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Peter Vecsey Column
[New York Post]
SPORTS
ONE-ON-ONE BASKETBALL
By PETER VECSEY
--------------------------------------------
Unlike most people, I'm not the least bent
out of shape by the decision to use
Atlantic City as the game site ... It
allows Patrick to visit all the boardwalk
pawn shops and cop himself a ring. SHOULD
THE NBA and the Players Association remain
at an impasse much longer, sources say Dr.
Jack Kevorkian promises within a week to
reveal his drop dead date for the 1998-99
season.
Let the good faith bargaining begin between
David Stern and Billy Hunter ... with as
little help (and attendance) from their
associates as common sense dictates.
Let's face it, anyone who has ever tried to
make a deal involving a small amount of
money - much less the billions of dollars
the owners and players are attempting to
divvy up over the next six seasons - fully
understands why nothing constructive can
ever happen in these collective bargaining
talks unless the majority of people
cluttering up the often uncivilized
discussions are excused.
The dynamics of 50 people in a room doesn't
remotely work. At times the atmosphere has
gotten far too emotionally charged. As can
be expected, too many people have personal
agendas to protect. Too many negative
remarks and funny looks have been
exchanged, and many of them are hard to
forget and forgive.
That's why players/entertainers/whatever
normally hire representatives to handle
their contract negotiations. That's why
bosses usually designate assistants to set
a limit on salaries. Things - some of them
very necessary - are frequently underlined
by both sides in the heat of trying to gain
an edge that definitely shouldn't be heard
by the client/talent. It can only lead to
long-lasting grudges.
That's why Stern and Hunter must take this
stalled negotiation into their own hands.
That's why the commissioner and the
executive director must finish this
man-to-man as opposed to having their
voices and their power drowned out by their
respective groups. The time has come to
take two or three of their most trusted
allies and go underground (while everyone
else is thinking the season is doomed; I've
always maintained nothing positive is going
to happen until this becomes a covert
operation) for as long as it takes, and not
surface again until there's a settlement.
The season might be circling the drain, but
Stern and Hunter better not try to tell
frustrated fans there isn't at least one
more proposal in each of their briefcases.
At least one more compromise each could
make concerning one major issue. At least
one more crucial give-and-take trade that
can be haggled without allowing pride, ego
or David Falk to interfere.
Regrettably there remains one massive
obstruction: Both sides appear unwilling to
present another offer for fear it'll give
away too much, that it might be accepted
without any resultant concessions. And they
might be right.
What to do? How about this? I challenge
Stern to make one last proposition and
label it as such. In return, I challenge
Hunter to agree to present the offer (which
is his duty, if not a legal obligation) to
the membership in a SECRET ballot (which, I
suspect, should slightly diminish the
intimidation factor). As opposed to having
Alonzo Mourning pick up each individual
vote personally.
In the name of integrity, Dennis Vacco has
volunteered to count them. *MORE than ever,
I'm convinced the NBA will be tipping off
soon. All it took was one press conference
staged by Falk, who announced yesterday
that all money from the Dec. 19 charity
All-Star game in Atlantic City will
actually go to charity instead of
earmarking most of it to NBA players. Falk
is fast finding out it's not so easy
running a league.
Thankfully Falk is a quick thinker. For the
life of me I couldn't figure out how Lex
Luther, er, Falk and happy-go-lucky
co-producer Arn Tellem were going to divide
the money among so many destitute players.
Whose unpaid $3M or $4M mortgage would get
preference, Falk's client or Tellem's?
Unlike most people, I'm not the least bent
out of shape by the decision to use
Atlantic City as the game site. I think
critics are being too hard on Falk and
especially Patrick Union. Come on, cut the
guy some slack. How clear would you be
thinking if, in the same year, you got
locked out of the league and the house?
Seems to me like the right place (players
can hop over to Philly and scalp All-Star
tickets) for the right people. It allows
Patrick to visit all the boardwalk pawn
shops and cop himself a ring. And even if
Michael Jordan doesn't suit up, he can run
his own card show. One hundred dollars for
an ace, $50 for a picture card and a 20
percent discount if the dealer breaks.
My only problem is with Falk's decision to
air such an appealing All-Star game (in the
dead of December, in a family resort, six
days before Christmas) on Showtime. You
know, a premium network vs. your basic
cable. Seems to me the fee might be out of
the price range of a number of the players
who weren't invited to participate.
From what I understand, the All-Stars have
borrowed the rallying cry that originated
when they met in Las Vegas; Comp and
Circumstance.
It took the NBA a lot of years and a lot
more money to market stars such as, Ewing,
Mourning, Karl Malone and Co., to protect
them from being exposed as the jerks some
of them obviously are. It staggers the
senses how insensitive and out of touch
these guy are with the common man.
Meanwhile, it only took Falk and Tellem one
press conference to damage everything. If
these guys (and Hunter) cared anything
about their clients' commercial careers and
reputations, they would have advised them
to stay as far away from an open microphone
as they have from a championship, and never
exposed them to such potential
embarrassment.
The more the players talk the more trouble
the league finds itself.
As for the union, which distanced itself as
far from Falk's showmanship as possible,
the way I figure it, Hunter should be
desperate for a settlement at this point
just to avoid having leaders play in a game
that no one will pay to see in person or on
TV.