Well, isn’t Adam Silver a ray of sunshine in an otherwise bleak and grey post-apocalyptic CBA negotiating world?
Silver spoke to reporters prior to Houston’s game against New Orleans Friday night and as opposed to Commissioner Stern’s devout pessimism and overtly dour stance on the CBA position, Silver painted a much nicer portrait of where things stand:
“Its not inevitable,” Silver said. “While we have no other formal meetings scheduled now, there is an ongoing dialogue with the union and we’ve been completely forthcoming with our financials. And Id like to believe they understand the position in which we find ourselves and that no rock will go unturned in trying to get a new deal done.”
“I would say just if you look at the history, we’ve only lost regular-season games once in the 60-plus year history of this league,” Silver said. “The fact that we don’t have a deal yet, or there’s no progress to report this far out, to me is not an indication that we’ll necessarily have a lockout. There is plenty of time to get a deal done.
“We will continue to talk and we will work around the clock if necessary to avoid losing games,” Silver said. “That is one thing there is absolute agreement on, between the ownership and the union, that makes absolutely no sense given the economic situation this country finds itself in and given the economics of this league — to lose games.”
via NBA deputy commish: work stoppage ‘not inevitable’ – NBA- NBC Sports.
This is in contrast to what nearly every source has said off the record and what nearly every official has hinted at publicly, which is that we’re all screwed when it comes to a lockout. However, while Silver’s take is much more reasonable and pleasant than most of the rhetoric tossed around on this subject, it ignores a huge, stinky elephant in the room.
The owners won’t send back a counter-proposal to the counter-proposal the union sent over.
For whatever reason, the league won’t respond to the proposal the players have offered which compromises on a reduction in BRI (Basketball Related Income) in exchange for things like revenue sharing and easier player movement (all of which would help small market owners, yet they remain silent). Let’s be clear about this. The players’ union offered a reduction in salaries in exchange for things which would help the entire league, and the owners won’t even respond to it. That’s a pretty steep cliff they’re setting these talks on.
Stern says they haven’t responded because “their position hasn’t changed” which is kind of absurd and petulant. One side has slackened their stronghold on what they want, and made a huge concession to start the ball moving. The least the owners could do is respond to it with a counter-proposal. But no. And it’s this approach which leads you to believe that Silver’s, right, a lockout isn’t inevitable.
It’s just what the owners ultimately want. And in that case, we’d better enjoy the next five months of basketball before it’s gone.
