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Mike Bruton: Players Chance To Rebuke Union/Agents
January 5, 1999
Mike Bruton - Philadelphia Inquirer
Players get chance to rebuke agents
The NBA's rank and file can send a message that
agents have no place in collective bargaining.
The clock is ticking loudly, and the
NBA season seems lost unless a growing
number of disgruntled players show some courage
by going public about how they feel about the
union leadership's handling of the lockout.
It is with the utmost discomfort that I take
this position, because, for the most part, I
believe it is the workers in this country who
are being hosed in the name of capitalism and
free-market economics.
But this situation is different because there is
an outside element -- such powerful agents as
David Falk and Arn Tellem -- that has corrupted
the negotiating process, which should involve
strictly the union's negotiators and the
league's.
It is also different because, almost from the
beginning, there has been a silent faction of
players who felt the NBA was offering a deal
that would benefit those in the middle and lower
salary brackets and that the union leadership,
well-stocked with Falk's clients, was dragging
its feet for a deal that would most benefit the
high-salaried players.
That silent cadre, according to some accounts,
consists of well over 150 of the 400 or so
players in the union. And it may have grown
since NBA commissioner David Stern, sensing that
union solidarity was crumbling, last week sent
each player in the league a copy of the league's
latest proposal. There is evidence that even
some of Falk's clients are among the dissenters.
Now that the union's latest proposal has been
rejected, and Stern has reiterated his plans to
recommend the cancellation of the season, the
membership of the union will be given a chance
to vote on the league's last offer. And that's a
good thing.
Regardless of the outcome of such a vote, the
move will put to rest the idea that Falk,
through his clients -- including Patrick Ewing,
the union president, and Alzono Mourning, a
negotiating-committee member -- has manipulated
the negotiations.
While NBA owners should not get away with a
guaranteed profit margin without giving the
players the bigger portion of the annual $2
billion-plus pie, it's just as important that
agents have absolutely no hand in collective
bargaining.
Signs of union dissension first appeared Oct.
21, when about 200 players met in Las Vegas to
discuss strategy and to show solidarity. Utah
Jazz guards John Stockton and Jeff Hornacek were
shouted down when they expressed disagreement
with the scorched-earth direction the union was
taking. Jazz forward Karl Malone spoke out
against the union's tactics last month. In fact,
word was that the entire Jazz team was calling
for a rank-and-file vote.
It's fair to say that the momentum for a vote
had grown, but it will take more players with
guts enough to step out in the light and voice
their opinions.
Though the union's militant faction is still not
above strong-arming players who disagree, it's
not as risky now to come forward as it was back
in Vegas. On that October day, Golden State
guard Muggsy Bogues said: "Maybe I'm not going
to be agreeable with where the union stands."
That took grit.
About a month later, Washington guard Tim
Legler, out of La Salle, bravely stated his
feelings.
"It has been extremely frustrating to be sitting
back waiting, on hold," he said, "seeing
salaries stop and the two sides not meeting
every day. In my opinion, that's not exactly how
you get things done. I'm frustrated because
we're throwing something good away."
Pressured by the union leadership, Legler
recanted some of what he said.
Last month, Denver guard Nick Van Exel, along
with several other players, including New York
forward Marcus Camby and Toronto forward Reggie
Slater, sued the NBA and USA Basketball for the
right to play in Europe. A federal judge ruled
against them on New Year's Eve.
Earlier in December, Van Exel had said the
players should "do [ a deal ] for three years
and just come back and do what they did with us.
If we don't like the agreement in three years,
we'll just lock them out."
As cute as that sounds, it is no match for the
sound bites coming out of the NBA office in New
York. In a public-relations war with spinmeister
Stern, the players are unarmed. That is one more
reason for dissenters among the players to speak
up and expedite a deal with the league.
Even though they were locked out by the owners,
who showed no interest in negotiating between
July 1 and September, the players have taken it
on the chin when it comes to public image. Stern
has seen to it. The man is a marvel with the
media, and he has worked his magic while not
uttering a mean word about a single player. He
knows he will have to market the players when
this mess is settled.
Ask people whose fault the NBA's labor impasse
is, and they'll tell you it's the fault of those
greedy players. That sentiment will increase a
thousandfold if there is no season, because the
NBA will have gone from being the only major
American sports league to never have lost a game
to a work stoppage to being the only league to
see an entire season wiped out because of one.
Things don't look good and some very big rats,
who happen to possess jump shots and spectacular
dunking ability, are abandoning the sinking
ship. Unlike Van Exel, these guys are not
citizens of the United States.
Michael Olowokandi, the NBA's top draft choice
last June, has signed a $3 million deal with
Kinder Bologna of Italy. Portland center Arvydas
Sabonis has skipped the country to play for
Lithuania's Zalgiras Vilnius, and center Vlade
Divac, a Charlotte Hornets free agent, is with
Red Star Belgrade. San Antonio guard Vinny Del
Negro, who has dual American-Italian
citizenship, has joined TeamSystem Bologna.
Meanwhile, yesterday, union boss Billy Hunter
and Ewing met with Stern and his crew in New
York. The NBA rejected the players' final
proposal, but the union leadership decided to
allow the rank and file to vote on the owners'
final offer.
The vote represents an important opportunity.
Those players who have been silent in dissent
would do well to remember that evil flourishes
where good men do nothing.
©1998 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.