The NBA season, everyone knows, won’t start Tuesday as originally scheduled.
But optimism was growing after meetings last week that it could start in early December.
On Monday, players association executive director Billy Hunter moved that date to January.
“There had been reported (last week) there was a strong possibility there would be an agreement this week between us and the NBA,” Hunter said. “I don’t know where that information came from. I don’t see any possibility of an agreement this week and I don’t know how soon we will reach one.
“I’ve always said (a deal was possible) around January,” Hunter said. “I hoped that could be sooner, but my gut tells me January.”
If Hunter is being sincere, the NBA again will be in danger of losing the upcoming season because the league generally has decided it can’t play much less than a 50- or 55-game schedule. Extending the negotiations another month or more could force cancellation of enough games that a legitimate season would be impossible.
Most observers, however, doubt the negotiations are in as much trouble as Hunter suggests. There’s a feeling the optimism expressed after union meetings with the league last week–Charles Barkley predicted an agreement by the end of this week–left the union in somewhat of a weakened position because the league was not expressing similar optimism.
The feeling then was the union might be pushed into making a less palatable settlement because its players were sensing a coming end of the lockout.
So, is it rhetoric or legitimate pessimism?
“Nothing has changed from last week,” said NBA Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik. “The union agreed the NBA had the right to reopen the contract if player compensation reached 52 percent. The percentage we paid to players last year soared to 57 percent and the players’ best offer so far is they be paid 60 percent. We agree with Mr. Hunter that we are not close.”
The optimism from last week’s meetings centered on two things:
– An agreement of a structure to a deal in which there would be a luxury tax on excessive contracts, an escrow account created if the system didn’t work to refund monies.
– Movement on the percentage of revenues going to players, with the union coming down from 63 percent to 60 and the league going up from 48 percent to 50.
But Hunter said Monday, “I think we are much farther apart than a week ago on economic issues. Now it appears there are some fundamental issues in regard to policy (and) the framework of how this is structured. We have one view, they have another, they informed us.”
