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From NBA union chief Billy Hunter, lockout is imminent
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By Howard Beck
November 23, 2010
New York, NY — “I’d be 99 percent sure as of today that there will be a lockout,” Billy Hunter, the executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, said in an interview at his Harlem office. “I’ve said, ‘Save your money because in all probability there’s going to be a lockout.”
It was the most dire prediction that Hunter has issued since the league and the union began discussing a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the deal that expires in July.
Negotiations have been almost nonexistent. Each side has effectively rejected the only proposal made by the other. No meetings are scheduled, although the two sides have discussed meeting in late December.
The only thing Hunter and Commissioner David Stern agree on is that they need to make significant progress by the All-Star break in mid-February.
“I’m waiting to get some sign, some movement from owners, that they want to reach a reasonable deal,” Hunter said. “Right now
Players have been instructed to save their money in case the league shuts down. Hunter said the union also had a $175 million war chest to help players in need.
When Stern disclosed elements of the owners’ proposal last month, Hunter remained silent. He finally responded Monday, after the union’s annual turkey giveaway to needy families.
NBA owners want significant changes, including a hard salary cap, shorter contracts, smaller annual raises, less guaranteed money and a nearly 40 percent reduction in salaries and benefits, amounting to about $750 million to $800 million out of the current $2.1 billion.
“Every player I’ve talked to thinks that’s completely unreasonable,” said the Knicks’ Roger Mason Jr., a union vice president.
Hunter characterized the league’s proposal in schoolyard terms. “It’s sort of like, beat me up and take my lunch,” he said with a chuckle. He said the proposal would eliminate the middle class, leaving only high-paid stars and minimum-salaried role players.
The union has not offered details of its proposal. But Hunter said he could agree to a modest reduction in the players’ 57 percent guarantee of basketball revenues. According to the union, the NBA wants a 50-50 split, after deducting up to $1 billion in expenses.
The union rejected the owners’ proposal outright in February. The league has not responded to the union’s proposal, effectively rejecting it as well.
Hunter called the league’s proposal “extreme” and the owners “intractable,” and he said if the league maintained its stance, then “the distance I think is just too great to move.”
“Because we’re going to stay where we are,” he said.
According to the union, league revenues will grow this season by 3 to 5 percent, or about $100 million to $200 million. Meanwhile, negotiated player salaries will decline for the third year in a row and will fall below the 57 percent threshold for the first time, according to union projections. As a result, the players will receive a full refund on the 8 percent escrow tax taken from their paychecks.
The decline in player salaries is due in part to conservative spending by owners during a poor economy. It also reflects the changes made in the 2005 labor deal, which reduced annual raises and the length of contracts.
“Our contention is that the system that was put in place delivered everything it was supposed to deliver,” Hunter said, referring to the initial framework adopted in 1999. “The players never got a cent more than they were supposed to get. And ironically, if you review the press clippings from that era, you will see that the deals that were struck were lauded by the NBA as having been major successes for the owners. So why now at this stage are we now saying that the system doesn’t work and it’s got to be overhauled?”
Despite the sluggish economy, the NBA.has enjoyed record television ratings, ticket sales and attendance.
“Most corporations would love to change places with the NBA tomorrow,” Hunter said, “in a New York minute, so to speak.”
• NBA News Archive Index:
2010, 2009
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