AP Photo/Dan SteinbergLAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.--- Death, taxes and change. Those are three certain things in life.
NBA legends have experienced a bevy of the latter two and are using their past experiences to inform players to take heed in the current collective bargaining negotiations. The NBA and the National Basketball Player's Association are strong in their stances, and it will take sharp negotiating skills to come to an agreement before the June 30 deadline to avoid a lockout.
"[The league] has got to play hard ball, and I think there probably will be a lockout," Julius Erving said Saturday at ESPN The Weekend.
"One of the most predictable things in life is there will be change. You are better off if you can have a say in the change. But you are ignorant or naive if you don't think there will be change, whether you want it to or not."
Karl Malone and Gary Payton, who were part of the last lockout, were also present at ESPN The Weekend and gave a bit of insight on what might be going on behind closed doors in negotiations.
"It's not a hell of a lot of people doing a lot of talking in that meeting," Malone said. "It ain't but one person doing a whole lot of talking."
Payton agreed.
"And that's basically David Stern," Payton said.
Erving emphasized that he is not an insider in negotiations but he knows business, and currently the NBA business model is upside down in favor of the players.
"When I played, the owners had the power," Erving said. "The prisoners are running the prison now, not the warden. The warden is strong and he has say so but, the balance of power is definitely with the players."
The current CBA dictates players receive 57 percent of basketball-related income, giving them an upper hand in the league. But if owners have their way, that number will be reduced by more than 10 percent, according to NBA.com. Another issue on the table in negotiations is guaranteed contracts, which have become a burden for owners who must pay out on underperforming players with large contracts.
"If you look at football, I think all the owners are starting to go the same way because they don't want to pay these players anymore," Payton said. "I think everyone is going to start putting pressure on a lot of these athletes."
The NBA, which claims to have lost $1 billion since the 2005-06 season, including $380 million last season, wants to recoup losses by cutting player salaries and dictating a hard salary cap. The players are in favor of a softer cap with financial exceptions. If both sides don't reach an agreement, the players will effectively be locked out and all basketball operations will cease, which could lead to a loss of games in the 2011-12 season. The NBA has only one work stoppage, in 1998-99, reducing the season to 50 games.
Payton said he doesn't buy the league's complaints of losing immense revenue after it purchased the Hornets; received $100 million in new season tickets, according to Sports Business Journal; and had a marquee summer highlighted by LeBron James' decision.
"All these owners of these teams, this ain't nothing but hobbies to them," Payton said. "They didn't make their money off their teams. Do you think that's their main income coming from that basketball team?"
Other former players are also skeptical.
"Considering the current economic atmosphere globally with people still out of work, we are all doing well," said Alonzo Mourning from ESPN The Weekend. "We're all blessed beyond measure."
Nowadays these legends are more concerned with their golf games than CBA, but they agree the aspect of the league that will suffer the most from a work stoppage is its image. Stern, the NBA commissioner, has put immense effort toward building the image of the NBA globally and distancing it from embarrassing moments such as the Malice at the Palace.
"Because of the makeup of the NBA, it cannot afford for the public to turn on them," Erving said.
Malone emphasized unity amongst marquee players as the two things which may help avoid a lockout.
"If we have another lockout, that could kill the sport, and [NBA and NBPA] don't want that," Malone said. "I don't think they want to come back in the next 10 years and try to rebuild."
Mourning stressed open communication.
"Productive conversation toward accomplishing a goal, that's all you can ask for," Mourning said. "Time will dictate the outcome."
