NBA players yesterday signaled "for the first time that they would accept the league's proposed 50-50 split of revenues." In return, the NBPA "wants the league to relax its proposed restrictions on free agency." No new talks were scheduled as of midnight last night. NBA Commissioner David Stern told NBA TV that "he would be happy to take a call" from NBPA Exec Dir Billy Hunter, but added that he "could not resume negotiations until he consulted" with the Labor Relations Committee (N.Y. TIMES, 11/9).
NBPA attorney Jeffrey Kessler publicly said that the owners were "treating his clients like 'plantation workers.'" That comment "drew a furious response" from the Commissioner. Stern said, "Kessler's agenda is always to inflame and not to make a deal. Even if it means injecting race and thereby insulting his own clients. ... He has been the single most divisive force in our negotiations" (WASHINGTON POST, 11/9). An NBPA source said that Kessler "will be reprimanded for bringing racial rhetoric into the negotiations" (ESPN.com, 11/8).
