NBA Lockout and Collective Bargaining Agreement Discussion

[TN3LL]

Re: NBA Lockout and Collective Bargaining Agreement Discussion

daldridgetnt David Aldridge
All relevant parties have arrived 4 today's meeting, so if there weren't delays while sides caucused w/themselves, they should be under way.

[TN3LL]

Re: NBA Lockout and Collective Bargaining Agreement Discussion

briancmahoney Brian Mahoney
Nobody seems to know how this goes today. Noon meeting could end at 2 am with an NBA deal or 2 pm with a blowup.

[greenegt]

Re: NBA Lockout and Collective Bargaining Agreement Discussion

I predict another 12-hour plus meeting as they continue to iron out the issues they should have figured out months ago. They will break again tonight and then finish off the deal, tomorrow.

[TN3LL]

Re: NBA Lockout and Collective Bargaining Agreement Discussion

alanhahn Alan Hahn
If Stern can't get a majority of owners to accept system concessions in an otherwise landslide victory, they are pigs at the trough. #NBA

alanhahn Alan Hahn
And Adam Silver ominously maintained that call for "competitive balance," which tells you today will not be about conceding anything.

[TN3LL]

Re: NBA Lockout and Collective Bargaining Agreement Discussion

alanhahn Alan Hahn
FWIW: Barely an hour in and not hearing positive feedback. #NBA

[TN3LL]

Re: NBA Lockout and Collective Bargaining Agreement Discussion

i keep seeing Peter Holt's name popping up

alanhahn Alan Hahn
The "competitive balance" refrain by Silver was clear message that small market teams will rule day. I'm told Holt (Spurs) is unrelenting.

ZachLowe_SI Zach Lowe
Sources: Paul Allen hiding in adjacent room, using Extendable Ears to listen in on meeting. lol

[Dwadefan]

Re: NBA Lockout and Collective Bargaining Agreement Discussion

alanhahn Alan Hahn
FWIW: Barely an hour in and not hearing positive feedback. #NBA

Blowup in 3,2,1...

[TN3LL]

Re: NBA Lockout and Collective Bargaining Agreement Discussion

alanhahn Alan Hahn
This is no longer about taking from the players. This is now owners vs owners. Haves vs Have-Nots. The players need not be in the room.

[The 24th Letter]

Re: NBA Lockout and Collective Bargaining Agreement Discussion

Competitive balance....

You mean account balance Adam

[2907]

Re: NBA Lockout and Collective Bargaining Agreement Discussion

Competitive balance....

You mean account balance Adam

LMAO!! nothing truer then that man

[TN3LL]

Re: NBA Lockout and Collective Bargaining Agreement Discussion

For previous Buzz posts to see how this thing has unfolded over the past two days, click here and here.

Thursday 1:23 p.m.

Well, that didn't take long. Reports are already starting to trickle in about things not going well at the meeting which started at noon EST. Alan Hahn of Newsday reports that inside of an hour in, he's not hearing positive feedback. Apparently the small-market owners have shown back up to bully and prod again, including reportedly Peter Holt, owner of the Spurs. SI.com reports that things sound "stalled." It's like we all keep waiting for the owners to blink in this game of chicken they're playing with themselves, and they just push the pedal harder.

