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Peter Vecsey: Time For Hunter To Start Negotiating
[New York Post]
SPORTS
TIME FOR HUNTER TO START TALKING
By PETER VECSEY
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A S EVERYONE who vanquished me regarding time and
material over the last year can testify (and will
attest to when deposed), in terms of renovation
negotiations, I ain't nathen ... or, to the
tragically unhip, nothin'.
Still, even those who've repeatedly failed out of the
School of Business Bargaining recognized the NBA
players weren't going to find a solution - win or
lose - to their deadlock with the league's owners by
going to court.
Nor were they going to find an answer by going to Las
Vegas.
Especially when the opposition was in New York.
Again, what do I know about the process, but I
suspect there's only one way for Billy Hunter, the
executive director of the Players Association, to
reach a new Collective Bargaining Agreement with
commissioner David Stern ... NEGOTIATE!!!
Get into a room with him by his lonesome and advise
Stern, I've got to have this, this and this. And, in
return, I'm willing to give up this, this and this.
Experienced litigants in such conflicts suggest this
is how such stalemates are broken. Which might be the
problem. Though a seasoned court room practitioner,
this is Hunter's first public performance
representing such a powerful and wealthy group.
Not to mention his first pressurized clash with
Stern, an accomplished strategist at the table. And
it's not as if there's room for error. Hunter was
hired by union president Patrick Ewing (i.e. David
Falk) for one purpose and one purpose only ... to
beat Stern at his game.
So far, not surprisingly, Hunter has flat-out refused
to play. As long as there was hope arbitrator John
Feerick would bail out 226 players owning $700
million worth of guaranteed contracts, why take a
chance on making a tactical negotiating error? As
long as the union continues to demonstrate
solidarity, and doesn't mind missing paychecks, why
take the time to help formulate a new system that
actually might make fiscal sense for both sides? As
for Stern, he hasn't exactly penetrated the
periphery, either. But at least he says he wants to
talk. At least he says he's ready to negotiate.
However, for the most part, each side's negotiation
has consisted of passing proposals back and forth,
with plenty of time for thought (and little else) in
between, and clarifying uncompromising positions that
already were undeniably clear. As well as equally
outrageous.
For over four months, Hunter and Stern have taken
turns being offended by each other's offer. With good
reason. Each extremist has been unwilling to commit
to something vaguely fair for fear of giving away too
much too early. Meanwhile, it's getting late. The
prospects of having a quality season, or any season
at all, are rapidly diminishing.
As of yesterday evening, Hunter, displaying no sense
of urgency, had not accepted Stern's invitation to
negotiate (i.e. submitting to some old-fashioned give
and take, as opposed to returning to the office and
slowly composing another counter-proposal) any time
soon.
Hunter talks tough, but it's almost as if he's afraid
of the competition. C'mon, big fella, when are we
gonna see what you can do?
The only news we know for sure following the union's
two-day conference in Comp City? The agents are
unified. FAR BE IT from me to mock the players and
their agents for throwing out the possibility of a
league of their own. Lord knows, the wildest ideas
have a way of turning into overnight, world-class
money makers.
Still, how many franchises can Michael Jordan
represent?
More to the decimal point, how long do you think it'd
take for them to place a salary cap on themselves?
A better idea might be to call NBC and Turner Sports
about openings in their new football league.
Do the players honestly believe they can pocket
remotely as much as they're currently banking?
Contracting a dose of reality would be swift.
It's like our kids. They live with us for a long
time. Finally, they move out and get their own place.
Then suddenly it dawns on them how expensive toilet
paper is, how much it costs to exist day-to-day.
Obviously, they never had a clue before because
everything was paid for by their parents.
Wait until the players learn how much it costs to
move around the U.S. by charter. How much first-class
hotels stick you for. What happens when they tweak
their knee or ankle? Think they'll opt for an MRI
each time? Do they realize what medical coverage
costs? Do they have any conception they're the most
pampered athletes in all of sports?
Which brings us to the inspiration of the locked-out
players putting on exhibition games. You mean to tell
me Penny Hardaway is going to jeopardize the four
remaining years on his $50M contract for the sake of
union members? You mean to tell me free-agent Scottie
Pippen is going to risk a career-threatening injury
and blow $50M? Who's going to pay for potential
surgery by the best doctors? Who's going to foot the
cost of rehabilitation?
The most relevant question is, of course, who's going
to lay out top dollar to see little-contact,
no-defense dunking contests, in which every other
possession results in a someone hanging on the rim
and screaming obscenities? Drawing any kind of a
well-paying crowd will depend exclusively on whether
Jordan suits up and Wilt has anything left.
Naturally, like so many of their other charity
endeavors, the players will expect some kind of
compensation in the usual form of plane tickets,
board, per diem and tickets for friends and family.
Let's make sure we all understand this: If the top
salaries are scaled back, how is there less money for
the middle class, how will they get squeezed harder
than before, as agents insist? Seems to me it's
exactly the opposite case - it'll open up salary room
without as much security, perhaps, as they'd like,
I'll grant you that.
At the very least, four or five starters (exempting
the teams who've already obscenely overspent to sign
Alonzo Mourning, Juwan Howard, Kevin Garnett;
everyone over $10M minus Jordan) will dominate a
team's cap, versus one in the old CBA.
I'm waiting patiently for hard questions to be asked
by players not named Ewing, Mourning and Dikembe
Mutombo. THIS just in, Feerick has ruled Sprewell
will be paid during the lockout ... A number of
players have confided to me they expect things to get
so bad once they start to miss checks, they're
willing to accept donations from the people who make
their sneakers.
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