NBA controversy over revenue split
By Pankaj Ladhar of Manos • Alwine P.L.
The NBA labor committee is set to reopen talks with players over athlete contracts, but some owners and managers are not optimistic about the meeting’s outcome. The NBA ownership group’s labor committee wants to bring the revenue split to 50/50, but the players are not willing to go below 52.5 percent. However, pressure to end the lockout may cause some owners to side with the players. The owner of the Miami Heat, Mickey Arison, was caught hinting on Twitter that he was ready for the affair to be over.
In the midst of the lockout, some players are campaigning for decertification in hopes that it would increase their chances of success at the talks. To accomplish this, the NBA players would need 226 players, 30 percent of its membership, to vote that they no longer wanted union representation.
Giving up the next season or the next two seasons is not an impossible foresight for the NBA players, as they are unwilling to accept the 50/50 split offered by the labor committee. Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade told reporters that while the NBA owners present a 50/50 split as a partnership, he rejects that notion, saying “That’s not how it works.”
Regardless of the negotiation, the National Basketball Players’ Association is hesitant to accept any deals too soon. An executive with the organization told reporters that this bargaining agreement will have long-term implications on how NBA players are paid, stressing that the NBPA cannot accept a bad deal in order to avoid a missed season.
Source: ESPN “NBA sides to resume talks, sources say,” Nov. 5, 2011