from todays globe

[Ken Kokubo <kkokubo@pobox.harvard.edu>]

Pitino's practice policy comes under scrutiny

By Peter May, Globe Staff, 08/12/97

When Rick Pitino took the Celtics' head job back in May, he said he was so
eager to get going that he wished practice would start the next day.

He wasn't kidding.

Already this summer, Pitino has had no fewer than three camps or workout
sessions and has two more scheduled for the last two weeks of August.
Yesterday, the NBA Players Association said it was investigating the way in
which players were compensated for appearing or, in some cases, docked for
not appearing at what are supposed to be voluntary sessions.

And the NBA, which in May told its 29 teams that it would not allow them to
hold organized practice sessions or scrimmages in the summer, has reminded
the Celtics at least once of its position.

''Teams are not allowed to have organized practice sessions or scrimmages
between the end of the season and the beginning of training camp,'' Jeffrey
Mishkin, the league's vice president for business and legal affairs, said
yesterday. ''You can bring in one player and work him out. You can open up
your facility for all the players. But we've told the teams they can't have
coaches running workouts like a real practice or scrimmages.''

Two weeks ago, the Celtics had most of the team in for workouts at
Brandeis. Reporters were prohibited from entering the building to watch.

At those workouts, Pervis Ellison apparently was conspicuous among the
no-shows. Efforts were unsuccessful yesterday to reach his agent, Bill
Strickland, who was on vacation.

Asked if the league would monitor the Boston situation in the next two
weeks, Mishkin said, ''They are on the honor system, like all of our
teams.'' However, if the league got a report that the Celtics were working
out in a practice-like situation, he said, it would intervene.

Pitino, the team's coach and president, and general manager Chris Wallace
also were on vacation yesterday.

The Players Association, meanwhile, is watching the Boston situation, too,
but for an entirely different reason. The union is concerned that the
sessions are cutting into the players' vacation time (although, for the
Celtics, that period extends back to April).

But the incentives are another matter. According to sources, there is a
clause in some of the latest Boston contracts - the ones negotiated by
Pitino - that deducts money from a player's base salary if he does not
attend the summer sessions.

''Is this an allowable amendment?'' asked union attorney Ron Klempner.
''Can you pay a guy who does attend and deduct money from someone who
doesn't, if it's supposed to be voluntary?''

A source said yesterday that the amount of money deducted is so
insignificant - in one instance, $2,500 - and the players are so eager to
get back to work for Pitino that there really is no issue.

As for players who have no such language in their contracts, Klempner said
there was ''no justification whatsoever'' for their attendance. However,
the union may be misreading the desire of several Boston veterans to get
back to work under a new regime.

In Sunday's Globe, Dee Brown said he had no problem with the workouts.
''We won 15 games last year,'' he said. ''Why wouldn't you want to get a
head start?'' Yesterday, his agent, Herb Rudoy, said Brown was not being
paid extra to attend.  ''There's nothing in his contract, nothing at all,
that says he should be paid,'' Rudoy said. ''He100 percent wants to be
there. To him, it would be irrelevant anyway. He's so excited he wants to
get back.''

The NBA allows teams to award bonuses to players for attending summer
camps, as long as it's not construed to be salary-cap circumvention.
Mishkin said the league also has no qualms with the so-called ''deduction
clause'' in several Boston contracts.

That issue, however minor in terms of money, soon may be headed to
arbitration if the union decides to file a grievance. That possibility was
under discussion yesterday.

This story ran on page E01 of the Boston Globe on 08/12/97.
=A9 Copyright 1997 Globe Newspaper Company.

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