Players turn down offer
Discussions still focus on share of $4bn revenue
NBA players won’t accept the latest contract offer from owners, but will try to meet with them again before a deadline in a bid to avert the cancellation of more games.
“The players are clearly of the mind that it’s an unacceptable proposal,” Billy Hunter, executive director of the NBA Players Association, said on Tuesday after a meeting of union leaders, including president Derek Fisher of the Los Angeles Lakers, and 43 players.
That included the union representatives from 29 of the league’s 30 teams.
The meeting was organised after NBA commissioner David Stern said that the players had until yesterday to reconsider the owners’ latest proposal.
The league has already wiped out all of the games scheduled in November – a month’s worth of action in a season that was to have started November 1.
A key issue under discussion remained the division of some $4 billion in annual revenue.
Players received 57 per cent of basketball-related income under their previous contract, but have said they would be willing to drop that to 52.5 per cent.
The latest offer from owners would have given the players between 49-51 per cent of basketball-related income, depending on revenue growth.
Players said the terms meant they almost certainly would not receive more than 50.2 per cent.
With the sides still divided on other issues such as salary structure, Hunter said he would try to arrange for another meeting with owners.
Stern has said that if the players don’t accept the current offer, the next offer from the league will call for a 53-47 revenue split in favour of the owners, reportedly along with salary rollbacks and a stricter salary cap.