NBA, NBAPA readying for labor dispute

Topdawg13 · Mar 22, 2011

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NBPA executive director Billy Hunter reiterated his union's stand during a wide-ranging interview with ESPN.com last week at the union's Harlem, N.Y., headquarters.

The NBA's collective bargaining agreement with its players expires on June 30.

The NBA says more than half its teams are losing money -- more than $300 million a year, it has said -- as it demands sweeping changes to the CBA.

Hunter disputed that. "Our belief," Hunter said, "is that a small number of teams are suffering, and their problems can be addressed through revenue sharing."

Hunter also said that the key negotiating point for the players is the NBA's push for a hard salary cup, rather than a "franchise tag" or some other limit on the movement of top players.

Hunter says a hard cap would effectively end guaranteed contracts which he calls "the lifeblood" of professional basketball. "We've had that right for years, and it's not something we're trying to give up."

Hunter added: "If you get a hard cap, owners get a guaranteed profit. And you get franchise values that go through the roof. That's what you get."

At last month's NBA All-Star Game, commissioner David Stern said that the players and league agree "about the numbers." The league told ESPN.com that it has given the players all the financial information they need.

"The NBA has shared with the players' union audited financial reports for all 30 teams which unequivocally demonstrate why Mr. Hunter favors the expiring agreement and why it does not work for us," spokesman Tim Frank said.

The NBPA contends the reality is more complex than is expressed in those documents. Hunter questioned some accounting procedures on what constitutes operating losses, and pointed out that, in many markets, team owners also earn revenue from also owning local TV networks that carry the teams' games. He also said owning an NBA team comes with a high profile that helps owners' other businesses.
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