Derek Fisher wants less focus on money in the upcoming labour talks – NBA Update
Derek Fisher, the NBA players’ union president, has said that he wants to focus on other issues in the labour discussions scheduled for Monday, rather than just talk about how the money will be split. Fisher will lead the group
that will meet NBA commissioner David Stern and the NBA owners in New York.
He revealed that there are a number of other issues that are hindering the formulation of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, which is the root of the issue. Fisher and the wider NBA player’s community have repeatedly hit out
against the owner’s wishes for enforcing a hard salary cap, whatever they want to call it, and other factors like non-guaranteed contracts.
In the end, the discussions do come down to money, with the owners in particular being very steadfast in their demand to get a much larger share than they got in the previous CBA and also to limit how much the players can take
from it. The BRI, Basketball Related Income, is indeed the core issue. The dispute in basically revolves around the owners proposals to cut down the size of the BRI and then to take a huge chunk of what is left.
Fisher and the NBAPA know that, but the Los Angeles Lakers point guard said they want to focus elsewhere and resolve the minor differences first, so that impetus can be gained for tackling the bigger issues,
“Just continuing to talk about the fact that a hard salary cap is not something we’re interested in, length of contracts, the annual percentage increases …” Fisher said
“We have agreed in some ways to maybe table the economic issues, if possible, and really focus on some of the system issues and some non-economic items that are still extremely important to rounding out a collective bargaining
agreement,”
He went on to criticize the owners for their pre-set conditions and rigidity over the financial issue,
“They want to get a number set, and then they’re not as concerned about the way the system looks if they get the right number. But we don’t think that’s the best way to approach it.”
In light of Derek’s comments and what can be gathered from other sources familiar with the negotiating process, not much headway, if any, is expected to be made in the talks on Monday.
An increasing number of people, including legal counsel of the NBPA and prominent agents of NBA players, have already demanded of Derek Fisher and Billy Hunter, the Executive Director of the union, to decertify. The players could
then take the NBA to court over the matter.
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