NBA Commissioner David Stern yesterday said that the "full negotiating committees from both sides will meet Friday and through the weekend as they try to save the 2011-12 season," according to Ken Berger of CBSSPORTS.com. Stern said, "Either we'll make very good progress, and we know what that would mean -- we know how good that would be, without putting dates to it -- or we won't make any progress. And then it won't be a question of just starting the season on time. There will be a lot at risk because of the absence of progress." The players' Exec Committee along with the entire owners' Labor Relations Board will attend Friday's meeting, and Lakers G and NBPA President Derek Fisher indicated that several "key players" will also be present. Sources said that Heat F LeBron James, Heat G Dwyane Wade and Knicks F Carmelo Anthony are "expected" to attend the negotiations, with Knicks F Amar'e Stoudemire and Thunder F Kevin Durant "possibly joining." NBA Deputy Commissioner & COO Adam Silver said that the two sides "agreed to expand their presence because 'whatever decisions we are now going to be making would be so monumental' as to require the presence of those who'd be signing off on them." Fisher: "I can't say that common ground is evident, but our desire to try to get there I think is there." Berger noted the "incremental rise in doomsday talk from Stern signaled that the negotiations are entering a new phase, where the threat of a canceled season will become a leverage point for both sides." Sources said that the owners "did not enhance their economic offer Wednesday, instead focusing on using systemic changes to hit the number they are seeking to achieve -- still 46 percent for the players over the life of a new deal" (CBSSPORTS.com, 9/28).
LET'S MAKE A DEAL: USA TODAY's J. Michael Falgoust notes the results of this weekend's sessions "ultimately will determine if the 2011-12 season will begin on time Nov. 1 or whether Stern will have to cancel regular-season games for the first time since the 1998-99 lockout." NBPA Exec Dir Billy Hunter said, "Time is running out. The owners have their views, and we have our views. We're still pretty far apart." Hunter added that to "assume this weekend's meetings are a precursor to a deal would be presumptuous." He said, "I can't tell you what the likelihood of getting a deal is. But at this moment, that's a reach" (USA TODAY, 9/29). In N.Y., Howard Beck notes the NBA needs "three to four weeks to draft an agreement, sign free agents, hold training camps and play a preseason game or two before starting the season." That means a deal "needs to be in place sometime next week -- a reality that union officials readily acknowledge." Fisher said that the decision to "reserve the whole weekend for negotiations was not a sign of progress, but an admission that time has nearly run out" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/29). In L.A., Lance Pugmire cites basketball officials as saying that a "key issue in negotiations is the push by owners to cut the pay of role players who earn $5 million to $9 million annually but don't sell tickets like a superstar." The officials indicated that "defending the pay of the NBA's equivalent of 'middle- and upper-middle-class' players is an uphill battle" for Hunter and Fisher in the CBA negotiations (L.A. TIMES, 9/29). ESPN.com's J.A. Adande cited a league source as saying a "reduction from the current 57 percent players' share to income of 50 percent would work out to a savings of $10 million per team." Adande: "Hmm, 30 teams times $10 million = $300 million. That's the amount the NBA says it lost last season, with no other changes to the system. What once was lost, now is found. The owners are making this more complicated and ruthless than it needs to be" (ESPN.com, 9/28).
