NBA Players Start To Break From Union Argument
NEW YORK (CBSMiami.com) – Another round of negotiations over the NBA lockout is set to take place in New York Thursday. But unlike past meetings, the meeting is amongst the National Basketball Player's Association as they seek to calm growing unrest in the ranks.
In the past few days, reports of a rift between NBPA executive director Billy Hunter and the player's union president, Derek Fisher, have dominated the headlines.
According to the New York Times, the first order of business will be to try and get both Hunter and Fisher on the same page.
Everything blew up when Jason Whitlock of FoxSports.com reported that Fisher was trying to complete a deal with NBA Commissioner David Stern without the union's approval.
Fisher and Hunter have both issued statements and letters seeking to reassure players that nothing of the sort is happening and both men will continue to fight for more basketball related income, or BRI. Fisher called Whitlock's article a "disgusting, defamatory, and a flat-out lie."
So far, Hunter has only been willing to come down on BRI to 52.5 percent for players and 47.5 percent for owners.
The owners are countering with a 50/50 split. Splitting it down the middle of 51.5 to 48.5 percent may be the final resting spot.
But, neither side is moving towards that middle ground and both have blown up recent negotiations by refusing to budge on the BRI argument.
Coincidentally, both the owners and the players are letting powerful minorities hijack the overall talks.
For the owners, its small-market owners who want to try to level a playing field that can't be leveled.
For the players, high-priced stars like Kevin Garnett are refusing to budge on the BRI dispute.
Meanwhile, players like Boston Celtics power forward Glen Davis are saying to take the best deal possible and end the futile position the players have taken.
"Take the 51% man and let's play," Davis tweeted on Wednesday.
His sentiment was echoed by Houston Rockets guard Terrence Williams who tweeted, "Hey @TheNBPA Let's play BALL enough with the stare off."
