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Stern: Union Won't Kill NBA
December 29, 1998
Stern: Union won't kill NBA
Vows not to let labor fallout -- even
cancellation -- have lasting effect
by Phil Jasner
Daily News Sports Writer
David Stern says without hesitation the NBA will
operate next season.
"We may not have the same players, we may not
charge the same ticket prices, we may not have
the same extensive TV revenue, but it will be a
league and it will survive for a long time and
it will continue to regrow and recoup itself,"
the commissioner said yesterday during a
conference call with reporters.
"It will have suffered tremendously, but it will
be here to live and entertain another day and,
ultimately, thrive."
This season, though, is on the verge of becoming
a very different story. Stern has called a board
of governors meeting Jan. 7 in New York, at
which a simple majority of the 29 owners will be
enough to cancel the remainder of the season.
The commissioner clearly believes the owners'
vote will be overwhelming.
Stern, speaking more strongly than at any time
during the lockout that has been in place since
July 1, repeated Sunday's statement that the
league has made its final offer to end the labor
dispute and challenged union executive director
Billy Hunter to allow the rank and file to vote
rather than just accept the recommendation of
Hunter's 19-person negotiating committee.
Just as adamantly, Hunter said that the
negotiating committee agreed unanimously in a
conference call not to take the owners' offer to
the full membership, but that "80 to 85 percent
of the members are with us." The rank and file
have given the committee the authority to
determine when to recommend a deal.
Hunter described Stern's offer as "take it or
leave it," but added, "I don't know that there's
no hope."
Stern questioned the motives of "a particular
group of agents" representing high-end players,
but seemed to center his comments on David Falk,
who represents union president Patrick Ewing and
vice presidents Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo
and Juwan Howard.
Stern said there are "400 players being held
hostage to a small group who are selected in
some manner I'm not familiar with."
"The concern of the players should be at a much
higher level as they watch not only the season,
but for about 20 percent of them, their careers,
end under a cloak of secrecy," he said.
Hunter refused to respond to a question about
how the negotiating committee was formed. He
also refused to take a conference-call question
from agent Stephen Woods, instructing the
conference coordinator to cut off Woods.
"This is a [ union ] leadership," Stern said,
"that has caused its players to suffer the
largest loss in the history of sports in terms
of salary."
To this point, the players have seen nearly $500
million in salaries wiped away. At the start of
negotiations last summer, the two sides were
trying to decide how to split what had been an
estimated $2 billion in revenue.
They exchanged their most recent proposals
during a five-hour meeting Sunday at the Denver
airport.
"We were instructed by the owners that this is
as far as we can possibly go, that they would
prefer not to operate the NBA this year rather
than go any further," deputy commissioner Russ
Granik said.
"They think they made a very, very generous
proposal. I don't understand why you wouldn't
allow your membership to vote . . . I guess they
don't believe the season will be canceled.
Unfortunately, they will probably only believe
it Jan. 8."
Stern and Granik insisted there would be no more
negotiations with the union, even though Hunter
suggested they continue with both his
negotiating committee and the owners'
nine-person labor-relations committee.
"I don't think the owners are prepared to blow
up something they've spent [ 52 ] years [
developing ] ," Hunter said. "They may, out of
arrogance and power, thumb their nose at it and
decide they're going to cut off their head to
spite their face, but the downside is so great,
I don't know if they'll ever recover . . .
"In addition, what's to stop some other group
from stepping up? The owners have to be aware
there are people out there anxious to replace
them. These people don't have a monopoly on
money. They're not the only millionaires and
billionaires in the country. There are a lot of
people who would like to have an 'in' when it
comes to professional basketball."
Hunter said he had not received any concrete
offers about forming a rival league because
interested parties would not want to be used as
leverage to hammer out a new deal with the NBA.
"There are 29 franchises worth an aggregate $5
billion to $6 billion," Hunter said. "Are you
going to jeopardize your $6 billion investment
when we're so close at the table? Over a few
million dollars?"
Stern seemed startled to hear Hunter say the two
sides are close.
"We are not close," Stern said. "The owners
opened this deal up [ because the players' share
of revenue had reached an unsatisfactory ] 57
percent. Billy told us Sunday he has to have 57
percent. To me, that's not close at all . . .
There is a shell game going on here that the
labor-relations committee has directed us to put
a stop to. Each time we put forward a proposal,
it's never enough."
Stern's stance, simply, is enough is enough.
" [ Hunter ] didn't believe the owners would
lock out, he didn't believe we would lose
regular- season games, he didn't believe we
would lose Christmas Day, he didn't believe we
would cancel the All-Star Game," Stern said.
"His analysis has been right on target. On Jan.
8, he'll turn to his players and say, 'Guess
what? I was wrong.' But by then it will be too
late to make any difference."
©1998 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.