Spurs second/third team nearly beat defending champs

In a move that would not normally be scrutinized, Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich decided to send his big three plus one back home to San Antonio to rest up and prepare for the NBA leading Memphis Grizzlies.

But, with rare exception, NBA Commissioner David Stern took umbrage with Pop’s move and found it necessary to issue the following statement:

“I apologize to all N.B.A. fans.  This was an unacceptable decision by the San Antonio Spurs, and substantial sanctions will be forthcoming.”

For Popovich, it is all about strategy and the health of his team.

“Perhaps it’ll give us an opportunity to stay on the court with Memphis on Saturday night,” Popovich told reporters before the game. “Historically, when you’re on a long road trip, that first game when you come home is really tough. And Memphis is one of the best teams in the league. They’re of much more concern to us than playing four games in five nights. It’s pretty logical.”

While there was no intentional snub on Pop’s part, he must have known that the commissioner would not appreciate the move with only two NBA games scheduled Thursday night.  But, when Popovich did pretty much the same thing back in April against the Utah Jazz, NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver said the following:

“The strategic resting of particular players on particular nights is within the discretion of the teams.”

So whether or not the NBA decides to “sanction” the Spurs remains to be seen but it hardly matters to Pop as Gary Neal made this point.

“Coach Pop is the coach of the San Antonio Spurs, and he did what’s best for us.”

The Spurs face the Memphis Grizzlies on December 1st.

 

 

NBA, players hold another marathon meeting

By BRIAN MAHONEY
AP Basketball Writer

NEW YORK — NBA owners and players were engaged in another marathon session Friday, meeting for more than 13 hours in talks aimed at ending the 148-day lockout in time to save the league’s Christmas Day schedule.

That deadline has created a sense of urgency because the Dec. 25 schedule is traditionally a showcase for the league. This season’s three-game slate was to include Miami at Dallas in an NBA finals rematch, plus MVP Derrick Rose leading Chicago into Los Angeles to face Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.

After a secret meeting earlier this week, the sides returned to the table to try to hash out a deal. Commissioner David Stern has said the league needs about 30 days from an agreement to when games could be played.

Participating in the talks for the league were Stern, deputy commissioner Adam Silver, Spurs owner Peter Holt, the chairman of the labor relations committee, and attorneys Rick Buchanan and Dan Rube. The players were represented by executive director Billy Hunter, president Derek Fisher, vice president Maurice Evans, attorney Ron Klempner and economist Kevin Murphy.

The discussions between representatives of the owners and players are now centered on settling their lawsuits: The players filed an antitrust lawsuit against the league in Minnesota, and the league filed a pre-emptive suit in New York, seeking to prove the lockout was legal.

Because the union disbanded, it cannot negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement, but the settlement talks could lead to that. The CBA can only be completed once the union has reformed.

There are still a handful of issues relating to spending rules for teams that must be worked out — issues that have been an obstacle to a new deal since the lockout began July 1. Players fear that owners’ desires to curb spending by the big-market teams would limit their options as free agents.

Talks last broke down Nov. 14 when players rejected the owners’ proposal that included opening a 72-game schedule on Dec. 15, instead announcing instead they were disbanding the union, giving them a chance to win several billion dollars in triple damages in an antitrust lawsuit.

On Monday, a group of named plaintiffs including Carmelo Anthony, Steve Nash and Kevin Durant filed an amended federal lawsuit against the league in Minnesota, hoping the courts there will be as favorable to them as they have been to NFL players in the past.

The NFL players enjoyed several victories over the owners in federal court in Minnesota, most recently when U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson issued a temporary injunction this summer that lifted the NFL’s owner-imposed lockout. That decision was stayed and eventually overturned on appeal by the 8th Circuit in St. Louis.

The legal system could take months to resolve, so both sides repeatedly have said the only way to reach a deal that would save the season is through bargaining. The 1998-99 lockout reduced that season to 50 games. It was settled shortly after the new year and play started in February.

This season games have been canceled through Dec. 15, but in reality another week probably already has been lost, given the time needed to write and approve a new collective bargaining agreement, have a free agency period, hold training camps and play exhibition games.

NBA deadline on hold as talks go on

By Mike Monroe
mikemonroe@express-news.net

NEW YORK – Deadline Day became Dialogue Day for the NBA.

A league ultimatum that had threatened to seriously set back negotiations aimed at ending the NBA’s lockout was set aside so talks could resume.

Twelve hours of talks that began Wednesday afternoon produced little in the way of progress, but for now, time will stand still while the talks continue, beginning with another session today.

It will be the 133rd day since the players were locked out on July 1.

“We have sort of stopped the clock,” Commissioner David Stern said after a 12-hour session that ended after 1 in the morning at a midtown Manhattan hotel.

Frozen in time was Stern’s deadline for acceptance of an offer that included a 50-50 split of basketball related income.

Stern’s warning to the union after mediated weekend bargaining sessions ended in failure had been simple: Accept by the 5 p.m. close of business on Wednesday a league’s offer or face a much worse offer in the future.

The post-deadline offer, Stern said, would be re-set to 47 percent of revenue for the players, with a “flex” salary cap the union already has deemed a hard cap. Further, the re-set offer will seek to roll back current contracts.

The threat continues to hang over players’ heads, but until this latest round of talks is declared a failure, Stern won’t wield it.

“It was our understanding going in that at the end of the negotiating session, whether it ends today or it ends tomorrow, that’s when our offer reverts. But we weren’t, in the middle of discussions, going to say, ‘OK we shouldn’t have taken that break. Stop the clock, it’s all over.’

“We’re trying to demonstrate our good faith and I think that the union is trying to demonstrate its good faith.”

On Wednesday, the threat didn’t appear in the negotiating room, according to Billy Hunter, executive director of the National Basketball Players’ Association.

“No, it was not (in the room),” he said. “They had sent us a letter indicating the 47 percent deal would occur if we did not reach accord by 5 p.m. today. Because of the nature of the negotiations and the fact there has been so much give and take they have basically agreed to freeze the deadline.”

Despite all that give and take on Wednesday, neither side said much progress was made.

“Nothing was worked out today,” Stern said. “We’ve agreed to convene here tomorrow at noontime and I would not read into this optimism or pessimism. We just continue to negotiate as we continue to negotiate.”

Hunter said the agreement to meet Thursday was an indication of a positive tenor to the talks.

“There was enough give and take on both sides that it merited our coming back tomorrow,” he said.

The union had asked for Wednesday’s negotiations after a meeting of player representatives from 29 of the 30 NBA teams that ended with solid support of the union’s executive committee and Hunter.

Negotiations Wednesday centered on “system” issues the players insist they must have if they are to agree to a 50-50 split of basketball related income.

Wednesday’s talks involved smaller groups than last weekend’s sessions. Stern, Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver and Spurs owner Peter Holt, chairman of the owners’ labor relations committee represented the league, along with league attorneys Rick Buchanan and Dan Rube.

Union preside Derek Fisher, union vice-president Mo Evans, Hunter, outside counsel Jeffrey Kessler, attorney Ron Klempner and economist Kevin Murphy represented the players.