Wizards' Legler Says Players
Should Accept Deal
By Amy Shipley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 19, 1998; Page
E01
Washington Wizards guard Tim
Legler yesterday ripped into the
players union, saying it didn't
adequately represent the 400 NBA
players, wasn't negotiating in
good faith and should accept the
current proposal from league
owners. Legler also said
negotiations were stalled largely
because the game's highest
salaried players were looking out
for themselves.
"They're the ones who are going to
feel it if we sign this deal," he
said during a telephone interview
yesterday. "That's why the deal is
not being signed."
Legler also said: "We're all
getting fat off the game, it's
just a matter of how fat we need
to get. The problem is, players
all know what the guy at the next
locker is making and they want to
make $5 more. It's that, and a lot
of egos and pride are involved. .
. .
"What this whole thing boils down
to is the superstar players don't
want to be maxed out on what they
get paid individually."
With his comments, Legler became
the first NBA player to denounce
the union and criticize his peers
in a public forum since the
lockout began nearly five months
ago. Word of Legler's remarks
brought a quick response from
union leadership, which insisted
that Legler's stance did not
suggest a split among the players
and that he was wildly misinformed
about the owners' current
proposal.
The two sides are planning to meet
Friday in New York after more than
two weeks without negotiations.
Wizards guard Mitch Richmond, who
is on the players' negotiating
team, said Legler's comments about
elite players were "uncalled for"
and that Legler "is definitely
wrong."
"He hasn't been to one meeting,"
Richmond said. "He hasn't been to
the negotiating table. . . . We
are not going to sell out the
lower-paid guys for the
higher-paid guys. . . . He is
misinformed."
Legler did not attend the players'
meetings in Las Vegas or New York.
He missed last Friday's conference
call between the union and Wizards
players. The union has scheduled
conference calls with all 29
teams.
Legler is entering the second year
of a three-year contract that will
pay him $4 million. He was due to
make $1.32 million this year, but
will lose salary for all games
through Dec. 14, which already
have been canceled. Legler said he
had discussed his views with Ron
Klempner, the associate general
counsel for the players union and
Jim McIlvaine of the Seattle
SuperSonics, a negotiating team
member. Legler has not spoken
personally with union chief Billy
Hunter.
"I don't know why we are not
meeting every day," Legler said.
"It's such a dire situation. I
don't care if they sit in a room
and throw pencils at one another,
or sit and just look at each other
for eight hours. That's how things
break.
"The reason I am angry about it is
not because I am losing money but
because of the senselessness of it
all, and the greed of it all.
There's only one word that this is
about, and that's greed. And
that's sad to me.
"I don't expect fans' sympathy. I
don't blame them for being bitter
or if they go away and don't come
back. I would be the same way. I
would take the basketball out of
my daughter's hand and put a
soccer ball at the end of her
foot."
Said Klempner: "We aren't
negotiating every day, because the
owners have told us they are not
serious about making a deal yet.
We can't negotiate against
ourselves. . . . The ironic thing
about Tim speaking out is we are
fighting this fight exactly for
the Tim Leglers of the NBA. The
main thing we have fought for
throughout this collective
bargaining is to restore the
middle class."
The key unresolved issue in the
negotiations between the players
and the league is player payrolls.
The players received 57.1 percent
of league revenue last season, and
the league wants to reduce it to
50 percent. The union is seeking
60 percent and wants owners to
assume some risk if the
agreed-upon amount is exceeded.
Players also want to keep a
flexible ceiling on payrolls,
allowing teams to exceed the
salary cap to retain their own
free agents. Such an exception
allowed the Chicago Bulls to pay
Michael Jordan more than $33
million last season despite the
salary cap being set at $26.9
million.
© Copyright 1998 The Washington
Post Company