CBA update?

CruzDude

Senior Member sharing a brew with bajaden
Today was to be a day the players-owners-NBA sat down to work on the Collective Bargaining agreement or CBA. Anybody hear anything?

I hope they put in a 20-year minimum rule. Owners sure want max contracts at 5-yr and not the 7-yr now. But that is owners fault. Maybe with a clause re injury or making the team.

If CBA is approved in June then summer leagues are on. If not...... :o
 
Lets not hope about the if not. They still have 30 days to get a deal done.

I don't care about the age rule but do care about the length of contracts they are just to long and an injury to a key player can set a team back for years.
 
The contract issue is probably more important to the owners, the age issue likely more expendable to everyone but Stern. In particular with the immediate success of guys like Amare, LeBron, Dwight Howard etc., the age rule may be looking less like a necessity now.
 
Update!

NBA labor talks stall after league rejects union offersBy CHRIS SHERIDAN, AP Basketball Writer
June 1, 2005

NBA labor talks stalled Wednesday after a 2 1/2 -hour meeting in New York, less than a month before a lockout would begin.

``All I can say is that we had a meeting, and we don't have anything else scheduled,'' NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik said. Players association director Billy Hunter said he outlined a new proposal, then offered to extend the terms of the current seven-year agreement that expires June 30. The league turned both offers down.

``It's definitely fair to say the talks have stalled,'' Hunter said. ``They are seeking more concessions off the current deal, and we contend we made major concessions in the last collective bargaining agreement.''

Hunter attended the meeting with union president Michael Curry, secretary-treasurer Pat Garrity and five members of the union's staff. The owners were represented by Granik, commissioner David Stern and four staff members from the league office staff, Hunter said.

Among the issue the sides have failed to reach agreement on are the maximum length of long-term contracts, the size of the annual raises available in those contracts and a possible increase in the minimum age.

``We've tried our best to reach out to them and address their concerns,'' Garrity said. Stern has said the owners have offered to guarantee that the players receive a 57 percent share of revenues, would raise the salary cap three percentage points -- from 48 to 51 percent of revenues -- and minimize the level at which the luxury tax clicks in, making more money available for salaries. A lockout would likely begin July 1 if the sides fail to reach an agreement. The league imposed a lockout in July 1998, after the previous deal expired, and the work stoppage lasted 7 1/2 months to force the cancellation of games because of a labor dispute for the first time in league history.





http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-nbalabor&prov=ap&type=lgns
 
New update from espn.com

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2083772

Updated: June 12, 2005, 10:56 PM ET
Stern: 'If we can't get a deal done, it'll be a new game'
Associated Press


SAN ANTONIO -- David Stern hasn't yet made his best offer on a new collective bargaining agreement. But once he does, it won't be on the table for long.

The commissioner addressed almost nothing aside from labor questions Sunday at his annual NBA Finals news conference, revealing several areas where the owners have already altered their offer -- including a proposal to raise the minimum age to 19 instead of 20.

Speaking matter-of-factly and exuding little of the pessimism favored by deputy commissioner Russ Granik, Stern said the owners do not want a lockout and are trying to avoid one. But he nonetheless made it clear that if no deal is in place before the current one expires on June 30, the league will shut down.

And if that happens, the owners will pull their current offer off the table permanently.

"If July 1 comes and there is a lockout, the union will have made a mistake of epic proportions," Stern said.

"If we can't get a deal done, it'll be a new game," he said.

He said the sides remain apart on issues of drug testing, an age limit and the maximum length of multiyear contracts, among other issues, although he said that the owners have changed their proposal on contract lengths several times.

Under the current labor agreement, players can sign with their old team for as long as seven years, or six years if they decide to switch teams.

Owners initially asked that those maximums be reduced to four years for players staying with the same team and three years for players changing teams. They have since moved their position to six years and five years.

No negotiating sessions have taken place in recent days, and no new talks are scheduled. Stern did send a letter to the union last week outlining the owners' positions and saying he is open to meeting soon to resume bargaining talks.

Union director Billy Hunter, who has been traveling around the country to meet with players, is not believed to have formally responded yet to Stern's letter. He said he will reassess the situation when he returns to News York on Tuesday.

"What I derive [from Stern's comments Sunday night] is that we'll be meeting for sure before June 30," Hunter said, adding that there were several other concessions the owners are seeking that Stern did not mention.

Hunter was quoted last week as saying a lockout would be suicidal for the NBA, while Granik has been pushing pessimism buttons in his latest comments.

"I am saying here today, as I have been saying all along, that the last thing we want is a lockout," Stern said. "The one thing we wanted was to negotiate, and we don't understand the rhetoric coming out."