Thursday 1:12 p.m.
So if a deal is reached today, how many games could we be looking at? The NY Post previously reported 78 games would be an option and now is saying 76 could be what the league goes for. "If a deal is reached today, there is a possibility of a 76-game season. The Post has reported if a deal was hatched by last weekend, a 78-game season was possible. Sources said the number of games would have to be an even number." Obviously it has to be an even number so that all teams have the same amount of home and away games.
Thursday 9:31 a.m.:
Let's begin with Ken Berger of CBSSports.com who pulled the Lockout Hotel residency once again last night. It's clear that the biggest issue that remains is the players want the league to make systemic concessions in exchange for the bigger cut of the BRI pie. The league responds that the two elements are independent, and as long as that's the case, we're not getting a deal.
Yahoo! Sports reports that three of the five system issues included in the league's proposal had movement taken on them. SI.com reports that one of the remaining two elements under fire is the use of the Mid-Level Exception by teams in the luxury tax. Owners wanted a provision to prohibit teams in the luxury tax from being able to use the MLE, but reportedly have softened to only halve the amount teams in the tax can use on the MLE relative to non-tax-paying teams. So the MLE has had movement and is still a ways away, since players remain opposed to any provision which limits teams' use of the MLE, for reasons outlined by SBNation's Tom Ziller Thursday morning. That's what the fight may come down to, the MLE. David Aldridge of NBA.com reported on both the three issues which gained movement and the MLE still being an issue.
Brian Mahoney of the AP notes an interesting element in the pressers last night. Billy Hunter said the two sides had not even touched BRI. While it's true what Mahoney notes about both sides spending most of the time apart (a relatively childish image to conjure up about what is a huge and very serious negotiation, like junior high girls passing notes between huddles), the reality is that BRI doesn't need to be discussed because if the players wouldn't move to 50/50 with the provisions being discussed, there'd be no point in continuing talks. 50/50 is assumed, which is, in itself, a massive concession for the players and yet still not enough for the owners.
ESPN.com has a particularly noteworthy anecdote to share. It's not a game-changer, it could be nothing, but it's worth discussing. On his way out, David Stern talked with the union's economist Kevin Murphy, who has another job andfo course is juggling his committments to attend the meetings. According to Henry Abbott of ESPN.com, Stern "encouraged Murphy to show up, saying 'it will be a good day to be here.' That could be nothing, it probably is nothing, but it's still a sign of hope from the biggest doomsday machine of all, whose 5 p.m. deadline that was supposed to bring the harbinger offer of doom came and went without even any property damage.
We remind you, once again, to not get your hopes up. The two sides are still far apart, still entrenched, and every minute that goes by makes it more and more likely the owners will decide it's time to increase their leverage to get one final element which could get the union to walk, knowing that in the long-run they'll get a better deal, and every minute makes it more likely the union will elect to decertify and fight than lay down any more to the league's incessant demands.

[CMH]

Re: NBA Lockout and Collective Bargaining Agreement Discussion

i keep seeing Peter Holt's name popping up

alanhahn Alan Hahn
The "competitive balance" refrain by Silver was clear message that small market teams will rule day. I'm told Holt (Spurs) is unrelenting.
l

If this is indeed the case, I don't see a deal happening tonight.

The owners are basically talking about restructuring the entire league which is a huge undertaking.

It's clear to me why there's no progress. They are trying to basically start from scratch while negotiating with a group of employees that have their own agendas. It's like three negotiations.

That's tough.

[TN3LL]

Re: NBA Lockout and Collective Bargaining Agreement Discussion

briancmahoney Brian Mahoney
1 thing to note: The deal must be 50-50, and players haven't even formally proposed on paper going to 51. They need things they may not get

briancmahoney Brian Mahoney
Doesn't mean they won't get there, but they aren't on the verge, either.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: NBA Lockout and Collective Bargaining Agreement Discussion

That's why I was a huge proponent of, however unrealistic it was, just shutting the league down for 2 years and sorting EVERYTHING out. Just reshuffle everything like the NHL did. New CBA, officials, rules, priorities, competitive balance issues, this and that. Too bad that's not gonna happen.

[aholbert32]

Re: NBA Lockout and Collective Bargaining Agreement Discussion

I'm starting to realize that this is basically a war between Stern and Silver. Hear me out.

Stern knows this is his last CBA so he just wants a deal to be made. He got the owners the 350 mil a year in givebacks they wanted and he is willing to give in to some players demands to get a deal done. He doesnt want a missed season on his watch.

Silver is hoping to be the next commish after Stern and he knows that if he gets the job, he has to deal with these owners and negotiate future CBAs based on this one. He (and the small market owners) are trying to get the most that they can right now. Even if it means missing a season. If they miss a season, Stern will be the one catching the blowback....not Silver.