The NBA said that Deputy Commissioner & COO Adam Silver "did not violate league rules by attending Thursday's U.S. Open" with WMG Chair & CEO Casey Wasserman, according to Chris Broussard of ESPN.com. During the lockout, NBA team owners and employees are "prohibited from speaking with the league's players or anyone affiliated with them." But NBA Senior VP/Marketing Communications Mike Bass said, "Our rules prohibit team personnel from having contact with NBA player agents. Casey Wasserman is not an NBA player agent and Adam Silver is not a team employee. There are no issues here." Broussard noted WMG employs Arn Tellem, the NBA's "foremost agent with 34 players earning a combined salary of more than $150 million annually." Tellem also is "at the forefront of the push" to get the NBPA to decertify. While many league execs "see nothing wrong with Silver and Wasserman associating with one another, some view it as a double standard." One exec said, "I think it's (unfair). If we can't talk to them, they shouldn't be able to talk to them outside of meetings. I can see why people would get angry about it." Agent Happy Walters: "If it's a rule for everybody else it should be a rule for the NBA office." A source indicated that the NBA did fine Bobcats Owner Michael Jordan $100,000 "for discussing the lockout" and Bucks C Andrew Bogut during an interview with the Melbourne Herald Sun (ESPN.com, 9/12). In Charlotte, Rick Bonnell notes it was "no surprise the NBA fined Jordan for those comments." At least "two other teams have been fined during the lockout for public comments about players or the negotiating process." It also is "no surprise Jordan would take a strong position on the labor impasse." The Bobcats, a "small-market team losing millions annually, have a lot at stake in what form a new collective-bargaining agreement takes" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 9/13).
WANT TO BE A PART OF IT: In N.Y., Howard Beck reports the NBA and NBPA today will "send full committees to the bargaining table for the first time since June 30," the day before the lockout began. Neither side is "expected to deliver a complete new proposal" during today's meeting. The "hope -- at least among the optimists on either side -- is that last week’s brainstorming sessions will become the basis for a collaborative new effort." One source said, "They’re not just sticking to one side and saying, 'We’re not moving.'" Beck notes that is a "vast improvement from August." The two sides have met four times since Aug. 1, all "small-group sessions," and with "fewer voices in the room, the talks have been more focused and the leaks minimal." Another source said, "Anything that tamps down the rhetoric is a positive." But the person added, "I don’t necessarily think that a lessening of the rhetoric means there’s been any progress" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/13). ESPN L.A.'s Dave McMenamin reported Lakers G and NBPA President Derek Fisher will be in N.Y. for today's negotiating session "rather than be in Las Vegas to play in organized games against other NBA players." A source said that despite being listed on a roster for the Impact Basketball Academy's "Competitive Training Series," Fisher "will not be able to participate because of his responsibilities as NBPA president." The source "allowed for the 'remote possibility' of Fisher making an appearance sometime during its 12-day run but emphasized that Fisher has no plans to arrive in Las Vegas with the purpose of playing in Thursday's games as Impact's website reports" (ESPNLA.com, 9/12).
HOOP DREAMS? On the heels of reports that the NBA and NBPA are "closer to an agreement than many people think," the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS' Adam Lauridsen writes, "It’s a nice thought, and one for which there’s at least some balance-sheet support, but my guess is the truth is a bit more complicated." Finances are "only one of the hold-ups in negotiating the next CBA." Even if the owners and players "could agree on the future split of BRI (basketball related income), there are divisive structural issues that need to be sorted out." For the players, "spreading word amongst the media that a deal is close at hand is a smart strategic move, even if the parties really aren’t that close." In the next few weeks, the pressure "will build on the owners to get something done in time to salvage a full 82-game season." Lauridsen adds, "If the players keep coming to the table saying 'we’re almost there' and the owners keep leaving the room saying 'we’re not there yet,' the owners risk becoming the clear-cut bad guys in what -- so far -- is a pretty even PR fight" (MERCURYNEWS.com, 9/13).
