Lewis
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NBA preseason canceled
NEW YORK – NBA players union president Derek Fisher said Tuesday would be a "very huge day" for deciding if the regular season began as scheduled Nov. 1.
It's not looking good.
Owners and players again failed to make progress toward ending the three-month-old lockout, with the NBA canceling the remainder of the 114-game preseason schedule and targeting Monday for postponing the first two weeks of the regular season unless the sides can get back to talks.
Even holding talks is in doubt now. Players' association executive director Billy Hunter said the next could even be a month or two months out.
Players had offered to reduce their guarantee of basketball-related income (BRI) from 57% to 53% percent, which they said would have given owners back more than $1 billion over six years. But they said the owners' last proposal had them at 47%, and that was unacceptable.
NBA Commissioner David Stern and Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver said owners offered players a 50-50 split.
"Adam and I felt comfortable and confident we could report to the players we could move to the next subject," Stern said of making that offer.
Ownership, in fact, had been meeting when, Stern said, "We were asked to step out and we were advised that (BRI percentage) was not acceptable, that they were at a higher number. At that point it didn't seem to make a lot of sense to continue today, by either side."
The sides met for more than four hours.
"Today was not the day for us to get this done," Fisher said.
Silver said: "We're long past the point where we're trying to get 100% of what we were looking for. We haven't made a secret of the fact that we'd very much like to make a deal."
But players felt they had given enough on economics. With superstars such as Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett standing behind him, Hunter said their offer of BRI reduction would have translated to at least $200 million per season — a sizable chunk of the $300 million owners said they lost last season.
One option the union has consistently said they would not explore is decertification, as NFL players did in their labor dispute that was settled in the summer. Now, Hunter hinted it's back in play.
"There are a lot of things that we have to consider before we go in that direction. But clearly that's something we may have to give some thought to," Hunter said.
The NBA is now closer to losing games to a work stoppage for only the second time.
And as in 1998-99, when the season was reduced to 50 games, players say they will not accept a bad deal just to get back on the court quicker.
"Our guys have indicated a willingness to lose games," Hunter said.
That's not the only loss, obviously. Millions stand to be lost by NBA arenas going dark.
"The damage will be enormous," Silver said.
Richard Sheehan, a finance professor at Notre Dame who specializes in sports economics, is the author of Keeping Score: The Economics of Big-Time Sports.
The players are "currently getting 57% (of BRI), so you're … talking about a 17.5% cut if the pot doesn't grow," Sheehan said. "If the pot does grow, why do the owners need to take a bigger slice? I'm kind of mystified by the owners' intransigence. "
Stern and Silver said they wanted to continue with meetings, but "we were told that it's not to be," Stern.
Stern, asked what he thought of Bryant going to play for an Italian team, said: "That's his right, and if he does that, we wish him well, want him to be safe, play well, eventually come back and be ready to resume (for the Los Angeles Lakers) when we make a deal."
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/bask...alks-break-down-season-in-jeopardy/50661024/1
NEW YORK – NBA players union president Derek Fisher said Tuesday would be a "very huge day" for deciding if the regular season began as scheduled Nov. 1.
It's not looking good.
Owners and players again failed to make progress toward ending the three-month-old lockout, with the NBA canceling the remainder of the 114-game preseason schedule and targeting Monday for postponing the first two weeks of the regular season unless the sides can get back to talks.
Even holding talks is in doubt now. Players' association executive director Billy Hunter said the next could even be a month or two months out.
Players had offered to reduce their guarantee of basketball-related income (BRI) from 57% to 53% percent, which they said would have given owners back more than $1 billion over six years. But they said the owners' last proposal had them at 47%, and that was unacceptable.
NBA Commissioner David Stern and Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver said owners offered players a 50-50 split.
"Adam and I felt comfortable and confident we could report to the players we could move to the next subject," Stern said of making that offer.
Ownership, in fact, had been meeting when, Stern said, "We were asked to step out and we were advised that (BRI percentage) was not acceptable, that they were at a higher number. At that point it didn't seem to make a lot of sense to continue today, by either side."
The sides met for more than four hours.
"Today was not the day for us to get this done," Fisher said.
Silver said: "We're long past the point where we're trying to get 100% of what we were looking for. We haven't made a secret of the fact that we'd very much like to make a deal."
But players felt they had given enough on economics. With superstars such as Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett standing behind him, Hunter said their offer of BRI reduction would have translated to at least $200 million per season — a sizable chunk of the $300 million owners said they lost last season.
One option the union has consistently said they would not explore is decertification, as NFL players did in their labor dispute that was settled in the summer. Now, Hunter hinted it's back in play.
"There are a lot of things that we have to consider before we go in that direction. But clearly that's something we may have to give some thought to," Hunter said.
The NBA is now closer to losing games to a work stoppage for only the second time.
And as in 1998-99, when the season was reduced to 50 games, players say they will not accept a bad deal just to get back on the court quicker.
"Our guys have indicated a willingness to lose games," Hunter said.
That's not the only loss, obviously. Millions stand to be lost by NBA arenas going dark.
"The damage will be enormous," Silver said.
Richard Sheehan, a finance professor at Notre Dame who specializes in sports economics, is the author of Keeping Score: The Economics of Big-Time Sports.
The players are "currently getting 57% (of BRI), so you're … talking about a 17.5% cut if the pot doesn't grow," Sheehan said. "If the pot does grow, why do the owners need to take a bigger slice? I'm kind of mystified by the owners' intransigence. "
Stern and Silver said they wanted to continue with meetings, but "we were told that it's not to be," Stern.
Stern, asked what he thought of Bryant going to play for an Italian team, said: "That's his right, and if he does that, we wish him well, want him to be safe, play well, eventually come back and be ready to resume (for the Los Angeles Lakers) when we make a deal."
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/bask...alks-break-down-season-in-jeopardy/50661024/1
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