NBA will use replacement officials if ...

[KoriEllis]

NBA will use replacement officials if an agreement isn't reached by next week

www.journalnow.com/servle...7645509228 (http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArti cle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031778025698&path=!sports!basketball!nba&s=1037645509228)

JOURNAL STAFF AND WIRE REPORT


The NBA will hire replacement officials if it doesn't reach agreement early next week on a new labor contract with the referees union.

"We have no choice but to get replacements," Russ Granik, the NBA's deputy commissioner, said in a telephone interview with Bloomberg News.

Training camp for officials will start Oct. 1, but the league needs the extra time to find new officials and sign them to contracts before then, Granik said.

"If we're going to use replacements, we have to get them through the training camp," Granik said.

The league and the National Basketball Referees Association are negotiating a five-year contract to replace the agreement that expired Sept. 1. The union is seeking 6 percent annual raises; the league is offering 3.5 percent.

A rookie referee made about $100,000 a season under the expired contract, and a 20-year veteran made about $300,000.

The NBRA's lead negotiator, Lamell McMorris, said that the union also objects to other parts of the league's offer, including a clause that would allow the NBA to fine the union $1 million and individual referees $50,000 for any form of game disruption.

[WriterNum934]

Refs should get more. They do more running than the players. :lol

But seriously, they should.

[timvp]

The NBA needs to stop pinching pennies and get these refs in there. "Replacement officials" would be a disaster ... as we've already witnessed. Remember when that one scab ref threw out David Robinson for "punching" Frank Brickowski?

:spin

[Brodels]

Nobody pays money to see the refs run up and down the court. They already make $100,000 - $300,000, and they work half as much as a regular person.

They should stop complaining and realize that they have a pretty posh job that pays pretty well. They benefit from the popularity of the NBA, but it doesn't mean that they should make anything close to what a minimum level player makes. They are officials. They aren't the star attraction.

I have no sympathy for them. If they aren't willing to work a posh job for up to $300,000, I'm all in favor of hiring replacements.

[spurster]

Maybe they will be as good as the FIBA replacements in the Olympics.

[SickDSM]

"Things have taken a turn in the league's negotiations with the referees on a new collective bargaining agreement. Russ Granik, the NBA's deputy commissioner, told Bloomberg News Friday that unless a new deal is reached in a week, the league will be forced to go with replacement referees. "In that case, be ready for Athens in America," said the referees' lead negotiator, Lamell McMorris. "You're going to see the same type of refereeing that we saw in Athens.. Maybe Tim Duncan should step in and end this thing" Boston Globe

"The two sides are apart on raises -- big surprise -- but McMorris said he was equally displeased by what he called "last minute" clauses the NBA introduced. One would penalize referees $50,000 individually and the union $1 million

[exstatic]

10 years ago, this may have concerned me, but the quality of NBA refs has been SO bad over the last few years that I doubt I would have noticed if I hadn't seen this thread.