NBA Lockout Update

[Darth_Pelican]

Players, owners to meet again Thursday

By Marc Stein
ESPN.com


NBA Lockout Update (http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6714056)


DALLAS -- Amid mounting labor gloom, NBA commissioner David Stern tried Tuesday to muster a hopeful tone heading into the last scheduled negotiation with the players union before the expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement.
Following a five-hour Board of Governors meeting at the same hotel that the league used as its Dallas headquarters during the NBA Finals earlier this month, Stern and deputy commissioner Adam Silver said that the league's owners have not formally voted to authorize a lockout to start immediately if there is no new labor agreement before Thursday's midnight deadline.

Brandt: What owners, players want

http://a.espncdn.com/i/teamlogos/leagues/med/trans/nba.gif Andrew Brandt breaks down the major issues at hand in the NBA's labor saga. Story (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=labor-110629)



"There's always time to make a deal," Stern insisted.
Yet one source close to the negotiations told ESPN.com that "it's a sign" indicative of the wide gap between the sides that no talks were scheduled for Wednesday, leaving only Thursday's deadline-day bargaining session in New York as the last hope to strike an agreement before the deadline.
Union head Billy Hunter told the Sports Business Journal on Tuesday that the deadline can be extended "if both sides demonstrate a willingness," but Hunter expects the worst if the divide between the parties doesn't get any narrower during their Thursday sitdown at the bargaining table in Manhattan.
"If no progress is being made by the two sides," Hunter told the Sports Business Journal, "then the NBA will impose a lockout."
Meeting with reporters in Dallas, Stern declined to speculate on the likelihood of a lockout or a bargaining extension. He also asserted that it was the union's choice to wait until Thursday before resuming negotiations after last week's rocky talks, which featured two days of loud dismay from the union after Stern publicly revealed details of the league's latest proposal and labeled the union's offer of a $500 million giveback as "modest."
"We were prepared to (meet) over the weekend," Stern said Tuesday. "They said they knew we were meeting (in Dallas), (so) can we meet Wednesday or Thursday? We said, 'Fine, we can meet either or both.' And they said Thursday. We said, 'Great.' "
Among the owners attending Tuesday's session were Dallas' Mark Cuban, New York's Jim Dolan, Boston's Wyc Grousbeck, San Antonio's Peter Holt, Golden State's Joe Lacob, Washington's Ted Leonsis, Chicago's Jerry Reinsdorf, Sacramento's Gavin Maloof, Phoenix's Robert Sarver, Donald Sterling of the Los Angeles Clippers (http://espn.go.com/nba/team/_/name/lac/los-angeles-clippers) and new Detroit owner Tom Gores.

“ http://espn.go.com/photo/2008/1016/nba_g_stern_65.jpg I sure would like to see us make a deal. And not making a deal should give everybody apprehension ...
” -- David Stern
This Board of Governors session typically takes place in July as part of the NBA's annual summer league in Las Vegas, but the recent cancellation of summer play led to the meeting's relocation.
Silver said that the owners primarily focused on the status of labor negotiations as well as various options under consideration to revamp the level of revenue sharing among the league's 30 teams.
Instead of a binding vote to impose a lockout Friday, Silver said that team owners gave the go-ahead to the league's Labor Relations Committee to do "whatever that committee believes is necessary in order to ultimately get a successful new collective bargaining agreement for the teams and the players."
"That committee has the full authority of all 30 teams to act in whatever way they deem appropriate," Silver said.
If that means a lockout starting Friday at 12:01 a.m., it would be the NBA's first work stoppage since the 1998-99 season was infamously shortened to 50 games. The sides remain far apart on agreeing to an annual split of revenues, which the league wants to reduce drastically from the players' current share of 57 percent, while also shortening the length of guaranteed contracts.
"I sure would like to see us make a deal," Stern said. "And not making a deal should give everybody apprehension, because the way to continue our growth is to come up with a deal that ... keeps our union as the highest-paid union in the world, gives all of our teams the opportunity to make a profit and makes us a more competitive league.
"It sounds like the tripod for a win-win-win, and we'll have to see whether that's a possibility when we meet again with the players on Thursday."
Thursday's meeting is expected to feature just a handful of negotiators on each side, most notably Stern and Silver representing the NBA and Hunter and union president Derek Fisher (http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/246/derek-fisher) of the Los Angeles Lakers (http://espn.go.com/nba/team/_/name/lal/los-angeles-lakers) representing the players.

[Texas Chili Dog]

Cuban needs to wave his money at everyone and solve this problem by himself. He's THAT good. :hat

[weebo]

The players are fucked. If JJ Barrea took Fisher to school just imagine what Stern will do to him.

[Darth_Pelican]

Is the NBA destined for a lockout?

