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Rich Hoffman: Those Poor NBA Millionaires
October 29, 1998
Oh, those poor millionaires
NBA scraps two more weeks
By Rich Hoffman
Philadelphia Inquirer
You be the dog,
And I'll be the pony.
You call it progress,
And I'll call it phony.
Dog. Pony.
Progress. Phony.
Let's call the season off.
-- Old labor ballad
NEW YORK -- It is an immutable law in the
business of sports and labor that the chances for
a quick settlement drop in direct proportion to
the number of players at the bargaining table.
Rule of thumb: Add one player, drop the
settlement chances by 1 percent.
Well, more than 100 NBA players were gathered
here yesterday for the latest confrontation among
millionaires. More than 100. You can do the math.
"We don't think there is any downside with
engaging in a dialogue with our players," NBA
commissioner David Stern said before heading into
a meeting with a big group of players, a group
that included Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen,
Grant Hill, David Robinson and dozens more.
Right. No downside. But the very fact that the
union needs to offer the owners these repeated
shows of solidarity tells you plenty about the
level of trust and understanding between the
sides right now. The very idea Stern felt this
was an opportunity to show the players the owners
who accompanied him to the meeting weren't a
bunch of shameless ogres tells you plenty, as
well.
What it tells you is that we have a long way to
go yet. What it tells you is that the NBA's
announcement that all November games are now
canceled almost certainly won't be the end of it.
This is still kabuki, not collective bargaining.
And the thing is, a lot of players don't seem to
realize that more than money is at stake here.
Much more.
The smart-alecks in front of the hotel
undoubtedly got their 15 minutes of fame -- or 15
seconds on the evening news. They said they
represented an organization called "Fans Union."
They had all kinds of props and signs, including
the one that said, "NBA Canned Food Drive -- Give
Generously."
Walking, talking soundbites. What they did was
trivialize a phenomenon that a lot of people seem
to be feeling right now. In most sports labor
deals, the average fan is a
pox-on-both-your-houses guy. Here, though, the
sense a lot of people have is that the players
are bearing the brunt of the image-bashing, even
though they're the ones being locked out by the
owners.
"Yes, everybody's image is suffering," Robinson
said, forgetting for a minute that nobody ever
paid a nickel to see the owner, and that an
owner's image is important only to him while the
players' image is important to everyone.
"Yes, I'm worried about that," he said. "That's
our fan base out there. I've got to worry about
it.
"I've got to meet the kids and play with them.
I've got to talk to the parents. I'm very
concerned about what they think of me as a
person. I'm very concerned about what they think
of all of us as players. But there's a place
where you have to draw the line, and I think most
of the guys believe this is an issue worth
standing up for."
The issue: more money for stars.
The issue: just more.
This is a union that chooses to show the flag in
Las Vegas -- which people still snicker about.
(Solidarity forever! Million-dollar slots!) This
is a union that argues for a free market for
superstar salaries, knowing full well that 75
percent of its membership will receive absolutely
no benefit as a result. This is a union that
figures the average working guy somehow
understands his fight against the mean, old
owners, not realizing that the people who haven't
tuned out already are thoroughly disgusted.
Make no mistake -- the league is very, very
conscious of the irony here. The NBA has spent
the last 20 years building up and burnishing the
image of its players. It has had more success in
that regard than any other sports league. And
it's slipping away, slowly but steadily.
In the last 18 months, that image has suffered.
Latrell Sprewell. Deadbeat dads on the cover of
Sports Illustrated. No marijuana policy.
Hundred-million-dollar contracts -- that final
zero coming across as an unbelievable exclamation
point to the average guy.
And now, this. It gets worse with each passing
day. And if some of this is fueled by racism --
if there's anything worse for a certain
percentage of white America than a rich, pampered
athlete begging for more, it's a rich, pampered,
black athlete -- that just complicates the
sport's problems.
Twenty years ago, the NBA managed to supplant a
too-black, too-drug-infested image by putting the
focus on the players and their amazing skills.
The league soared to unbelievable heights. But
here and now, even if this thing gets settled
tomorrow, a lot of the age-old hurdles have been
put back in place.
But they don't get it. They really don't. Even
Michael Jordan can't seem to grasp the concept.
Even a guy whose image has made him more money
than basketball has, if that's possible, doesn't
get it. When he was asked yesterday about what he
might say to the fans, Jordan went into a long
campaign speech talking about David Stern and the
owners and revenue sharing and whatnot. He has no
idea how absurd this all sounds to the people who
buy the tickets. He has no idea what real people
really think.
Then again, why would he?
How would he?
"If it gets settled fairly soon, our image won't
suffer," said the Nets' Keith Van Horn, eagerly.
He is a kid, and a kid can be forgiven his
naivete. But that's what it is, naivete.
"If it goes into December, then I think it will [
hurt the image ] ," he said. "But I don't think
the fans are extremely frustrated at this point.
To tell you the truth, the regular season hasn't
started yet [ it would have opened Nov. 3 ] ."
If it goes into December?
Fellas: It is into December. And when it ends --
sometime after the number of people in the
bargaining sessions has been reduced from triple
digits -- everyone should know this: A lot more
has been lost here than just money.
©1998 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.