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Aileen Voisin: Players Solidified
[THE SACRAMENTO BEE: AILENE VOISIN]
NBA players step toward solidarity
By Ailene Voisin
Bee Sports Columnist
(Published Oct. 23, 1998)
LAS VEGAS -- Instead of stretching
muscles and shooting jumpers, most of
the NBA's premier players took their
ball, their game and their gripes into
the heart of Caesars Palace, where
they exercised their vocal chords in a
day-long show of support for the union
and its leader, Billy Hunter.
Repeat after them: No hard salary cap.
No one messes with Larry Bird. No one
messes with US.
And just in case the message didn't
resonate in the NBA's offices back in
New York, the solidarity movement
travels to Broadway next week for an
up-close-and-personal-session with the
boss (Stern) and his bosses (the
owners). Hunter anticipates an even
larger turnout than the 240 players in
attendance Thursday, among them
Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal,
Juwan Howard, Scottie Pippen, as well
as Kings free agent Michael Stewart.
"Our players want to be part of the
process," said Hunter, "so they can
see how the owners respond. All they
have to do is listen."
There was a little of that, a little
of this Thursday. In fact, there was a
little bit of everything, from feuding
agents, to the inevitable question
about Jordan's possible return
(maybe), to Karl Malone's mea culpa
for opposing the union in '95, to a
special appearance by Don Fehr and
Gene Upshaw, the union representatives
of major-league baseball and the NFL,
respectively. Mostly there was
fist-pumping and chest-thumping and
cheap shots at Stern and his $10
million salary.
Yet beneath the rhetoric, sanity
prevailed.
The players hastily rejected a
proposal urging the creation of a
rival league and just as quickly
dismissed thoughts of decertifying the
union, a tactic employed in 1995. In
1998, not a chance. Not yet, anyway.
"The right thing to do is to get
together and negotiate a new deal,"
said Charles Barkley. "The bottom line
is, we want to play basketball. But we
want a deal that's fair for everybody,
not just the superstars. The deal the
owners proposed to us is just a bad
deal. They sent the same deal to us
three times. This whole thing is just
so much BS, so bogus."
The stars' concern for the masses
certainly seems genuine. According to
Hunter, 100 of those in attendance
agreed to donate their $25,000 group
licensing earnings to their needy
peers, while several others committed
to play in a basketball game in
Houston Friday to generate additional
revenue for the large class of
lowest-paid players. The union
continues to maintain that only about
38 players earn in excess of $5
million, and that while the average
salary is $2.6 million, the median
figure is between $1.3 and $1.4
million.
Further, the players laugh at the
league's claim that half the teams
lose money, that cost certainty is a
necessity, that salaries are exceeding
revenues at an alarming rate. But what
do the players really think? Are they
willing to play hardball as more games
are canceled? And, if so, for how
long?
In the corridors and during breaks,
there were leaks, and hints that not
all parties are in agreement.
One player chided union officials for
not determining what percentage of BRI
(basketball-related income) would be
acceptable to the membership. A few
agents questioned the site of
Thursday's meeting and the invitations
to Fehr and Upshaw. Another objected
to a union meeting taking precedence
over bargaining sessions with the
league. And there was one very obvious
villain -- Steve Woods, an
Atlanta-based attorney who infuriated
his peers by filing an unfair labor
practice against the union last week.
"This is spinning out of control,"
said Woods, while colleagues Marc
Fleisher, Arn Tellem, Bill Strickland
and several other agents observed
closely. "Billy Hunter is treating
this like a divorce proceeding instead
of a marriage. The players are losing
in the court of public opinion because
they are telling everyone they are the
NBA, and while they're the heart and
soul, they're ignoring the fact that
the overall health of the league, its
marketing abilities, and the expertise
of David Stern are equally important.
There is no reason a deal isn't done."
But nothing to indicate a resolution
nears.
"I hope we can get something done,"
said Stewart, quietly, "but we're
prepared to sit it out if we have to."