NY Times: Owners Meeting First Week In January?

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

          December 23, 1998

          N.B.A. Entering 11th Hour for a Deal


          By MIKE WISE

              earing that it will hurt negotiations with the
              players union, Commissioner David Stern has
          steadfastly refused to issue a so-called drop-dead date
          that would signal the cancellation of the entire
          1998-99 National Basketball Association season. But as
          the league's contentious labor dispute motors toward
          its sixth month without resolution, it appears that
          such a date is within days of being announced.

          League officials are considering a date for a special
          Board of Governors meeting to be convened the first
          week of January in New York. The main item on the
          agenda: a vote of representatives from the 29 teams on
          whether to terminate what is left of the season.

          "At some point, we'll have to have a board meeting to
          cancel the season," Russ Granik, the league's deputy
          commissioner, said Tuesday night. "I don't know if you
          would call that a drop-dead date, but I guess some
          people will take it that way."

          Granik refused to release the date of the meeting or
          say when the season will be canceled if the two sides
          cannot negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement.

          The final decision rests with Stern, who is vacationing
          in Aspen, Colo., and is not planning to return until
          next week. Billy Hunter, the union's executive
          director, returned home to Oakland, Calif., Tuesday
          morning to spend the Christmas holiday with his family.

          Ten days after the last bargaining session, no new
          talks have been scheduled, though Hunter was planning
          to speak to Stern over the next couple of days, a union
          official said. As the owners and players battle over
          how to share $2 billion in revenue, the first three
          months of the season is about to be lost. Given that
          the season cannot start until the last week of January,
          at the earliest, more than $400 million in player
          salaries will be lost as well.

          Meanwhile, Kevin Willis of the Toronto Raptors became
          the second player in four days to publicly support an
          owners' proposal forwarded to the players last week by
          Stern. In an interview with The Associated Press,
          Willis called for players to vote on the proposal by
          secret ballot.

          "The majority would vote for the owners' latest
          proposal, just to start playing ball again," Willis
          said.

          Forward Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz said on Saturday
          that he thought the deal was fair, though he added that
          it needed some "minor adjustments."

          Willis's comments weren't surprising, given that his
          agent, Steven Woods of Atlanta, has harshly criticized
          Hunter; Patrick Ewing, the union president, and the
          union itself the past few months. In October, he was
          escorted by security guards from a players meeting in
          Las Vegas, Nev.

          "We conducted conference calls over the last two weeks
          with more than 120 players on each call," said Dan
          Wasserman, the union's communications director. "At
          least a dozen players on each call specifically told us
          they will wait for the negotiating committee to
          recommend a deal that is worthy of putting to a vote.

          "Every player is entitled to his opinion, although we
          have not heard from Kevin Willis directly. But the vast
          majority of players support the authority of the
          negotiating committee to recommend a deal."

          With both sides still trying to hash out key economic
          issues relating to how the league will do business the
          next six to seven years, union and league officials are
          beginning to acknowledge that time for a settlement is
          running out.

          Hunter has said that the two sides are not as far apart
          as many league officials have suggested, and that a
          deal can be struck within 24 hours if the parties show
          a willingness to compromise. But getting lawyers and
          the chief negotiators into a room for that meeting is
          another story. The next meeting will most likely not
          take place before Monday.

          Two union officials, speaking on the condition of
          anonymity, said that if a deal cannot be struck between
          Jan. 5 and 10, at the latest, they believe Stern will
          cancel the season.

          "They're in the right time frame," Granik said. "We
          don't want this to be a fatalistic situation. Frankly,
          I'll be surprised if we don't have another meeting
          before canceling the season. But right now, I don't
          have any reason to be optimistic about the results."



                Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company