Peter May: Stern's Disruptive Agents

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                                [The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
                                [Boston Globe Online / Sports]

                                ON BASKETBALL
                                Disruptive agents?

                                After talks cease, Stern blames Falk, Tellem, & Co.

                                By Peter May, Globe Staff, 11/05/98

                                Here we go again.

                                NBA commissioner David Stern opened a new/old front in the labor war
                                yesterday, fingering longtime agents David Falk and Arn Tellem as the men
                                behind the latest snag in efforts to end the lockout. These two gents were
                                also on Stern's hit list three years ago when they led an unsuccessful attempt
                                to decertify the union.

                                This time it's the same old same old. Falk and Tellem are arguably the two
                                most powerful agents in terms of clientele and stand to lose the most (we're
                                using the word ''lose'' in relative terms here) if there's a limit placed on
                                the salaries of the league's elite. Stern went so far yesterday as to say he
                                thought the real union negotiators wanted to make a deal but that there was
                                pressure from the outside to prevent that.

                                ''We believe, with good reason, that the agents of players who would be most
                                affected by the high-end limitation have begun a campaign to defeat any fair
                                deal,'' Stern said. ''And their view is that no matter how good the deal may
                                be for 400 players, it won't be allowed to fly if the top 30 can't have the
                                ability to receive unlimited amounts. And we're concerned that this entire
                                arrangement and deal is going to be held hostage by this attitude.''

                                The sides met yesterday for less than two hours. They may or may not meet
                                tomorrow. League consigliore Jeff Mishkin said, ''We appear to be even further
                                apart than we've been. Nothing is happening to bring us closer together.''

                                Then, in a not so subtle jab at the agents, Mishkin added, ''It's obvious that
                                something external to our negotiations is having an impact and preventing us
                                from making progress.''

                                Falk did not return a call from the Globe. But he told the Associated Press
                                that Stern and his minions are simply resorting to the familiar strategy of
                                dividing the union.

                                ''I'm flattered they think I'm running the union, but clearly, what David
                                Stern is trying to do is tactically divide us - the agents from the players,
                                the high-salaried players from the middle class,'' Falk said. ''This should be
                                a wake-up call to the union to stay unified and not let them divide us.''

                                Tellem also did not return a call but told AP that Stern's comments were
                                ''ludicrous.''

                                The league's latest proposal would limit what a team could pay to re-sign its
                                own free agents. In the case of the younger free agents, their first-year
                                salary could be no more than 25 percent of the overall cap (about $8 million),
                                with 10 percent increases over the ensuing five years. If a player had 7-9
                                years of service, he could sign for 30 percent ($9.6 million), with 10 percent
                                bumps.

                                Among the league's up-and-comers, Falk represents future gold mines Antoine
                                Walker, Stephon Marbury, Allen Iverson, Keith Van Horn, and Vin Baker, while
                                Tellem has Kobe Bryant, among others.

                                There seemed to be a small reservoir of goodwill building last week. Each side
                                agreed that there was what union attorney Jeff Kessler called ''conceptual
                                progress.'' There were luxury taxes and escrow accounts and all sorts of
                                creative financing vehicles on the table. The only problem was that the sides
                                were very far apart on how the $2 billion pie should be divided. They still
                                are. But until yesterday, no one was throwing any tomatoes. In fact, Stern
                                said one person on each team who understands the proposal could now talk to
                                players who have questions. That was a no-no before yesterday.

                                Stern also used the occasion to point out that the NBA's salary limit
                                mechanism would affect a small minority of players - the true superstars who
                                re-sign with their own teams. Most of the others would feel the pinch if there
                                was no limit, he said. It was a transparent attempt to get the so-called
                                average players to rally around the deal at the expense of the big-timers.

                                He also said union chief Billy Hunter did not buy the league's latest charge
                                that Falk and Tellem were working to kill the deal. The union did not issue a
                                statement, although Hunter was quoted after yesterday's session as saying that
                                ''we're just not going to capitulate.''

                                This story ran on page E04 of the Boston Globe on 11/05/98.
                                © Copyright 1998 Globe Newspaper Company.