STERN WARNING: Stern said yesterday he was focused on getting the two committees "in and see whether they can have a season or not have a season, and that's what's at risk this weekend." A league spokesperson, in clarifying Stern's statement, said that Stern "did not mean that the entire 82-game season will be at risk when the two sides meet this weekend" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/29). In N.Y., Marc Berman notes Stern "had never before indicated an entire season was close to being in jeopardy this early in the lockout, and it is hard to take the remark at face value." Stern "floated the notion, likely as a negotiating ploy and the ownership's labor committee may be prepared to announce on Sunday that the negotiations have been suspended indefinitely in a hard-line, all-or-nothing approach" (N.Y. POST, 9/29). TRUE HOOPS' Henry Abbott asked, "Why would Stern, who has been measured in his public rhetoric, make this threat now?" Abbott offered "some possibilities" for Stern's remarks, suggesting he "likes his negotiating position now, and is genuinely happy to have everything come to a head immediately." Stern also may want "to eliminate the possibility of talks dragging on through the autumn," and may have "intended to put the utmost pressure on Billy Hunter." Alternatively, Abbott noted the possibility that Stern was "simply being insincere" (ESPN.com, 9/28). YAHOO SPORTS' Adrian Wojnarowski writes when Stern "dictates this lockout is over, it ends." One team president yesterday said that Stern is "going to make a real hard push to get a deal this weekend. If the union makes a slight move, David will move. But the players have to blink first." Wojnarowski: "Hunter has no leverage, and no way out. This isn't about getting the players a great deal, it's about getting out of this without the agents overthrowing him." A team president said, "Once they start canceling regular season games, all bets are off. The deal the players accepted in '99 was worse than what was offered before games had been lost" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 9/29).
TOO SHALLOW FOR FISH? ESPN L.A.'s Stephen A. Smith wrote Fisher should not be blamed for the failure to reach a CBA yet, as it is "not his fault." Smith: "Fisher is at a gunfight with a pocket knife, armed with too many players with shallow pockets and minimal resolve in the end. But if he "doesn't get a deal done quickly, it may cost his constituents the season, along with $2 billion they'll never ever get back" (ESPNLA.com, 9/28). Meanwhile, Wade said that he "has been in regular contact" with Hunter, but indicated that he "felt no need to join the meetings himself, and he shrugged off the criticism directed at superstar players for their lack of involvement." Wade said, "That's a silly thought. I've been in a few meetings. ... The negotiation is the negotiation. We've been in there. Not only have they said their shpiel, we've said our shpiel, we've listened. We've taken notes. We've done all this. And we believe in our players association" (NYTIMES.com, 9/28).
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Bryant says it is very possible that he
could play some games in Italy this year |
AN EYE TO THE FUTURE: The AP reported Italian club Virtus Bologna has "made numerous contract offers" to Lakers F Kobe Bryant, who "discussed the situation with the Gazzetta dello Sport" yesterday. Bryant said, "It's very possible. It would be a dream for me. There's an opportunity that we've been discussing over the last few days. It's very possible and that's good news for me." Virtus indicated that the "latest talks are centered on a $2.5 million offer for 10 games over 40 days from Oct. 9 to Nov. 16." That would "come out to about $1.5 million after taxes." The deal also "would allow Bryant to return to the Lakers immediately if the lockout ends" (AP, 9/28). Meanwhile, in Orlando, Josh Robbins reports officials from the city, the Magic and the NBA "are proceeding as if the 2012 NBA All-Star Game at Amway Center will be played as scheduled." A city spokesperson said that the "regular monthly meeting of the game's local host committee is still on and is scheduled" for Tuesday. NBA VP/Basketball Communications Tim Frank said that the league "has not set a timeline when a new collective bargaining agreement would have to be reached in order for the All-Star Game to be played" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 9/29).
FILLING THE COFFERS: AMLAWDAILY.com's Brian Baxter cited NBPA annual financial records filed with the Labor Department as stating that the union "has made payments to at least nine law firms" in the five years since the implementation of the '05 NBA CBA. N.Y.-based Dewey & LeBoeuf, whose Global Litigation Chair Jeffrey Kessler "serves as lead outside counsel to the NBPA in its current labor negotiations, has earned nearly $1.1 million in fees in connection with its union work from" July '05 through June '10. For its outside counsel in the negotiations, the NBA has retained Proskauer Rose sports law group co-head Howard Ganz and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom partner Jeffrey Mishkin, the league's former chief legal officer (AMLAWDAILY.com, 9/26).
