Totonto Sun: Stodamire Says Players Are Pissed

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

       [Toronto Sun: Sports]

  Wednesday, October 21, 1998             
  Cracks in union's armour?                          
                                                    
       By BILL HARRIS, TORONTO SUN                   
    Damon Stoudamire is expecting a game           
  of high-stakes poker when NBA players            
  gather in Las Vegas tomorrow.                   
                                                   
  "Something has to happen, because a              
  lot of guys are p---ed off," the                  
  former Raptors guard said. "The                    
  solidarity of the union is going to be             
  seriously tested."                                 
                                                   
  NBA players took a blow Monday when an            
  arbitrator ruled that guaranteed
  player contracts don't have to be
  honoured during the lockout.  Suddenly
  the prospect of missed paycheques has             
  some players -- especially the                     
  journeymen who aren't making a mint --            
  getting antsy.                                     
                                                 
  "For me, sitting out a while is not a            
  problem, because my big pay day is               
  coming," said Stoudamire, who finished          
  last season with Portland and now is a         
  free agent.                                    
                                                 
  "All this means is whether I get $14         
  million (US per season) or $13 million            
  or $12 million. It's really pretty                 
  minor. But the mid- to low-range guys              
  obviously see things differently.                  
                                                     
  "If it turns out the majority of the               
  union membership wants to go a certain             
  route, regardless of what the
  high-salary guys say, democracy might             
  have to rule."
                                                     
  Of course, such a scenario could play             
  directly into the owners' hands.                   
  That's why union director Billy Hunter             
  will be trying desperately to convince            
  the players to stay united.                       
                                                     
  "A lot of guys feel out of the loop,"              
  said Stoudamire, who admitted he
  hasn't been "in the thick of things"
  but vowed to get more involved
  tomorrow. "They've sent us bunches of
  documents, but really, guys need
  things spelled out for them."

  A radical option for the union is
  decertification, which might
  jump-start the 1998-99 season but
  would set up years of legal wrangling.
  By decertifying, the union would
  remove itself as the players'
  bargaining agent and a court
  injunction would be sought to end the
  lockout.

  "I don't think decertification is the
  answer to anything," Stoudamire said.
  "That leads to chaos."

  Meanwhile, Atlanta-based agent Steve
  Woods, who for months has been a vocal
  critic of the union, yesterday blasted
  the choice of Las Vegas as a meeting
  place.

  "There are major airports in 200
  cities in North America and they chose
  the one most associated with greed,"
  Woods said. Of course, holding the
  meeting in Vegas will ensure a higher
  turnout than if it were held in, say,
  Milwaukee.

  Woods also published an "open letter"
  to six high-profile former NBAers --
  including Isiah Thomas -- begging them
  to get involved and save the players.

  "Billy Hunter and (union president)
  Patrick Ewing are like Thelma and
  Louise," Woods said. "I can see the
  car carrying 400 players in the trunk
  going over the cliff as Billy and
  Patrick sing their mantra, 'We are
  unified, we are unified.' "


 

                 
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