary beyond next season in trades." The "fact that it was two of the most financially inept teams in the league, Sacramento and Charlotte, could provide one final dose of ammunition for the union's argument -- falling on deaf ears with the league negotiators thus far -- that the owners are trying to impose work-rule Armageddon on the players simply to be protected from themselves." Berger: "Look beneath the surface of the dizzying array of draft-night trades and you'll find this: owners who were scared, or more likely, who'd already boarded up the windows on their businesses in preparation for a long summer of hibernation" (CBSSPORTS.com, 6/24). ESPN L.A.'s Ramona Shelburne writes it "might have seemed as if there were a lot of trades" on Thursday, "but just wait until there's a new" CBA. Shelburne: "Players who would never be made available in trades suddenly might be if there's a hard salary cap. Players who have been dead weight for years suddenly won't be if there's an amnesty clause or salary rollbacks" (ESPNLA.com, 6/24).
STERN WORDS: YAHOO SPORTS' Adrian Wojnarowski writes under the header, "Stern Steers NBA Toward Chaos." Thursday's Draft was the "beginning of the end for a golden time in the NBA." Stern "has brought the sport into an unnecessarily dark and ominous place." Wojnarowski: "The lockout’s coming, and the NBA can thank Stern for it. He no longer leads the owners, but gets led. He’s lost his autonomy to operate, lost his ability to be sensible, understated and conciliatory. There ought to be givebacks in these talks with the players, but Stern has let the fringe element of NBA ownership dictate policy for the masses. ... He can’t sell compromise, and he can’t sell good-faith negotiations to his ownership. The owners wanted this lockout, which they’ve carefully orchestrated. They’re determined to break the NBA’s union, and that’s clearly become the commissioner’s mandate now." Stern is "no longer the sport’s leader, its moral compass, but the errand boy of the fringe owners." The lockout "gives Stern the stage as the sport’s biggest star, something he loves, because his proposal to the players would guarantee that he’d be the highest-paid player in the NBA" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/24).
