Nba, Players Back To Talking But New Problems Arise For Union Director Gourdine

With NBA players locked out and feuding among themselves over the future of their union, negotiators for the league and union will return to the bargaining table today in an effort to eliminate at least one of the conflicts by trying to reach a new deal.

Even as they do, union director Simon Gourdine will be contending with a new assault on his leadership from one of his own financial consultants. W. Charles Bennett resigned Monday, charging Gourdine had misrepresented his analysis of NBA profits to support the illfated collective bargaining agreement the union struck last month.

In his letter to Gourdine, Bennett wrote he was “devastated” when he learned his name “was being associated with some sort of analysis of NBA profits that led to the NBPA making considerable concessions to the NBA in the latest round of bargaining.”

He added: “I clearly pointed out at that meeting that the profit number being used by the NBA was not representative of the true profits being realized by the league …”

Gourdine said Bennett was inaccurate and misleading in several instances, and the union intended to rebut several of his charges today. He said Bennett had “a somewhat overinflated perception of what his role is and should be.”

Bennett’s charges exacerbate the dispute between union leadership and the 200 or so players who have repudiated it. As negotiators resume bargaining, they know even if they reach a new labor agreement, it could be nullified if the players vote to decertify the union.

“It makes things more difficult recognizing that there’s a group out there that would like to see the union out of business,” Russ Granik, the league’s deputy commissioner and chief negotiator, said.

Daniel Silverman, head of the NLRB’s New York office, is expected in the next few days to grant the request of a sizable number of players that an election be held on decertification of the union.