Union Anticipates NBA Lockout
On the face of it, it’s good times for basketballers. The craze generated by this year’s free agency contributed to a summer spending spree, with virtually everyone winning. More people know and care about the NBA than ever before. Revenues hit an all-time high last season, at a time when the rest of the world was recovering from a recession. Apocalyptic predictions have been blown out of the water. Already this summer, teams have sold more tickets for the upcoming season than ever before.
These are the facts that NBA commissioner David Stern, and executive director of the National Basketball Players’ Association Billy Hunter can agree on. But other than market ups, there isn’t much more accord. When the two sit down in a bargaining session designed to move past what appears to be an inevitable lockout, it will have been four months since their last meeting. Discussions that began two years ago have come to a halt, but the pressure is on given that the current labour agreement expires June 30, 2011.
Hunter said on Wednesday: "As of this moment, I’m preparing for a work stoppage, because I’ve had no discussions with David about collective bargaining since probably April of this year. When we get back to the table, that will be first time in four or five months that we’ve had any type of discussions. Once we get into next season, the pressure will be on each of us to get something done."
Part of the pressure comes simply from the momentum of the upcoming season. Not since Michael Jordan retired have Finals been so anticipated and will garner such high-ratings. Basketball’s version of the Rolling Stones will be touring next season, with LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade looking to topple the Celtics and the Lakers. And of course, the Cavaliers. However you look at it, the NBA is enjoying national sports talk in a way it hasn’t since Jordan took his last shot 12 years ago.
"The frenzy and excitement created by this free-agency period has brought more attention to the NBA than I can remember since the advent of Michael Jordan, and I don’t even think Michael created this kind of stir," Billy Hunter reflected. "If you look at the overall health of the league, things look pretty sound and healthy heading into the 2010-11 season."
At the same time, one does well to remember that within months of achieving his unmatched sixth championship, Jordan and the NBA sputtered into a lockout that nearly crippled half of the 98-99’ season. Team owners and commissioners don’t translate buzz into paperwork. A republic of differing interests is always something difficult and delicate to manage—if it can be managed at all.
At a meeting on Tuesday, David Stern tried to be a magician, in showing how the NBA had actually lost money last season, despite revenues soaring in every area. Stern argued the league chugged a $370 million debt last year, virtually unchanged from the $400 million figure he announced at the All-Star Game in Dallas.
That’s what it was when I summarized. I rounded it to four,” Stern said seriously.
But according to Hunter, the figure is “nowhere near” the truth. In his opinion, it’s a “severe exaggeration.”
Which gets to the head of the problem. Despite a winning year, and bragging about an early start to the bargaining process, these two guys can’t even agree on a deficit figure. Owners would like to impose a hard salary cap and seriously reduce players’ salaries. Without going into the details, it’s safe to say Hunter and the players won’t agree. Likely they’ll somehow want to keep the status quo. And until sports lose the business component, which from a professional standpoint is nearly the only component, we could be in for a lot of trouble.
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