David Robinson On The Lockout

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

                     Spurs still standing
                     strong

                     Robinson knows lockout
                     is costly, but says
                     price is worth it
                    
                     By Glenn Rogers
                     Express-News Staff
                     Writer

                     Spurs players figure
                     it's too early to start
                     giving thanks to the
                     negotiators who are
                     trying to end the NBA
                     lockout and reach a new
                     collective bargaining
                     agreement.

                     While David Robinson
                     was shaking his head
                     after "his team" lost
                     to the younger guys,
                     including Tim Duncan,
                     during the morning's
                     games at Full Life
                     Health and Fitness
                     Center, he was serious
                     when talk turned to the
                     lockout.

                     The center said he had
                     no idea when the two
                     sides would reach
                     agreement, and he
                     remains amazed at some
                     of the owners'
                     requests.

                     He is adamantly opposed
                     to putting a cap on the
                     amount paid to any
                     individual player. The
                     owners have suggested
                     players with six or
                     fewer years of
                     experience max out at
                     25 percent of the
                     team's cap, seven to
                     nine years at 30
                     percent and 10 or more
                     at 35 percent.

                     "Nobody is going to
                     accept that," Robinson
                     said. "It would be a
                     huge mistake to limit
                     the top guys' salaries.
                     You know, if you say,
                     'Tim (Duncan), you can
                     only make $9 million on
                     your next contract' —
                     what happens then? You
                     immediately restrict
                     salaries of guys in a
                     lesser category than
                     Tim. You say, if you're
                     an owner, 'Well, Avery
                     (Johnson), we're paying
                     Tim $9 million, you
                     should get about $1.5
                     million.'

                     "All the salaries will
                     fall — everything
                     really is measured
                     according to the top
                     salaries. This new deal
                     is really not going to
                     affect the older guys
                     like me, or Karl
                     (Malone). It's going to
                     hit the younger ones."

                     Duncan will lose more
                     than $3 million if
                     there is no season. But
                     Robinson said missing a
                     $3 million salary this
                     year is not the same as
                     losing $20 million a
                     year for several years,
                     an amount Duncan would
                     have been eligible for
                     under the old
                     agreement.

                     "We're holding firm, I
                     can tell you that,"
                     Robinson said of the
                     players' moods.
                     "Revenues in the league
                     are going up every
                     year. The players don't
                     believe this is the
                     time to cut back on
                     their percentage.

                     "To be honest, I don't
                     know what the owners
                     want, wh#!ere is no way
                     we will crumble."

                     Vinny Del Negro and
                     Robinson said one
                     deal-breaker is what's
                     being called the timing
                     clause. It refers to
                     the owners' proposal
                     that if a team signs
                     another team's free
                     agent, it loses the
                     Larry Bird rights to
                     its own free agents.

                     "It seems whenever we
                     appear close to a deal,
                     they throw a wrench
                     into the works," Del
                     Negro said. "But (union
                     director Billy) Hunter
                     sounds optimistic, so I
                     hope we're moving in
                     the right direction.
                     Obviously, both sides
                     are going to have to
                     compromise more.

                     "You know, they can
                     agree on a framework,
                     but then it's real
                     difficult to crunch the
                     numbers within that
                     framework to please
                     either side. I would
                     think it would have to
                     be done by Dec. 15, and
                     that includes the
                     couple of weeks or so
                     of writing up the
                     agreement and getting
                     it ratified."

                     That would mean an
                     agreement would have to
                     be reached by the first
                     week of December. Then,
                     the season would start
                     the first week or so of
                     January.

                     Will Perdue said two
                     sides always appear
                     optimistic after a long
                     bargaining session.

                     "That's when they
                     finally realize they
                     haven't been doing
                     enough," he said. "Now
                     maybe there's a sense
                     of urgency.

                     "There is a point where
                     we have to decide
                     whether or not there
                     will be a season. A
                     lost season will be
                     devastating. Every game
                     we lose, we alienate
                     more fans."

                     The Spurs' backup
                     center said he, too,
                     would be opposed to any
                     cap on an individual
                     salary.

                     "I hear people say,
                     'What's the difference
                     between $8 million and
                     $16 million?' The
                     difference is $8
                     million," Perdue said.
                     "I know there is some
                     disagreement among
                     players about pay to
                     top guys, but it's not
                     widespread at all. I
                     just figure if we cave
                     in, we're going to wind
                     up with four or five
                     top teams and the rest
                     mediocre because the
                     rules will force teams
                     to use all their cap
                     money for two or three
                     guys."

                     Perdue also pointed to
                     what has always
                     happened in the past.

                     "Whatever the deal, you
                     know the teams will
                     hunt and find some
                     loopholes in it," he
                     said. 

                     Monday, November 23,
                     1998

                      © 1998 San Antonio Express-News