Players Speak Out On Current Status of Labor Negotiations...Said to Be Livid

by Kevin L Davis (@EsquireSports)

Now that the latest round of negotiations between the NBA's Players and the Owner's are done the Players are taking to the press to voice their displeasure with the proposal being offered by the Owners'.  While this is a risky strategy that risks turning off the American public I like what the Players are doing. They are making it known, that the Owners are making a proposal that takes away core values that Players of the NBA have enjoyed forever, and they will not accept it and are clarifying their position to the press with statements that have been measured and showed unity. 

The message from the Players was clear, the small amounts of progress that have been made in this proposal (no longer asking for contracts being partially guaranteed, no longer having a true hard cap) are not significant enough to make a difference. The fact that the Owners are trying to retroactively take money that the Owners and Players already agreed that belongs to the Players only makes it worse.

Basically it goes like this, you never want to piss of your adversary in a one-on-one negotiating situation. While some reports have correctly stated that you don't want to start with your final offer, you also don't want to begin an outlandish offer that mobilizes your opponent.  I think its possible that the Owners' have done just that.

From what I can tell, the Players don't feel that the Owners are treating them with respect with these tactics.  First off tho the Players' this insistence towards taking past money that the Players' feel they have already earned and collectively bargained is mind boggling.  

Another issue that is also of supreme importance in these negotiations, is the economics of the league.  Right now the Owners and Players differ fundamentally on how the economics of the league should function once the new CBA is implemented.  Everybody agrees that in the previous collective bargaining agreement small-market teams suffered financially.  The disagreement lies in how this issue should be addressed.  

Players feel that the problem can be solved by larger market teams sharing more revenue (mainly from local TV deals) to support these struggling franchises, and the mechanism to determine how revenue will be shared should be negotiated now.  However, the Owners think these CBA negotiations should only include the manner in which Players should bare their share of the burden, and the way Owners should split money amongst themselves should not be collectively bargained.  

Until one of the sides change their stance on key economic issues and the Players are treated with more respect in this process, expect a protracted lockout.