NBA Labor Talks Could Very Well End Up Being Just as Heated as the NFL's
For all the press that the ongoing collective bargaining situation in the NFL is getting, not much ink has been spilled about the fact that NBA's own collective bargaining agreement is due to expire after the 2010-2011 season. The NBA could also face a lockout in 2011, and it's likely that the players and the league could be in for a rather nasty battle.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports published a very interesting story earlier today. It talked about an incident that occurred in the Staples Center locker room on the eve of the NBA All-Star game, in which Players Association executive director Billy Hunter gave a rather intriguing speech.
Hunter talked about how the owners had made an unfair proposal, and that a long lockout was looming. He also told the players that they were going to be the ones who were going to have to bear the biggest financial and public relations burden. He even referenced how Jerry West and Oscar Robertson had staged a protest at the 1964 All-Star Game, seemingly hinting that the same thing needed to be done in this year's game.
Also in the room was NBA commissioner David Stern, and Hunter's speech did not exactly sit well with him. When Stern took the microphone to offer up a few words of his own, he took the time to remind everyone in the room of all the things he's accomplished in his time. He then quizzically said that he knows where "the bodies are buried? in the NBA, because he had buried some of them himself.
Exactly what he meant by that was, and still is, something of a mystery. It nevertheless did not sound good, and several players, including Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose, couldn't believe what they had just heard.
Thanks in large part to Stern's strange remark, Hunter essentially succeeded in casting Stern and the NBA's owners as villains in the eyes of all the players in the room, who of course are the best and the brightest the sport has to offer. One supposes that Hunter didn't think the players were angry enough about the NBA's labor situation, and it would appear that he has successfully rallied his troops.
Considering the fact that the league apparently wants to install a hard salary cap, the players should be angry. A hard cap would cut salaries across the board, and super-teams like the Lakers and Heat would would become a thing of the past. Moreover, the league's rising superstars would not be able to command salaries as huge as players like Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett.
The problem facing Hunter and the players is that it's going to be very hard for them to win the PR war. In fact, he even went so far as to say, "We can't win it."
Hunter also said that it really doesn't help matters that former players like Julius Erving are under the employ of the NBA, and that people tend to listen when they criticize contemporary players.
Said Erving in a recent interview, "When I played, the owners had the power. The prisoners are running the prison now, not the warden. The warden is strong and he has say-so but, the balance of power is definitely with the players.?
This may be so, but the league dishes out the checks, and that's where their power lies. A lockout would mean no more paychecks for the players, which is obviously not in their interest. This is where Hunter's ploy to get them angry about what's going on comes into play. If they wilt, they're only going to get less money anyway, so it's in their interest to resist.
In essentially urging the players to pick a fight with Stern, Hunter is pretty much going for broke.
?If you don?t give us a way out, a chance for a compromise," he said, "you?re going to get a fight.?
Sounds like it's officially on.
Thanks again Mr. Wojnarowski for writing such a fantastic piece.
For more on the NBA, check out our latest NBA Power Rankings.
Christina Applegate Shana Hiatt Tara Conner Drea de Matteo Trista Rehn
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