Networks Funding Owners

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

Published Sunday,                              
November 1, 1998
The Charlotte Observer                       
                                                

NBC loses `Friends' --
at least in NBA

Networks funding owners,
not players, during
lockout

    By RICK BONNELL
     NBA Columnist

You know this lockout
thing is nasty when it
threatens to break up
Michael and Ahmad.

One of the more
embarrassing scenes from
the playoffs each spring
is Ahmad Rashad kissing
up to Michael Jordan.
Rashad is less
journalist than sidekick
the way he fawns over
Jordan before, during
and after each game.

Jordan implied it might
not be so cozy next
season when Rashad shows
up with his NBC
microphone. That's
because Jordan considers
NBC -- and Turner
Broadcasting --
``co-conspirators'' with
the league in these
labor talks.

Jordan and many other
players are mad because
NBC and Turner will
advance the owners
television money this
winter, even if there's
no season. That money --
over $16 million per
team -- gives management
huge leverage in these
negotiations.

``I'm not saying that
the players shouldn't
give interviews. But I'm
saying that they should
remember what (the
networks) did when terms
were being negotiated,''
Jordan said last week.

``I know that TV gives
the league and players
exposure by televising
games. But when they
come to us for (private,
one-on-one) interviews,
maybe we should also
take that into
consideration.''

The NBC affiliate in Las
Vegas was turned down
for several interviews
at the players meeting,
simply because of its
peacock logo. You can't
really blame the players
for feeling this way --
that TV money gave the
league a war chest the
players couldn't
duplicate.

NBA Commissioner David
Stern has already warned
that players refusing to
grant interviews for
network broadcasts will
be fined. But fines
don't scare Jordan, and
he's got a long memory
-- he hasn't granted
Sports Illustrated a
one-on-one since the
magazine wrote a cover
story saying he'd flop
at baseball.

Around the league:
Latrell Sprewell gets
nuttier all the time.
Now he's suing his
agent, Arn Tellem,
because Tellem didn't
negotiate the standard
conduct clause out of
Sprewell's contract.
Getting that clause
waived would have saved
Sprewell about $7
million, but only 10
players in the whole
league have the clause
excluded from their
contracts.

Minnesota Timberwolves
GM Kevin McHale
described the absurdity
well: ``It's ludicrous.
. . . That's saying `Arn
Tellem should have
gotten the conduct
clause out of my
contract `cuz he knew I
was ready to snap.' Are
you kidding me?''

Several agents I spoke
with agree with McHale.
One said it's laughable
to even ask for such a
clause, considering
Sprewell's volatile
history. . . .

The Pistons will make a
big pitch for Jayson
Williams when the
lockout ends, but
Williams has made it
clear he'll stay in New
Jersey, where his family
lives. The Nets' new
ownership group will
quickly pay what it
takes to re-sign their
center -- the most
popular player on the
team and Keith Van
Horn's mentor.

The bigger question is
whether Williams and
coach John Calipari can
co-exist long-term. It's
obvious Williams isn't a
big fan of Calipari. . .