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Peter Vecsey Offers A Solution To The Lockout
[New York Post]
SPORTS
WE'VE GOT THE SOLUTION
By PETER VECSEY
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YOU KNOW you're getting old when
you begin to welcome anything that
might make each day last longer.
You get up earlier. Drive slower.
Jog backward. Read Lupica. Nothing
works. You know you've gotten old
when your summer vacation
disappears in a blink and you
didn't even have any fun.
Though, I must admit, the NBA and
the Players Association are doing
their best to slow down our lives
to a crawl. Obviously, neither
party was in any kind of a heated
rush to get to this point.
A canceled exhibition season. For
openers, two weeks worth of lost
regular-season games. And now,
grim chatter by Garden president
Dave Checketts that the entire
1998-99 schedule is in jeopardy.
(I could've sworn heavy fines were
in order for anybody in management
- other than the league office's
hierarchy - who dared to comment
on the state of negotiations
regarding a new Collective
Bargaining Agreement ... or were
Checketts' scare tactics
sanctioned?)
So what do we have here? A bunch
of 10-cent millionaires trying to
drop the decimals on a bunch of
egocentric billionaires. Doesn't
exactly leave us anybody for which
to root. Not that it matters. Win,
lose or compromise, I strongly
suspect, the rich on both sides of
the bargaining table will get
richer.
More significant - despite what
the crepe hangers are hawking - no
matter how much the public is
temporarily turned off by the
squabbling and the forced recess,
and as self-absorbed as the
players and owners are, they're,
nonetheless, incapable of killing
a sport that every kid loves to
play.
That's part of what I'm selling
today. Which brings us up to date
on a day that can't help but
figure to be fairly eventful.
First of all, arbitrator John
Feerick is expected, at long last
(48 hours short of the deadline),
to render his decision as to
whether the players owning
guarantees are entitled to be paid
regardless of whether the season
is played.
Once that issue is resolved and
everybody understands who enjoys
the most leverage, it should
provoke honest-to-goodness
negotiations. But don't count on
it. There are some very militant
owners who'd like nothing better
than to play hardball for the
entire winter.
Today's calendar also includes a
counter-proposal by Commissioner
David Stern after only a week of
laboring with his most loyal
lawyers (I wonder if those on
retainer by the league are
confined by an hourly salary cap?)
to Patrick Union.
For some reason, I doubt the news
resulting from that offer will be
any more encouraging than the
earlier ones. That's why, as an
impartial and unpaid consultant to
all four executive directors of
the Players Association and three
of the four NBA commissioners,
I've decided to submit my own. I
defy either side to reject the
rationale of these numbers as they
apply to the critical topics of
stalemate: 'The Larry Bird
Exception would be modified to a
maximum of $10M (with 10 percent
raises per year), or 5 percent
higher than what the free agent
was earning the previous season.
Each team would be permitted to
designate two franchise players to
re-sign as long as they're on the
team. 'Every player would earn a
minimum of 500G. After five years
in the league, the minimum would
escalate to 750G. Each additional
year on a roster, an extra 100G
($1.25M after 10) would be tacked
on. 'Each team would be authorized
a $2M exception (split up any way
it wants) three times within a
five-year period to sign a player
or players. 'A new and upgraded
rookie pay scale would increase
from three years to four before a
player could become a free agent.
The parent team also would own a
right of first refusal. 'The
percentage of basketball-related
income would be split 50-50 each
and every season by the union and
owners. 'The maximum length of a
contract would be reduced from
seven years to five.
Put that in front of the players
and owners and see how they'll
vote. WHAT'S taking Feerick so
long, is a question being asked by
both sides? How complicated can it
be? How much time does he need to
gather information? How much time
does he need to spend in the law
library?
Just because the Dean of Dawdling
is an academic, it doesn't mean he
has to act like an academic.
Clearly he doesn't seem to have an
idea of the implications his
decision will bear. This is not an
economic exercise so why is he
acting like a judge in the
abstract?
This is not court. His ultimate
goal shouldn't be to rule who wins
or loses but to speed up the
Collective Bargaining process in
which both sides are groping for
leverage. Clearly somebody forgot
to inform Feerick this isn't Moot
Court. LOOK for the Blazers to
announce today that former Sonics
assistant Tim Grgurich has joined
Mike Dunleavy as his lead aide on
a one-year deal at 500G. That
makes him the highest-paid league
backup on the sidelines.
Jim Brewer, an assistant under
Bill Fitch the past three years,
is the leading candidate to become
head coach of the Clippers. Still,
Chris Ford and Eddie Jordan will
be interviewed next week. Contrary
to reports planted by Bob Hill, he
was never considered or
interviewed for the position.
Digger Phelps expressed interest
in the Paper Clip opening. He's
another of the few self-appointed
candidates who'd accept a 10-day
contract, or whatever it is owner
Donald Sterling is offering.
Bucks coach George Karl has
received permission from the
Knicks to interview Brendan Malone
for an assistant's opening. The
Cavaliers refused to grant Marc
Iavaroni a similar courtesy.
Sources say Magic Johnson is no
longer using former Laker
publicity director Lon Rosen to
handle his business affairs ...
Look for Larry Brown to hire
brother Herb as Sixer scout when
the season gets underway.
With the first two weeks of the
season canceled, P.J. Carlesimo is
already guaranteed of holding on
to the Warriors' job a lot longer
than I anticipated.
Nuggets GM Dan Issel hand-picked
two assistants for rookie head
coach Mike D'Antoni, naming Mike
Evans and Louie Dampier. What's
Dampier's qualification? He played
with Issel with the Colonels.
Dampier has never coached before.
Hey, you don't want to bring in
anyone who's already contaminated.
Who says the NBA Players
Association is unreasonable
concerning the league's demand to
make drug rules more
comprehensive? A.C. Green already
has agreed to random testing for
Viagra.
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