NBA officals told to prepare for lockout

小妖

June 10, 2005
ESPN.com

Deputy commissioner Russ Granik told members of the NBA's competition committee
Monday to prepare for a lockout, four league sources, including two NBA general
managers, have told ESPN.com.

League spokesman Tim Frank was more circumspect when confirming Granik's
remarks, saying Granik told the committee "to prepare in case of a lockout."

Sources, some at the NBA's pre-draft camp in Chicago, who spoke on the condition
of anonymity, are not optimistic that the league and the players' union can
reach agreement on a new collective-bargaining agreement before the current
contract expires June 30.

The same sources say, however, that any work stoppage will not be a long one.

"There's going to be a lockout," an NBA executive told Ford. "I don't think
there's any way we get a deal done any time soon. We're not seeing eye to eye
right now. The truth is that players don't really believe a lockout will hurt
them in the summer. It won't be until there's a threat of losing that first
paycheck that they'll get serious about negotiating again."

While this could be no more than posturing by the NBA, sources on the players'
side are quietly conceding the same thing.

"I think they'll lock us out," a source with the NBA Players' Association said.
"I think David [Stern] has always wanted to lock us out. I think it's a mistake.
They act like they don't have anything to lose, but I think they do. The summer
league, free agency, NBA players' playing in the qualifying tournament for the
World Championships. The bottom line is that the players want to play. They [the
players] offered to extend the current deal until a new one could be put into
place. They [the owners] want this, and there's nothing we can do to stop them."

A number of issues currently separate the sides. The biggest is the owners'
insistence that guaranteed contracts be considerably shortened. Currently,
players can sign for a maximum of six or seven years, depending upon whether the
player is signing with a new team (six years) or his current team (seven years).
The owners have been trying to get that rolled back to five years.

Three other issues have become sticking points for the players: 1) the owners'
proposal to reduce the amount of annual raises in a contract; 2) a "super luxury
tax" that would more harshly penalize teams that spend more than a certain
predetermined threshold; and 3) the proposed minimum age requirement of 20 years
old.

Despite the resignation that a lockout appears inevitable, sources also have
expressed optimism that any work stoppage would not be protracted or actually
threaten the 2005-06 season.

"I think both sides will take the month of July off," a prominent agent said. "I
think we'll head back to the table in August and have something hammered [out]
by September. The NBA has no interest in losing revenue and fan support by
canceling games. The players have no interest in losing their paychecks. The
stakes just aren't high enough right now. But they will be in the fall."

Liverman

唔會攪到NHL咁大鑊卦...