ESPN.com and the TrueHoop Network


http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2011/0628/nba_g_stern11_576.jpgHENNY RAY ABRAMS/AFP/Getty ImagesReturn of the "lockout beard"? David Stern may have no reason for a razor unless things change soon.


Only two days are left, barring an extension, for the owners and players to come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement.
If not? It's lockout time, most likely.
To figure out the most pressing matters in this most depressing time, our 5-on-5 crew plays a little Fact or Fiction:



1. Fact or Fiction: Owners will lock out the players at midnight Friday.



Henry Abbott, TrueHoop: Fact. Or, rather, don't expect a deal by Friday, not because there isn't the will but because there isn't time. In years past it took days from finally agreeing on the basics to "having a deal." There is not time for a deal this week. Whether that comes with a lockout or not is arbitrary (unless you happen to run an NBA website).
Tim Donahue, 8 Points, 9 Seconds (http://www.eightpointsnineseconds.com/): Fact. It seems that the owners have been repackaging the same demands while waiting for the National Basketball Players Association to make what it considers a material move toward them. It won't come, and the owners are perfectly comfortable with a lockout.
John Krolik, Cavs: The Blog (http://www.cavstheblog.com/): Fact. The owners will make a strong push for a hard cap, and the players will not allow that to happen for a while. I don't see how this could be resolved by Friday.
Matt Moore, Hardwood Paroxysm (http://www.hardwoodparoxysm.com/): Fact. Are we still wondering about this? I'm already in the bunker with Twinkies, bottled water and several digital copies of the 1995 Finals. Hope died when the players elected not to provide a counterproposal. The fact that we're only now having substantive conversations inside of two weeks to deadline shows how much both sides knew this was the only way.
Kyle Weidie, Truth About It (http://www.truthaboutit.net/): Fact. With such high stakes and drastic change needed, the arguments and grandstanding will take longer.



2. Fact or Fiction: The 2011-12 NBA season will start before Christmas.



Henry Abbott, TrueHoop: Fact. I'd bet my house on it. The league is going gangbusters right now. The big play is to have the best ratings moving forward for better future TV deals. Missing games is very expensive in that regard, and demonizes those idle rich players -- the same players the league needs to be likable as hell to inspire further growth.
Tim Donahue, 8 Points, 9 Seconds: Fiction. The cliff is coming pretty fast, and the owners are not afraid of the fall. The players have probably learned enough fiscal discipline to be able to hold their breaths and wait out a whole season. But the guys they're up against (the owners) have oxygen tanks.
John Krolik, Cavs: The Blog: I'll tentatively say fact. This will be an ugly, drawn-out dispute, but I think both sides would lose too much by giving up half a season or more to allow a prolonged lockout to take place.
Matt Moore, Hardwood Paroxysm: Fact. As often as I question the logic and/or base intelligence of the decision-makers surrounding the NBA and the players' union, I can't believe both sides will fail to realize how much momentum and opportunity they're blowing by losing games. I'm like Don Quixote with my optimism, except the windmills are small-market owners.
Kyle Weidie, Truth About It: Fact. Tensions will get high in September, but the stalemate won't last into October. Several free agents will jet overseas, and we might even see a currently contracted NBA player with little to lose make the jump, but ultimately, owners will get their way. Most interesting to see will be the portrayal of the players' margin of defeat.



3. Fact or Fiction: A lockout will damage the league's momentum.



Henry Abbott, TrueHoop: Fact. The NBA, in no small part because of race, has a tough time convincing fans its players are decent human beings. When they're locked out, some players will get in trouble and others will say things that make them seem insensitive to the reality that they are incredibly lucky to make fat cake in this economy.
Tim Donahue, 8 Points, 9 Seconds: Fact. Losing games will kill the momentum, but that isn't as important as portrayed. The owners will compare the opportunity for growth to the cost of what they are sure is a bad system, shrug and soldier on. The resulting fan disenchantment will make it only more important to the owners to get the deal they want.
John Krolik, Cavs: The Blog: Fact. When basketball isn't being played, people forget about basketball. There's almost no way to imagine that a lockout won't hurt the league's momentum.
Matt Moore, Hardwood Paroxysm: Fact. We live in a 24-second-attention-span society. Trust me, I'm a blogger; I'm aware of how quickly things move. The league can't afford to allow people to move on to the next thing. They will.
Kyle Weidie, Truth About It: Fiction. People worry about halting the momentum of goodwill, but it's really about the media hype. With LeBron, the Celtics, the Lakers, the Bulls and the Knicks primed to be relevant (some hanging on to a thread) in a league with an ever-expanding international presence, media attention will be just fine post-lockout, even if it's a long one. Besides, is anyone involved even thinking about the fans?



