Former NBPA head Charles Grantham says union right to keep agents away from NBA labour negotiations
Former head of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) Charles Grantham believes that agents have no business in the current NBA labour dispute negotiations. He endorsed the decision of the current NBPA office bearers
of not listening to agents and deal with the NBA owners on their own.
The NBA owners and players have been negotiating the terms of a new CBA for over a year now. The dispute caused a lockout on July 1st, which is now in its 4th month and still going strong. A recent meeting
between the two sides ended in a deadlock, resulting in the cancellation of the NBA pre-season and as of today, the cancellation of the first two weeks of the next NBA season has become a certainty.
The NBA player agents have not been able to get a seat on the negotiating table and with NBA season already affected by the dispute, some believe that maybe they should be introduced into the equation to try and find a compromise.
Charles Grantham however disagrees with that idea.
While talking to ProBasketballTalk, the former head of the union said NBA agents would be harmful to the process because their agenda is different from that of the NBPA.
“I did not (let them have a big voice) and I’ll tell you why,” Grantham said. “The agents are an extension of the union in that the agent has been granted the rights from the union. The union grants the right to negotiate individual
contracts as long as they are within the context of this entire Collective Bargaining Agreement….”
“The agents have a totally different agenda. Their agenda is what? To get in and make the very most money they can for each individual player because that affects their fees. And the union is trying to do a deal across the board
that will be fair and equitable for every one of the players.”
So far the agents have indeed stressed on a course different from the one taken by the union. From the start, many agents were believed to be pushing for a decertification of the union. They were alleged to favour a battle in federal
court with the NBA rather than discussions across a table.
There was even talk that some of the most powerful agents held a meeting to discuss a drive for decertification, but it never materialized.
The agents have indeed been frustrated by their lack of involvement in the negotiations and recently 6 of the most influential agents decided to make their voices heard. They issued a joint letter to their clients, that didn’t
call for a decertification, but it did contain some veiled criticism of the NBPA.
In the letter, agents have implored their clients to consider any deal with great care, not concede further ground and not to blindly ratify any agreement that the NBPA makes with the owners.
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