The NBA has wisely waged its labor battles in the off-season,
always resolving matters before the regular season starts. Is
the league's unblemished streak of not losing a game because of
a work stoppage about to end?
On Monday the board of governors decided to lock out the players
until a new collective bargaining agreement is reached, and word
is the owners have urged commissioner David Stern to maintain a
tough stance in their bid to get a hard salary cap. That will
not be a tall order for Stern, who is still steaming from the
players' decision to boycott the world championships in Athens
this summer. Stern tried lobbying Grant Hill to turn the tide,
but Hill, who wanted to play, recognized the wisdom of showing
solidarity with his peers.
No one is expecting a speedy end to the strife. While the league
hauled in $1.7 billion in total revenue last season, the owners
and the players' union disagree over who is reaping the
benefits. The league says 13 teams are losing money, with more
projected to join them. After completing its audit, the union
says that only four franchises—the Clippers, Hawks, Pacers and
Warriors—are losing money, and that because of new arenas,
three of them (excluding the Pacers) figure to improve their
balance sheets considerably in the next two years. There is no
arguing that the average NBA salary in 1997-98 was $2.6 million,
up 50% over the last five years.
The owners want a hard cap that includes modification of the
Larry Bird exception, which allows a club to re-sign its own
free agent at any salary it wants. The players vehemently oppose
any changes to that rule. They also are against the proposal to
lengthen a rookie's first contract from three years to five,
with the first three still guaranteed but the other two
conditionally guaranteed. The union wants to raise the $272,250
minimum salary for veterans. It also wants the team exception,
which enables each club to sign one free agent for $1 million
every two years, to become an annual option with the salary
raised to $2 million or $3 million. The owners oppose those
proposals.
It is difficult for fans to embrace either side's cause,
especially when ticket prices have become prohibitive. For now,
they can pity the organizers of the world championships, who had
promoted the tournament and built their schedule around the
marquee attraction: a U.S. team of NBA superstars.
Issue date: July 6, 1998
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