NBA Commissioner Adam Silver answers questions during the NBA All-Star Weekend on Saturday, February 18, 2023 in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rob Gray)
SALT LAKE CITY — Everyone motivated to prevent an NBA work stoppage, with multiple opt-out date extensions being granted to allow the players’ union and team owners to work to extend the collective bargaining agreement.
NBPA Chief Executive Tamika Tremaglio addressed a assembled group of reporters Saturday afternoon ahead of the All-Star celebrations, her first press conference since taking office for Michele Roberts a year ago.
It’s not as critical a time as 2011, when players were locked out by owners under then-commissioner David Stern. Back then, there were public and private issues surrounding Max Contracts and Free Agency, and it was heated and ugly.
That doesn’t appear to be the case this time, as Tremaglio strikes an upbeat tone about the discussions.
“First of all, I don’t think a lockout will benefit anyone,” Tremaglio said. “I also think it’s important that we all acknowledge, to some extent, that our players have stated from the start that they are OK with the contract being extended until the 2023-24 season. Really, we are now in a position to consider whether we decide against it.”
The sides have until March 31 to come to an agreement, and Commissioner Adam Silver reiterated the same views a short time later.
“All I would say is that closing a deal as soon as possible is an absolute priority for us too,” Silver said. “I think at least we discussed at the players’ association table that we would not publicly list the issues that might separate us.”
There are a few things that remain problems:
The money and how it is spent: Basketball Related Income or BRI as it is commonly known. It is the pie that drives player salaries and overall league revenue. Before 2011, players took home 57% of earnings, but since then it has been cut to 50.5%. The bigger pie explains escalating salaries across the board, and the pie is getting bigger with the forthcoming television media rights deal – which could include the involvement of streaming companies.
Now sources are telling Yahoo Sports that there could be some discrepancies between the sides about what actually counts for BRI in relation to the media deal. As one site put it: “[BRI] always feels like it’s going to be around 50-50, but as the media world expands that’s the more complex area of discussion.”
There was a similar struggle over 10 years ago, but it’s hard to tell if it’s a mountain to climb or just a hurdle to overcome.
The luxury tax has allowed teams like the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors to spend and spend to retain talent, and even get deep in the tax because of deep pockets. The prospect of a “spending cap” has been publicly announced, which sounds a lot like a hard salary cap.
After repeatedly stating that she didn’t want to negotiate positions through the media, Tremaglio fired a pretty clear shot across the bow.
“Absolutely not,” she said in reference to a hard cap.
Of course, a hard cap suppresses salaries and competition, while the current system allows some teams to use more available resources than other franchises. Currently, the system has exceptions and penalizes teams with “repeat” taxes if they choose to be permanently above the payroll tax skirt.
One and done: The system that doesn’t allow prep-to-pro players to enter the NBA has been in place for nearly 20 years, but momentum has been turning to reverse that rule for years. The NBPA is in a difficult position as scrapping the rule means standing up for players who aren’t already in the union and theoretically removing older players from the league faster.
Tremaglio alluded to this when asked on Saturday.
“We’re aware that if we want people to join the league at the age of 18, we really have to make sure we have the structure,” Tremaglio said. “We also appreciate that there are a lot of perks to really having veterans that these 18-year-olds can bring. And so you know that certainly anything that we would even consider, to be completely honest with you, would have to include some component that would allow veterans to participate as well.”
Does that mean additional roster spots and room for teams that call up high schoolers? It certainly means something when there’s some kind of concession — even if it doesn’t feel like one side is giving in to the other.
Midseason Tournament: The momentum is going in that direction, but how does it look? Season shortened by 10 games? Is the financial incentive for the players that much bigger and will it matter to the fans?
“As a player who has participated in play-in games more than I would have liked at this point in my career, I think there has been more pessimism than optimism that has chimed in from us about how that will play out,” NBPA President CJ said McCollum. “And I think, based on the past few years, it’s been a success. I think people enjoyed it, the competitive nature of it. The fact that teams that wouldn’t normally have a chance to make the playoffs have a chance to play competitive, meaningful games.”
The play-in was extremely successful, but it ties directly into the playoffs and doesn’t disrupt the natural order of things. A midseason tournament would drastically change how the game is played and consumed, one might think.
“As a player who has a brother in Europe who has been playing in Europe for 13 years, I’ve seen the success [of midseason tournaments]’ McCollum said. “Now that’s done right. That’s another story to make sure we’re doing it right and putting the right things in place. I think we’re working towards that. Personally, I’m not against it.”
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