4. Fact or Fiction: Fully guaranteed player contracts hurt the NBA.



Henry Abbott, TrueHoop: Fiction. Have to respect market forces. NBA contracts are not fully guaranteed by league-wide decree (many aren't guaranteed at all). Players simply have the market power to negotiate for that, and get it. Now, if you're worried about Gilbert Arenas making too much, you can either offer him less or work the interesting shorter contracts angle, which the league is doing.
Tim Donahue, 8 Points, 9 Seconds: Fact. Guaranteed contracts clearly can hurt the teams, but don't always help the players. Jamaal Tinsley and T.J. Ford got paid, but did they damage their careers? Guaranteeing money beyond three years is lunacy. You simply cannot see that far into the future on uncertain ventures like a player's career or team dynamics. The players' protection should be partial, not complete.
John Krolik, Cavs: The Blog: Fiction. Nonguaranteed contracts could help some teams get out of bad spots, but I think it does a tremendous disservice to the players and the league. Teams should focus on being better prepared to honor the contracts they give to their players.
Matt Moore, Hardwood Paroxysm: Fact. That's like asking whether self-inflicted gunshot wounds hurt. Sure, they hurt. You know how you stop them? DON'T SHOOT YOURSELF. Long, guaranteed contracts to players who don't deserve them hurt you. DON'T SIGN PLAYERS TO THEM.
Kyle Weidie, Truth About It: Fact. Most people are thinking injury protection, and yes, the main concern should be having to pay for nonproduction (or whatever Eddy Curry was doing). But I imagine owners are also aiming for partially guaranteed contracts as a threat to complacency.



5. Fact or Fiction: The NBA needs a hard cap.



Henry Abbott, TrueHoop: Fiction. It's a nice-to-have for owners (who have other options to reduce costs, which is not an option). A hard cap would keep Mark Cuban from spending deeply into the red to stay competitive. But he doesn't have to do that. If profit is a big enough priority, he can become a cheapskate like Donald Sterling and clear a profit. It's his decision to make, and the NBA can remain in business either way.
Tim Donahue, 8 Points, 9 Seconds: Fiction. "Needs" is too strong. "Wants" might be true. There are teams in the league -- small-market clubs like Indiana, Milwaukee and New Orleans -- that need a hard cap (and sensible revenue sharing) to be viable and competitive. The question is, does the NBA need teams like Indiana, Milwaukee, or New Orleans to be viable and competitive?
John Krolik, Cavs: The Blog: Fiction. The NBA certainly needs a fix, but I'm not sure a hard cap is the only way to do things. The current system allows for players to stay with their own teams, which I like. Wouldn't a hard cap hurt a team like the Thunder as much as it would hurt the Lakers if they can't afford to keep Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the rest of their young players?
Matt Moore, Hardwood Paroxysm: Fiction. Well, we managed to get a dynamic, interesting league with lots of player movement that drives fan interest constantly and allows teams to rectify decisions that don't work out. I know! Let's scrap it!
Kyle Weidie, Truth About It: Fact-ish. The NBA needs a staunch cap, a way of keeping owners from taking "stupid pills," as Wizards owner Ted Leonsis likes to put it. Regulation of those willing to throw money away seems like an inane concept, but you'd be ignoring the stupid part. However, big markets and free-spending owners will still need an out, so it's unlikely teams will get completely stuck between a cap and a hard place.

[ducks]

Cuban needs to wave his money at everyone and solve this problem by himself. He's THAT good. :hat

you tasted him

[Dex]

Translation: Going to be a boring summer, sons.

[Spurtacus]

Source: Owners Will Push For $45 Million Hard Cap Once Lockout Begins
According to NBA executives familiar with the league’s strategies, once the lockout is in place, the owners will push for a hard salary cap of $45 million, the elimination of guaranteed contracts and ask that the players swallow a 33 percent salary cut.

The concessions made in recent weeks, including the “flex cap” of $62 million and a guarantee of $2 billion in annual player payroll, will be off the table.

If this seems certain to guarantee the loss of the entire 2011-12 season, it is because there are owners who think it is necessary for the long-term viability of the league.

[baseline bum]

So the owners get to have their fixed costs (e.g., arenas) covered by taxpayers and now get to slash their variable costs like hell too? Quite a racket, lol.

[DMC]

"With LeBron, the Celtics, the Lakers, the Bulls and the Knicks primed to be relevant (some hanging on to a thread) in a league with an ever-expanding international presence, media attention will be just fine post-lockout, even if it's a long one. Besides, is anyone involved even thinking about the fans?"

Lebron? Doesn't he mean the Heat? Where's Wade in that? lol these fuckers never give up.

[Leetonidas]

you tasted him

:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao

[Thunder Dan]

there is going to be alot of bankruptcies if the NBA players miss a season

[Greg Oden]

ducks is incredible.