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Leagues and Governing Bodies

NBA Lockout Watch, Day 27: League Postpones Rookie Transition Program

The NBA's rookie transition program is the latest casualty of the league's labor strife. The NBA announced yesterday that the program, set for Aug. 9-11 and run jointly by the league and the NBPA, has been postponed. "Without a new collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players' union, we will be unable to hold RTP as originally scheduled," said NBA Deputy Commissioner & COO Adam Silver. "This is an important educational program for our incoming players, and it will be rescheduled once the parties agree on a CBA." The postponement follows the cancelation of the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas (John Lombardo, SportsBusiness Journal). SPORTING NEWS' Sean Deveney notes the program "typically involves all incoming rookies and features panel discussions on everything from dealing with the media to fiscal responsibility to preparing for life after basketball." It had been held since '86 (SPORTING NEWS TODAY, 7/27).

FOCUS TURNS AWAY FROM NFL TO NBA: In L.A., Lance Pugmire notes as the NFL concluded its "lengthy off-season collective-bargaining battle, the NBA's lockout of players continued Tuesday with no progress in sight." Reps from the league and players' union will "meet soon for their annually scheduled discussion about the past season's audited financial reports for all 30 teams," but those meetings will not include NBA Commissioner David Stern or NBPA Exec Dir Billy Hunter. The next labor negotiating session "is likely to take place in early August." The union is waiting for the NLRB to "act on a complaint the players filed in May, alleging that the NBA did not bargain in good faith before their collective-bargaining agreement expired June 30" (L.A. TIMES, 7/27). SPORTING NEWS' Deveney writes if there is "anything that has characterized the league's lockout to this point, it is the utter lack of urgency on either side." There has been "mostly the slow rolling of tumbleweed so far in the NBA." Deveney: "That's really bad news, because what has happened in the intervening weeks ... will only result in the players and owners getting more entrenched in their positions, lengthening the lockout" (SPORTING NEWS TODAY, 7/27).

TIME IS A RUNAWAY: In Salt Lake City, Brian Smith notes the NBA's "first real deadline is mid-September," as training camps "likely will be pushed back and preseason games could be canceled" if progress has not been made by then. With Stern and Hunter not scheduled for negotiating sessions until "early August at the earliest," that would leave the owners and players "about 30 days to save the preseason." Smith: "Considering the enormous financial and philosophical divides that separate the sides, some sports labor analysts believe that the impending cancellation of regular-season games is already a given" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 7/27). Turner Sports' David Aldridge said, “If you get past Labor Day and you haven’t gotten close on anything -- if you’re where you are now -- I think preseason games would certainly begin to be in major jeopardy. And then go to the end of September, if you haven’t made any progress at the end of September, obviously the regular season games start to be affected. So September really is the month that they have to have made some significant progress, if not finalized the deal." He added, "I really think August is crucial for the NBA. They cannot waste another month. They have basically wasted a month now not talking to each other in any meaningful way" ("NBA GameTime," NBA TV, 7/26).

STARS HAVE BEEN QUIET
: CBSSPORTS.com's Ken Berger asked, "Why have the loudest voices in the sport suddenly gone silent?" A player agent said, "They should be talking about how horrific the owners' deal is and how little it's changed over two years of negotiations. The deal's horrible. It's draconian in what they're trying to do. I would be emphasizing that as much as possible. That I don't get; I would think they would just be hammering every chance they get." Berger noted NFL stars "never wavered in their commitment to the union" in that recently settled lockout, and it "went beyond simply having big names like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning listed as plaintiffs in the NFLPA's antitrust lawsuit against the league." However, NBA players are "traveling the world selling shoes and apparel" (CBSSPORTS.com, 7/26).

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NBA, NFL: Turner's Aldridge said the settlement of the NFL lockout does not really impact the NBA lockout because they are “two totally different sets of owners, and that’s what’s driving this thing.” Aldridge said of the NFL, "They could not afford to lose preseason games. The number that you saw written by people was $200 million per week of the preseason that they would lose in revenue if they had cancelled preseason games. So they weren't going to give up that kind of money." Aldridge: "When they are charging regular-season prices for exhibition games, I mean that’s real money for them, so they were going to come in and get that done. That is not the case in the NBA and obviously, there are teams that are losing money in the NBA and it’s a different animal altogether" ("NBA GameTime," NBA TV, 7/26). However, in Orlando, Josh Robbins wrote, "Like it or not, fairly or unfairly, the NBA's 2011 lockout forever will be intertwined with the NFL's 2011 lockout. One league will be evaluated against the other. The NFL solved its issues. Can the NBA?" (ORLANDOSENTINEL.com, 7/26). In San Antonio, Mike Monroe writes, "It would have been easier to cancel NBA games in November if fans didn't have NFL games as refuge for their disappointment" (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 7/27).

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