Shutdown: NBA Owners Lock Out Players
By Brian T. Smith
The Salt Lake Tribune
First published 1 hour ago, 30 June
NBA commissioner David Stern speaks to reporters after a meeting with the players' union, Thursday, June 30, 2011 in New York. Despite a three-hour meeting Thursday, the sides could not close the enormous gap that remained in their positions. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
NBA owners believe that the league’s economic system is completely broken. They enacted a lockout Thursday to try fixing it.
Owners informed players that they have approved a work stoppage, CBS Sports reported, ending nearly two years of collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations.
"It’s kind of what we all saw was going to be the end result … it’s not a surprise to any of us. We just hope we can get something knocked out before we wind up missing games," said Jazz guard Raja Bell, who served as the team’s player representative during the NBA Players Association’s (NBPA) annual gathering last Thursday in New York.
Representatives for NBA owners and players met Thursday in New York, converging for the final time in an attempt to agree upon the framework of a new CBA or at least extend negotiations past a 10:01 p.m. Mountain Time deadline.
The meeting lasted a little more than three hours and reportedly featured NBA commissioner David Stern, deputy commissioner Adam Silver, NBPA executive director Billy Hunter and NBPA president Derek Fisher, among others. But some of the biggest names guiding a league that annually takes in about $4 billion in revenue were unable to keep the game going.
"If the NBA feels the gap [in issues] is just too wide, a lockout is a way of putting pressure on the players to make some more concessions," said Michael McCann, Vermont professor of law and director of the school’s sports law institute.
The 2011 NBA lockout coincides with an ongoing three-month NFL lockout. Professional basketball’s work stoppage could ultimately have more in common with a 2004-05 NHL lockout, though, which resulted in a lost season and a fully revamped CBA. Several NBA owners have ties to NHL teams, and hockey has enjoyed a resurgence under its new deal.
The NBA and NFL lockouts are also separated by hard economic numbers. The NFL is the undisputed king of the sports world and rakes in money. The NBA’s 2010-11 season was one of the league’s best since Michael Jordan left the game for good, and television ratings peaked during a highly entertaining Finals matchup between Dallas and Miami. But at the same time that the league was reveling in its post-Decision glow, it was also bleeding money — the NBA claims that 22 of 30 teams operated in the red last season.
As a result, owners are pushing for a radically restructured 10-year CBA that is highlighted by a harder salary cap, a more even split of basketball-related income (BRI) and shortened guaranteed contracts.
"It’s a great time for everybody to bargain in earnest and in good faith rather than dig their heels in," said former Jazz guard John Stockton, who was involved during the latter stages of the NBA’s 1998-99 lockout.
Parity and improved competition are also at the heart of the league’s desire for change. Superstars such as LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony controlled the 2010-11 fates of their former clubs, dictating where they wanted to play — Miami, New York — and damaging the futures of franchises in Cleveland and Denver. In addition, most small-market teams lack a realistic chance to win the NBA championship before the season even starts, while several clubs have either been sold or put on the market during the past year.
Owners’ insistence upon immediate change has been met by a unified resistance from the NBPA, which is unwilling to give back two decades’ worth of gains. Hunter believes owners will use the lockout as an attempt to break the union, while players entered a CBA meeting last Friday in New York wearing T-shirts with "Stand" printed on the front.
"We have no plans to crack," Bell said. "We’re as unified as the union’s ever been. And I know from the NBA standpoint, we’re a better prepared union and better informed union the last time around. From that standpoint, I think we’re in a good position.
"I just want to reiterate as a union, we’re not looking for anything [drastic]. We’re looking to get a fair deal that makes sense for us, as well as the owners. Once we see that, then I think progress will be made. But we haven’t gotten to that point yet."
Thursday’s convergence started about 10 a.m. Mountain Time. The meeting was limited to a small collection of representatives, contrasting two sessions last week in New York that featured a wide assortment of league players and owners.
Stern initially left Wednesday and Thursday as open dates for negotiations. He said Tuesday that the NBPA opted only for the latter, which some read as an early hint that neither side had any intention of reaching a deal before the deadline.
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