[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Boston Herald: NBA Moves Closer To Drop Dead Day - Antoine/Pitino Mentioned
Boston Herald
NBA moves closer
to deadline
by Mark Cofman
12/01/98
In the NBA, it's
referred to as
the drop-dead
date. In layman's
terms, it's the
day in which the
league officially
cancels the
entire 1998-99
season.
Commissioner
David Stern and
perhaps a few
close associates
already have a
drop-dead date in
mind. Stern
refuses to reveal
it, but with
December here and
the league's
lockout no closer
to resolution one
month after the
season was
scheduled to
begin, the
writing is on the
wall. Time is
running out.
``I have one in
my head, and I
keep pushing it
back,'' Stern
told The
Associated Press
yesterday. ``It's
out there and I
worry about it a
lot.''
He should. The
owners and
players'
representatives
originally were
scheduled to meet
in New York last
Saturday, but the
bargaining
session was
squashed earlier
in the week.
While the union
claimed owners
were trying to
add
pre-conditions on
a potential
settlement, the
league claimed
the union would
not accept any
deal in which the
players receive
less than 57
percent of NBA
revenue. Both are
familiar
complaints in
this stalemate.
``We're obviously
not going to
negotiate with a
gun to our head,
especially after
having been
locked out for
almost six
months,'' said
Billy Hunter, NBA
Players
Association
executive
director.
Hunter's resolve
on behalf of the
union,
particularly
given that today
marks the second
missed paycheck
for players, does
not bode well for
an expedient
settlement. The
league already
has lost millions
of dollars, and
the long-term
impact on fan
interest and
residual income
can only be
imagined.
Worse yet, no
negotiations have
been planned this
month, suggesting
Stern might be
trying to follow
in the footsteps
of the NHL, which
staged a lockout
in 1994-95 before
settling Jan. 13.
There were no
talks for a month
before the NHL
lockout was
settled and the
season saved.
But if Stern is
using the NHL's
lockout-shortened
calendar as his
blueprint, it
makes for a
dangerous game of
poker in which
his self-imposed
drop-dead date
has become the
stakes.
Even after a new
collective
bargaining
agreement is in
place, teams
would need at
least three weeks
to settle
personnel
business and
conduct
abbreviated
training camps.
The Celtics, for
example, face
major decisions
that will shape
the future of the
franchise. If the
new agreement
makes Antoine
Walker a free
agent at the end
of the season (as
the old
collective
bargaining
agreement did),
do the Celtics
pay the $100
million-plus it
will take to sign
their All-Star
forward long
term? Or do they
trade Walker
before he hits
the open market
following his
third NBA season?
Another
significant
decision for the
Celtics concerns
free agent Popeye
Jones, acquired
last year from
Toronto. Coach
Rick Pitino and
general manager
Chris Wallace
appeared to be
leaning toward
re-signing the
power forward
before the
lockout, but much
would depend on
Walker's return.
For now, Pitino
and Wallace are
on hold - reduced
to scouting
college games
while hoping
members of their
team have kept
themselves in
some semblance of
shape.
To that end, they
have told the
players what will
be expected at
training camp
when the lockout
ends. That is, if
the lockout ends
in time.