Stern tried to stress that the owners -- despite coping with rising insurance, fuel and security costs in recent years -- had authorized him to make several sweetened offers over the course of bargaining talks, which were at their steadiest in March and April.

There was a public breakdown in talks in mid-May, and the sides adjourned again less than two weeks ago after meeting two more times and failing to make much, if any, progress.

Stern and Granik characterized the union as resistant to a tougher drug testing policy and a heightened age limit and said the union was asking for increases in pensions and reductions in the escrow tax without giving enough concessions on other issues. Hunter has traditionally portrayed Stern as an adversary who has sought numerous concessions without making substantial offers in return.

"If we don't have a deal by July 1, we won't make a deal any time soon thereafter," Stern said. "It would be much better to go all out to make a deal, and that's why it pains me to see our owners described in some predatory way.

"In fact, they are being much more conciliatory than they have been painted. But if that's not reciprocated, we're going to have a real problem," he said.

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After reading this, I hate to let the media bias me, but it's hard not to side with the owners and side against the players' association. It sounds like the owners have made some concessions, and it's not clear what the players have done to cooperate.
 
Stern talks tough on labor issues

http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/13057699p-13903364c.html

NBA Finals notes: Stern talks tough on labor issues, warns the union


By Ailene Voisin -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PDT Monday, June 13, 2005

SAN ANTONIO - In a doom-and-gloom, annual pre-game press conference that hinted further at the likelihood of an upcoming lockout, NBA Commissioner David Stern said the league's owners will withdraw any of the agreed-upon concessions if a new agreement isn't reached when the current accord expires July 1. No further talks between the league and the Players Association have been scheduled.

Speaking for the better part of an hour, Stern, flanked by Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik and well aware the union has several meetings scheduled with its constituents over the next few days, clearly was delivering a message to his players.

"If July 1 comes, and there's a lockout, the union will have made a mistake of epic proportions," the commissioner said in dramatic fashion, adding that, "we have seen the damage a lockout can do across the board, the fans, sponsors, licensees, network partners and the like. Our fear, given who we are, given our life's experience in the NBA, (is) that our business will slip away from us faster than even some other sports."

The parties remain divided on three primary issues: the extent of the anti-drug policy, the maximum length of contracts and a proposed minimum-age requirement for incoming players - with the latter two being the more contentious. The owners are hopeful of trimming maximum contracts from seven to six years and, according to Stern, of barring players from the league until age 19.

The last lockout occurred before the 1998-99 season and led to the first work stoppage in NBA history. That regular season was cut to 50 games.

Not so golden - With the respective coaches having been in charge of Team USA during its collective disappointment last summer in Athens, Greece, there is little chance of completely escaping Olympics-oriented conversations at the NBA Finals.

Detroit Pistons coach Larry Brown, in fact, has broached the topic on a number of occasions, both formally and informally. Catching sight of a columnist from The Bee, he approached and lamented Mike Bibby's absence from the 12-player roster.

"If we had Michael there, we would have won the whole thing," Brown said. "I really believe that, and I've told Michael that. He would have helped us a great deal."

The Kings guard, who played superbly for Brown during the pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico in August 2003, was one of several original team members who withdrew from the Games because of safety concerns. The hastily assembled Athens roster - featuring only Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson and Richard Jefferson off the qualifying team - took the bronze medal, becoming the first NBA-laden club that didn't win gold.

Et cetera - Now that Las Vegas has been targeted for the 2007 All-Star Game, Stern indicated the league will continue to entertain the possibility of holding the annual festivities in non-NBA cities, including San Juan, Puerto Rico. He cited the state-of-the-art San Juan arena among the attractions.

* Count Brown among those who believed the protracted festivities prior to the series opener were ill-advised at best. "I just think it takes away from our sport," he said, referring to the concert-like scene that featured Alanis Morissette and Will Smith singing from a raised platform. "(And) you know, Pop (San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich) told me he had about four guys almost trip over cords. We had a couple guys almost stumble off the platform, and somebody got mad at me because I was in the way of a cable."

* Former Kings journeyman Tony Massenburg, playing with his 12th team in 13 NBA seasons but only his first Finals, continues to pinch himself. "This is the ultimate," the seldom-used Spurs forward said, "and being part of this team makes it even more special. Everybody plays for the right reasons. People know their roles. I haven't seen that on very many teams." Massenburg flew his parents, Hattie and Alvin, in for Game 2.

About the writer: The Bee's Ailene Voisin can be reached at (916) 321-1208 or avoisin@sacbee.com.
 
This lockout situation is not looking good. it seems like the owners are trying to make concessions but who knows. Only 18 days left ::scratches head::

Side note, that was nice of Brown to say that about Bibby, shame he didn't play.
 
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