Phil Mushnick: Call NBA Unionists The Rank And Vile

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

                              [New York Post]
                                  SPORTS

                             CALL NBA UNIONISTS THE RANK AND VILE

                    By PHIL MUSHNICK
                    ------------------------------------------------------
                    I'M beginning to cave, beginning to do what I swore I
                    wouldn't. I'm beginning to feel sorry for one of the
                    out-front people among the warring parties in the NBA
                    lockout.

                    The object of my sympathy is Players' Association
                    Director Billy Hunter. How can the public possibly
                    take him seriously when his rank and file go to
                    extremes to demonstrate to the NBA's fan base - its
                    blood source - that they don't have a clue.

                    By now every fan has his or her cherished absurdity
                    from sports' latest, greed-driven work stoppage,
                    whether it's Patrick Ewing's sensitive reminder that
                    players who make a lot of money also spend a lot of
                    money, or David Stern, at a salary approaching $10
                    million per, representing himself as an agent of the
                    fiscally responsible.

                    Whether it's Karl Malone crossing a picket line of
                    locked-out ABC NABET workers to appear on ABC, or
                    players arriving in stretch limos to plead their
                    economic case to the public. Whatever principled
                    arguments have been advanced by either side, they've
                    been undermined by prima facie, in-yer-facie
                    realities.

                    But the kicker came Saturday night, at that charity
                    game in Atlantic City.

                    Showtime, which televised the event, found Anthony
                    Mason in the crowd. Although the game was indoors,
                    Mason wore sunglasses and a dark, full-length fur
                    coat (in addition to his standardized gold or silver
                    necklace, thick enough to choke a coach). Mason's
                    jersey number, 14, was dyed into the back of the fur.
                    And Mason was happy to mug for the camera. Showtime,
                    indeed.

                    Five months into a work lockout, at a charity game
                    originally designed to benefit his needy, able-bodied
                    NBA brethren, Mason, former poor kid and reportedly
                    the pre-lockout recipient of a $900,000 loan from the
                    Hornets, was eager to deliver the following message:
                    I have money to burn.

                    This Kodak Moment must've struck others as perverse,
                    too. CNN/SI on Sunday chose this clip of Mason to
                    present to a national cable audience.

                    So I admit it. I'm beginning to feel for Billy
                    Hunter. Based on his public behavior, he seems like a
                    fellow who understands that dignity counts for
                    something. Knowing what he now knows, if he were
                    given a Day 1 do-over, I imagine he'd strongly
                    suggest to his constituents that they go into hiding
                    and not come out until he gives the signal.
                    <snip>