Despite the players canceling a meeting scheduled with the league on Thursday, David Stern told the Boston Globe he still expects a deal to be reached. "I expect that we’ll make a deal because the alternative is very destructive," Stern said. Of course, there's not a timeframe associated with his quote and many people believe most, if not all, of the season will be lost, as the owners appear to generally be unwilling to soften their stance. http://twitter.com/#!/gwashburn14
This could be a very good sign. In negotiations involving management vs. labor unions (and other things like politics), when the more intransigent side expresses confidence a deal will be reached, it often is because that side is prepared to make concessions to get it done. This is the first thing I've heard that gives me hope some or all of the season will not be lost. It would be nice to verify this statement from a legit news source instead of Twitter.
This is legit enough. http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/2011/08/stern_expects_n.html Stern hopeful of NBA labor agreement Posted by Gary Washburn Globe Staff August 11, 2011 07:33 PM By Gary Washburn, Globe staff SPRINGFIELD -- Commissioner David Stern, despite NBA owners and players being far apart in reaching a labor accord, told the Globe tonight that he "expects" an eventual agreement that would prevent cancellation of the season. “I would say that we have very smart players who recognize that this system is very good to them,'' he said. "You've got 13 players on a roster averaging $5 million apiece, that’s $65 million and what the owners have said is, ‘we’re going to try very hard as we reset this thing to keep you as close to that number as we can.’ “The NFL, which is usually profitable as opposed to the NBA, which isn’t, got the double-digit [revenue] reductions from their players. Our players will understand that when the rhetoric stops and they will understand that the owners are trying to do the right thing and our players always try to do the right thing.” Stern walked away discouraged from the first full negotiating session two weeks ago and less than 24 hours later, the NBA filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board to prevent a decertification. Still, Stern said he is optimistic about reaching an agreement. “I expect that we’ll make a deal because the alternative is very destructive,” he said. “It’s destructive of $2 billion worth of player salaries and it’s destructive most important to our fans of the game. And if it spirals badly everyone gets hurt. But in some ways I worry because the players have more to lose, especially those in the later stages of their career. So we’re going to do everything we can when the rhetoric slows down to get this thing back on track.” The previous statement may have been a shot at Players Association executive director Billy Hunter, who told the National Bar Association last week that he expects the 2011-12 season will be lost because of the labor dispute. Stern said a scheduled negotiating session yesterday was canceled by the players. “They’ll be smaller meetings, conversations, you don’t need these great media events to have dialogue,” he said. “Eventually we’ll get it done. “I will not set a deadline on Aug. 11,” he said. “We close to two months away.”
Get rid of guaranteed contracts!!!!! Teams will make more money, and it will actually light a fire in the players' asses to do well ALL the time instead of in contract years.
There will not be any games missed. I never thought it would happen in the first place. They have too much to lose, after gaining so much last year.
Stern knows that the majority of players can't hold out for a year. A deal will be reached by Christmas. Book it.
Yeah, deals are usually reached. You make it sound like the owners will get everything they want, though. If the players have to extend this into the season, the owners will have to negotiate ... because the fans, sponsors and TV companies will start applying a lot of pressure to them. It will get very painful for the owners, very quickly. I'm increasingly stunned by how much people just eat whatever Stern feeds them. He is grandstanding, just the Union. Nothing he says is the gospel truth. And note, if the lockout approaches the length of the last one, all it takes is a few more weeks to just scrap the entire season ... because it would be silly to anoint another Asterix champion based of less games than 1998.
I don't see any sign of concessions here. He's basically saying the players will cave because they have too much to lose. Look at what he does (sues), not what he says. This is a long way from over.
why does everyone keep harping this? If 5 teams are profitable but the league overall loses money, there is no "profit" to share. No doubt its an issue that needs to be addressed to level the playing field among owners, but that doesn't at all address the players getting 57% of BRI.
Agreed. I think we'll miss like half of preseason, after a few pre-season games are missed the pressure will be on. Someone will fold and it'll likely be the players.
A new BS Report Podcast is up in the Basketball section of the ESPN site: http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=6856992 Bill has a hour conversation David Stern asking some pretty good questions and posing some good ideas. Some things that really stuck out to me where as follows. - If the season or games are lost the deal the players get only gets worse. - In order for no games to be lost ( counting preseason), their needs to be a Handshake deal in place by Labor day weekend in September. - Contraction is something that could happen under the right circumstances. My personal over all thoughts after hearing Stern's side are still the same. The 40% BRI for the players he suggests is to aggressive. The number needs to be between 48% and 50%.
A 52 - 48 deal with the owners getting 52% would get them the 300 million. BRI last year - 3.643 billion Owner share - 43% Owners claim of money lost - 3 million Owners share to not lose money - 52%
While I hope there is more than this, my first impression is that its more posturing. Stern wants to be foreseen as the optimist, the one that wants to get a deal done. He is tossing the ball back again into the players court. Now, the players union has to appear "receptive" also, or they will look like the folks not negotiating in good faith.
Here's what I think the main issues are and what it will come down to: 1. Contract size - Shorter contacts: ~34yr max 2. Percentages - Split >50/<50 in favor of the players 3. Cap rules - greater disparity between top contributors and bench warmers in salary. for example, solid but not good players like Al Harrington will not get what's he been getting next time around. - flex cap (hard cap with leeway for keeping your own players without being penalized) 4. Reducing salary - Players will give back a small % over duration of contract and use it to invest in the growth of the NBA. Eventually, when NBA profits again, players will get a % of gains as a "bonus" to their regular salaries.
