Phil Jasner: Feerick's Ruling Today

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

                                          October 19, 1998
                                 

                            Feerick ruling guaranteed to be today

                                        by Phil Jasner
                            Philadelphia Daily News Sports Writer

                       The 76ers' Allen Iverson, Aaron McKie, Eric
                       Snow, Anthony Parker, Tim Thomas and Scott
                       Williams have to be hanging on John Feerick's
                       every word.

                       The six players are among about 220 in the NBA
                       holding guaranteed contracts for the coming
                       season worth a total of about $800 million.

                       Feerick, the dean of Fordham's law school since
                       1982, is the arbitrator charged with deciding
                       whether they must be paid during the lockout
                       that has been in place since July 1. The
                       deadline for that decision is today.

                       He previously has been the arbitrator in cases
                       involving Golden State star Latrell Sprewell,
                       the NFL's salary cap, New York City transit
                       negotiations and a labor dispute at the Jacob
                       Javits Center in New York. The owners and the
                       National Basketball Players Association (NBPA)
                       chose Feerick in 1996 to settle their disputes
                       through 2001.

                       Feerick informed the owners and the union last
                       week that he would render his decision this
                       afternoon. And while no one knows exactly how he
                       will rule, it appears the decision might not
                       make even a dent in their stalemate.

                       The majority of the players with guaranteed
                       contracts normally would receive their first
                       paychecks Nov. 15. But even if Feerick rules in
                       favor of them, union executive director Billy
                       Hunter does not expect that to happen.

                       "We understand that would not end the lockout,"
                       Hunter said. " [ The owners ] have indicated
                       their intent to file an immediate appeal and
                       take it as far as they have to take it. Even if
                       [ Feerick ] rules in our favor, at most it would
                       be a hollow victory. The players aren't going to
                       get paid Nov. 15 under any circumstance."

                       The owners already have canceled the first two
                       weeks of the season, which had been scheduled to
                       start Nov. 3, and are prepared to eliminate more
                       games. The longer the dispute lasts, the more
                       the Feb. 12-14 All-Star Weekend in Philadelphia
                       is jeopardized. Roughly 18,000 hotel room nights
                       are on hold, not to mention what could be as
                       much as a $30 million economic impact on the
                       city.

                       Worse, the entire season could be in danger.

                       "I'm sure if the attitude of the owners
                       continues like it is, if they're not inclined at
                       all to reach some compromise satisfactory to
                       both parties, it could very well be that is the
                       end result," Hunter said. "But it will be a
                       result brought about by them."

                       Hunter flatly rejected the owners' most recent
                       proposal to institute a sliding-scale tax on all
                       contracts signed under the Larry Bird exception
                       that exceeded the average player salary, $2.6
                       million last season. The Bird exception has been
                       the mechanism by which a team could re-sign its
                       own player at whatever price the market will
                       bear regardless of the team's status within the
                       salary cap.

                       Hunter insisted the proposal would "drag down"
                       the system, virtually eliminating the middle
                       class of players and, eventually, guaranteed
                       contracts for all but the top players. Under the
                       owners' proposal, if the system did not work in
                       two years, it would revert to a hard cap.

                       "The owners are trying to break the union, if
                       not render it virtually powerless," said agent
                       Steve Kauffman. "Despite the rhetoric of not
                       wanting to hurt the players, [ commissioner ]
                       David Stern's agenda has always been to hammer
                       out a deal when the players are most
                       vulnerable."

                       The owners' proposal was a counter to the luxury
                       tax on superstar-level Bird contracts suggested
                       by the union. The players' offer would have been
                       triggered on any salary of more than $18 million
                       in a season.

                       "We need a deal that's effective, not one where
                       we just hope for the best," said deputy
                       commissioner Russ Granik, terming Hunter's
                       charges of attempted union-busting as "baloney."

                            ©1998 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.