Right now, the biggest job for union president Derek Fisher and NBA Commissioner David Stern is keeping their charges in line. Stern’s trying to keep a muzzle on Dan Gilbert and Mark Cuban, which is akin to wrestling alligators.
On the other side, there are 450 young guys, most with twitter accounts. There is pressure being put on the big names to step forwards, pressure from agents to get a seat at the table. So Derek Fisher sent another letter to the players Monday, and it was obtained by Mark Stein at ESPN. The letter came out the day before another bargaining session is set to take place.
The whole focus of the letter is unity and keeping the players on the same page.
“Our game has never been more popular and we’re poised to see tremendous revenue growth over the next 5 to 6 years. … We must share fairly in the continued growth of our business. Any deal that decouples us from a fair share of the revenue growth in the years ahead is a deal we cannot accept. Period!….
“There are a number of team owners that will not lose the season over the hard cap system. We’ve been clear from Day 1 of this process that we cannot sign off on a deal that attempts in any way to include a hard salary cap for our teams. That has not changed,” Fisher said. “Unless you, the group we represent, tell us otherwise, we are prepared to hold the line for as long as it takes to preserve the system we’ve worked so hard to build…..
“I want to make something absolutely clear about this process,” Fisher wrote. “You ultimately have the voice and the power in these negotiations. Those of us that are in the room negotiating with the NBA cannot agree to any deal or deal points, good or bad, without taking your vote. Despite what you may hear, we don’t have the authority to sell you out or sell you short.”
Fisher also makes it clear where the line in the sand is with the players. They are not going to let the salary cap get decoupled from league revenue and they are going to fight a hard salary cap. They likely are going to have to give up more percentage points of basketball related income to make that happen, but if the owners are waiting for the union to break we may not be getting the present of basketball for Christmas after all.
