NBA labor talks on the horizon
NEW YORK – Antonio Davis sat in a negotiating session last month and listened incredulously as the owners cited higher security, insurance and jet fuel costs in arguing their case for seeking economic concessions from the players’ union.
In the mind of Davis, the Chicago Bulls center who has been through two lockouts and countless hours of NBA labor negotiations, the owners were being manipulative and insincere.
“Let’s be men and say, ‘Look, I’ve been in this game a long time. And, yes, my franchise has done well, but this is 2005 and I feel my profit margin should be higher,’ ” Davis said. “I can sit down and talk to you then, but don’t start telling me about that other stuff, because all that does is feed mistrust.”
If Davis’ feelings are shared by the rest of the union hierarchy – and most of them were on the job seven years ago during a 191-day lockout – it could be a corrupting factor as the sides negotiate a collective bargaining agreement to replace the one expiring in June.
Both the commissioner’s office and union insiders say the atmosphere surrounding the current negotiations is light years ahead of where the sides were seven years ago. But Davis’ comments strongly indicate that there’s a residue of distrust that still lingers from the emotional battle of 1998, when the players yielded to the owners’ demands for a maximum salary scale, a lengthened rookie scale and the luxury and escrow taxes that were designed to slow upwardly spiraling player salaries.
When they negotiated seven years ago, the players felt the owners took each of their concessions, stuffed it in their pockets and then held their hands out for more – offering nothing in return each time.
Among the players negotiating then were Davis, Michael Curry, Theo Ratliff and Eric Snow, all current members of the union’s executive board and playing major roles in the current talks.
“We feel every time we go to the table there are more concessions from our side and less from their side,” Davis said.
The sides are working on plans for a full-scale negotiating session during All-Star weekend, Feb. 18-20 in Denver, but the bulk of the heavy lifting already is taking place in negotiations involving commissioner David Stern, deputy commissioner Russ Granik, union director Billy Hunter and lawyers for both sides.
“We’re having dialogue on an almost weekly basis, and the situation is much more conducive to actually making a deal than it was in 1998,” Granik said.
Each side has been forthcoming in identifying the most important modifications it would like to make to the current seven-year agreement, which include a luxury tax imposed on teams with the highest payrolls and an escrow tax under which 10 percent of players’ salaries are withheld if the percentage of league-wide revenue devoted to player salaries exceeds a certain percentage.
One of the primary goals of the players is to stop having such a substantial chunk of their paychecks withheld.
Granik believes there is no reason to believe the sides won’t be able to find an acceptable middle ground before the current agreement expires June 30.
Davis, too, thinks a deal should be reached without a work stoppage.
“I really don’t feel there’s going to be a lockout,” Davis said.