NBA Doomsday Approaches
Union director Billy Hunter traveled back from Philadelphia on Saturday, and NBA commissioner David Stern is due back from Aspen on Sunday to begin one of the most pivotal weeks in the league's history.
The league has set Thursday as the deadline for reaching a new collective bargaining agreement that will save the season, yet no new negotiating sessions have been scheduled.
The union says it has another offer for the owners, but will not present it until the league agrees to a meeting. The league says no meeting is necessary since it already has made its final offer.
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"I have no plans to see David," Hunter said Saturday. "When I get back, I'll decide with my staff what to do."
Stern wants the players to vote on his final offer, but the union is resisting despite the pleadings of some players. The union's 19-man negotiating committee is the only body authorized to present a proposal to the full union membership for a vote.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Saturday that at least 20 players, including Shaquille O'Neal and Grant Hill, have approached former union head and current NBC Sports analyst Isiah Thomas and asked him to step into the process if plans for a player vote on the owners' offer are not in place by Monday night.
Lon Babby, the agent for Hill, said the story was untrue.
"I talked to Grant today and he said he hasn't spoken to Isiah for six to seven months," Babby said. "If Grant has something to say, he'll say it directly to the union."
Leonard Armato, the agent for O'Neal, did not immediately return a message left at his office Saturday.
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| What the players and owners have is a failure to communicate. (AP) |
Hunter has said he would like to call all 430 players and 29 owners into the same room, possibly to bargain and possibly to vote, but it is unclear if the league would do it.
Hunter also gave his side of the story concerning last Thursday's breakdown between attorneys Jeffrey Kessler of the union and Jeffrey Mishkin of the NBA.
"Jeff was supposed to be meeting with Mishkin, and Mishkin blew him off and told him to fax the (offer)," Hunter said. "Kessler called me and told me that, and I said, 'In that case, hold the offer until I get there and I'll give it to David one way or another when he gets back in town.'"
Mishkin has offered a different version, saying Kessler told him he did not have the offer in its completed form but wanted to meet anyway.
No matter whose version was to be believed, the miscommunication turned into yet another detrimental squabble in a six-month period that has been full of them.
But despite all the rancor, mistrust and hurt feelings, the sides have moved closer to each another on the most contentious issues.
What follows is a look at each of the main issues and what each side has offered.
(Figures in parentheses represent numbers from the union's upcoming offer, details of which could change. Other union numbers are from its previous offer and are not believed to have changed.)
Percentage To Be Devoted To Salaries
Owners: No fixed number in first three years, 53 percent in fourth year, 53.5 in fifth year, 54 in sixth year and 54.5 in seventh year.Players: No fixed number in first three years, (55 percent) in fourth year, 56 in fifth year, 57 in sixth year.
Maximum Salary
Owners:- 0-6 years of service: $8.75 million
- 7-9 years: $10.5 million
- 10-plus years: $12.25 million
- 0-5 years: ($9 million)
- 6-9 years: ($11 million)
- 10-plus years: ($15 million)
Rookies
Owners: Four-year scale with right of first refusal for fifth year.Players: Four-year scale, or three-year scale with right of first refusal. (Right to keep any player in fifth year by offering maximum salary).
Salary Cap Exceptions
Owners: Middle class exception of $1.5 million in first year, $1.75 in second year, $2 million in third year and the average salary in years 4-7. Also maintains the old $1 million exception available every other year.Players: Average salary exception available every year, beginning at about $2.7 million in first year. (Million exception available every year for three years, median salary exception in years 4-6, starting at about $1.7 million in fourth year.)
Maximum Annual Raises
Owners12.5 percent for so-called Bird players, 7.5 percent for others.Players: 13 percent for Bird players, 10 percent for others.
Cost Certainty
Owners: Escrow tax of 10 percent withheld from players' paychecks if percentage of income devoted to salaries exceeds triggers of 53, 53.5, 54 and 54.5 percent in years 4-7. Backup dollar-for-dollar tax charged to highest-spending teams if escrow account does not make up entire overage.Players: Same proposal, but with triggers of 55, 56 and 57 percent in years 4-6.
Minimum Salaries
Owners: In first year of new agreement ...- Rookies: $275,000
- One year of service: $300,000
- Two years: $350,000
- Three years: $400,000
- Four years: $450,000
- Five years: $500,000
- Six years: $550,000
- Seven years: $600,000
- Eight years: $650,000
- Nine years: $700,000
- 10 years: $1 million
Players: In first year of new agreement ...
- Rookies: ($300,000)
- One year of service: (400,000)
- 2-4 years: $500,000
- Five years ($575,000)
- Six years: ($650,000)
- Seven years: ($725,000)
- Eight years: ($800,000)
- Nine or more years: $1 million
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