http://ken-berger.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/11838893/32511287 NEW YORK -- There were no fireworks, no tantrums and no tirades. There was all the resignation and disappointment of doomsday, but none of the reality. The reality is that the NBA owners and players, after showing most of their cards Tuesday in a bargaining session that failed to save an on-time start to the regular season, are approximately $80 million-a-year apart on the economics of a new collective bargaining agreement, multiple sources with knowledge of the negotiations told CBSSports.com. Though no additional negotiations are scheduled and the process now enters the dangerous and unpredictable phase where any slipups could jeopardize a large chunk of the regular season, the two sides are closer than they publicliy divulged in a pair of dueling news conferences in adjacent meetings rooms of a Times Square hotel. Here is where they are, according to multiple people involved in the negotiations: After the owners offered the players a 50-50 split of revenues that effectively was a 47 percent share with about $350 million in expenses deducted first, the two sides met in small groups in the hallway while each side's larger group caucused in separate rooms. As the hour grew late, the tension was rising and becoming palpable. Both sides recognized it was time to try everything possible to make a deal. In the group for the league side were commissioner David Stern, deputy commissioner Adam Silver and Spurs owner Peter Holt, the chairman of the labor relations committee. For the players, it was union president Derek Fisher, outside counsel Jeffrey Kessler and two of the brightest stars who attended Tuesday's crucial bargaining session -- Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett, according to one of the people with knowledge of the side meeting. In that group, the league -- sensing that the opportunity for a deal was there -- proposed essentially a 50-50 split with no additional expense reductions over a seven-year proposal, with the seventh year being a players' option, one of the people said. This was the offer Stern described in his news conference Tuesday evening, one that he and Silver thought would be enough to finally close the enormous gap between the two sides. The league's offer, according to three people familiar with it, came in a range of 49-51 -- with 49 percent guaranteed and a cap of 51 percent, the sources said. Stern told the players and Kessler that he was bringing this proposal to his owners in an attempt to sell it, making no bones about the fact that he would. In fact, Stern said in the news conference, he did sell it. The owners were prepared to sign off on this 49-51 percent band, and with many of the most polarizing system issues resolved, the framework of a deal was in sight. While the owners were caucusing, a member of the players' group returned with a counterproposal -- approximately 52 percent of BRI for the players with no additional expenses deducted. The players' counterproposal followed the format presented by the owners -- a 51-53 percent band with 51 percent guaranteed and a cap of 53. League officials rejected the offer, the sources said. So while Hunter and Stern remained publicly entrenched in the ecoomic positions of their most recent formal proposals -- with the players asking for 53 percent and the league offering effectively 47, the reality is this: the gap has closed to 2 percentage points of BRI, the difference between the midpoint of the two offers. With each percentage point of BRI worth about $40 million, the two sides -- who were at one time $8 billion apart over 10 years -- are now a mere $80 million apart on an annual basis. So you can see what the two sides saw Tuesday -- the road to a deal that both sides eventually can find a way to live with that is better than the alternative of missing a substantial portion of the regular season. Complications remain, of course, not the least of which is the fact that this sidebar, informal discussion of the two BRI bands would have to be worked through the formal process of getting each side's committee to sign off -- and then, it would have to be negotiated further. Also, by walking out without a deal Tuesday, the players' association is subject to the influence of agents who have made it clear they are unhappy with the course of negotiations and have openly threatened encouraging their clients to decertify the union. Two people with direct knowledge of the strategy being invoked by a group of seven super agents who wrote a letter to their clients over the weekend said the group -- including Arn Tellem, Bill Duffy, Mark Bartelstein, Dan Fegan, Jeff Schwartz, Leon Rose and Henry Thomas -- is willing to accept no less than 52 percent. There is disageement within the ranks on that figure, with a hard-line faction pushing for the players not to retreat at all from the 57 percent of BRI they received under the previous CBA. The more time that goes by without closing the now comparatively narrow gap between the two sides, the more opportunity there will be for players and their agents to apply pressure to the union -- and perhaps even encourage clients who are unhappy with the course of negotiations to hold a decertification vote, which would stall the talks. One of the people with direct knowledge of the super agents' strategy said at least two strong voices in that camp have quelled their pursuit of decertification, which would remove the process from the negotiating room and throw it into federal court under anti-trust law. Such a move at this stage, the person with knowledge of the agents' approach said, would inject too much chaos with a deal within reach. With most system issues preserved from the previous deal, one of the high-powered agents has told associates that he would accept 52 percent and "call it a wrap," a source said Tuesday. Recognizing the uncertainty and risk that lies ahead -- the rest of the preseason was canceled after the bargaining session Tuesday and regular season games are potentially days away from being lost -- Fisher took direct aim Tuesday at the agents who have most vocally objected to the union's legal and bargaining strategies. "The only people that really decide whether we accept and ratify a deal are the guys that are standing right here and the other 400-plus guys that aren't here right now," Fisher said, flanked by several committee members and superstars Bryant, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. "And not out of disrespect, I'm just not inclined to engage in a discussion about what a group that doesn’t control any part of this process has to say."
