David Stern: ‘I despair’

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October 13th, 2011 Royce Young

David Stern was on WFAN with Mike Francesca this afternoon and he laid it on heavy, smearing Billy Hunter, talking doom and gloom and even awkwardly saying “I despair” when asked if there was no deal by next week.

“If we don’t make it on Tuesday,” Stern says, “my gut is that we won’t be playing on Christmas Day.”

Awesome.

“Each side is going to meet with the mediator on Monday, and if there’s a breakthrough, it’s going to come on Tuesday,” Stern told NBA.com. “And if not, I think that the season is really going to potentially escape from us, because we aren’t making any progress … how many times does it pay to keep meeting, and to have the same things thrown back at you? We’re ready to sit down and make a deal. I don’t believe that the union is. Hopefully by Tuesday, aided by the mediator, they’ll be ready to make a deal. Certainly I’ll bring my owners ready to make a deal.”

Basically, from what I understand, a federal mediator is in place to just tell each side if they’re full of it or not. Right now the sides are completely hung up thinking that their deal is fair. The players see their 53 percent BRI take as fair. The owners don’t see any deal where they still lose money as fair.

So a mediator will step in, hear it all out and inform each side whether or not their proposal is total junk or not. Hopefully that’s a good thing.

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Crow

The additional tax penalties for repeat luxury tax offenders will probably be less than what the owners want but some further penalty for repeat offense seems likely to be demanded.

Some of the owner's proposals do address competitive balance in ways I could support.

But they also appear to be approaching re-sculpting the system and the CBA in waves. If they get the system right this time (they didn't last time) then next time they will throw almost their full attention to reducing player BRI. They should have put more focus on that last time and maybe this time too. But it is theirs to propose and deal as they think best.

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oboy

can DJ Boom be locked out permanently??

and can we hear david sterns date to resign?????

ok see you guys later

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Crow

I think now that the two sides will either agree to something close to this or they won't agree:

A split 50-50 on BRI or a close variation; 5/4 years on contracts with your own players and free agents for up to 3-4 players, 4/3 years on the rest; MLE limited to 3 years, under $4 million and teams over the luxury tax can only use it every other year; 6 year CBA deal; owner get the luxury tax system they want & need perhaps lessened by one 50 cent step from what they proposed.

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Thomas

The players are the good guys in my view. I'm on their side. That said, they need to take the 50-50 deal if its offered again and get on with their lives and careers. Are they being screwed, to my mind yes, they are the product and they deserve the most of the BRI. But that doesn't matter. They have no other league to go to where they can all make as much as they will even under this reduced deal. Just take it and move on guys. Your careers are only so long. The last thing you need to do is waste a year of your earning potential making zero when you could have made something significant by the standards of an ordinary person.

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Chris

this better happen by next week. very very very frustrating. I'm giving a speech on the lockout tonight in one of my classes. wish me luck. and don't worry I'll bash both the players and owners. If only I could be the mediator..

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