They do dictate how much employee makes. Nobody forced the Hawks to sign Joe Johnson to any kind of contract at all, let along a $120 million contract. Nobody forced Daryl Morey to sign Scola, Brad Miller, Lowry, etc. to their contracts, either. It was all very much voluntary.
the contracts are voluntary, but the system was still biased in the players favor. the owners take all the risk and the players have very little risk. (there is always injury risk but even that is handled by the leagues medical benefits.) that's why the owners were wanting non-guranteed contracts as well. if they are going to take the risk, then they need a way to cash out before the losses pile up too much. as far as joe johnson scenarios, the small market teams are pretty much forced to overpay for the first available talent because that is their only means to attract free agents. a harsh luxury tax can help with this problem since it will force the big teams to be more frugal (and thus stop hogging all the top free agents) or else pay the tax to the teams who stay below the tax. i am in favor of a $4-to-1 tax. no tiers either. but that ain't gonna happen.
That's not the argument though, the owners aren't saying they won't pay the players the contracts that have been signed. They just want future contracts to be for less money. I'm at a loss if the argument is "well Johnson signed for $120M, but you're not only willing to pay me $90M? That's an insult!"
I used to think that the owners/managements had only themselves to blame if player salaries escalated out of control. Nobody forced them to sign ludicrous contracts, right? Well then I realized that a sport league is a very skewed kind of industry. It only has a very limited number of franchises. It's a very small field of competition. When the industry is so small, one bad apple could spoil the whole bucket. It only takes a few dumb management moves to jack up the whole market. If every team was run by a Daryl Morey, they probably wouldn't need a CBA to control cost. But that's not the case. Morey didn't sign a Scola to his current contract because his worth to the team matched the dollar amount, but because if he didn't sign him to the contract, some other GM would and he would lose Scola for nothing. In other words, even a smart management can be forced to overpay by a jacked up market.
They can have future contracts to be of less money quite easily. Just don't sign unreasonably contracts. Daryl Morey/Les Alexander, for example, resisted giving Aaron Brooks an extension that he wanted. Brooks wasn't happy. Tough luck.
As for owners taking all the risk: that's what being an owner means. Apple's owners (i.e. shareholders) take all of the risk, not its employees. The same goes with Wal-Mart and your local Chinese restaurant. The owner of my local Chinese restaurant doesn't b**** about his waiters and cooks not taking the business risks with him. You want the players to take risks? Fine, then give them a % of the ownership interest in the teams.
I'm not a negotiation specialist, but if one side has souped up lawyers and the other side negotiates "in good faith", wouldn't it end likely being 55-45 towards one side? I mean, if the owners offered something, and the players don't have their lawyers scan through it with a fine comb, then they would be idiots. The reverse hold true. So regardless of how much you hate lawyers, not having them will be detrimental to the side that don't use them. And whatever millions these lawyers are getting paid, it's still not nearly as much as they'll lose if they get a raw deal in the end.
Roger Goodell > David Stern I think Stern is one of the worst commissioners in sports. Having 2 lockouts and 2 shortened seasons will ruin his legacy.
Well it's safe to say that soccer has officially jumped up my favorite sports list. I hope the NBA suffers royally and hits NHL #'s once the season starts (this decade or the next).
The NHL survived though, they absolutely had to do what they did to keep the league a viable one. The NBA does not, that is the trick here, their popularity is soaring, all over the globe, and a strike/lockout/work stoppage at this time would be very short sighted by all the folks involved. DD
What bothers me is that it is getting harder for the everyday fan to go to games because of the economy. I think this ongoing negotiation is the worst thing for the NBA players to do right now, at this time. The economy is only going to get worse, and people, without an NBA season, will realize that front row seats from their couch is a better economical decision. NBA will suffer. Owners will suffer. Players will regret this. Derick Fisher is representing young, irresponsible, selfish, and misinformed group of players who don't realize what their action will do to the future of basketball. Everyone should be in a conserve / preserve state of mind. Everyone.
This is why I believe a deal will get done by Monday and no games will be missed. IMO, they are so close now it's obvious an agreement will be reached.
Here's a link to the letter that Fisher and Hunter sent to all the players yesterday in regards to the meeting. http://ht.cdn.turner.com/si/nba/NBPAletter.pdf
Stern leaking that to the press to garner sympathy from the fans and maybe some of the players that were not there...very underhanded and typical. DD
Really shows that he's negotiating in good faith. Also it seems like the majority of the NBA players (rank in file) would agree to this 50/50 BRI split but it's the stars (Kobe, LeBron, Wade, Garnett, etc.) who won't go below 53% The middle class and vet players just want to get back to work and I agree with them. The NBA should stand for the No Bargaining Association.
