The NBA imposed a lockout this morning after contract talks with the players' union broke down, further delaying the opening of the biggest free agent market in league history.
Both sides had worked through the night on finalizing their collective bargaining agreement, but a sudden snag developed over $50 million in profit sharing from the league's TV contracts. The lockout, which prevents teams from contacting players, is the second in as many years.The move halted today's expected free-agent frenzy, with such superstars as Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal and Reggie Miller up for grabs.
The union wanted the money from profit-sharing to be included in salary cap calculations, and the league refused. The union rejected an offer to extend the eight-day moratorium on signings, trades and negotiations, and the talks broke off.
"We had hoped to be able to announce the signing of an agreement, but in light of the union's insistence on new economic concessions and their refusal to extend the moratorium, we had no choice but to implement the lockout," said Jeffrey Mishkin, the league's chief legal officer.
Lawyers for the league and union worked around the clock the past week to put the agreement on paper so it could be signed before the moratorium ended at noon today.
"We negotiated all night, literally went through hundreds of pages and scores of issues and resolved all but one," union attorney Jeffrey Kessler said today. "I hope it will be worked out, but our resolve is steadfast. It goes to the heart of the issue of getting a fair deal for the players."
No new talks were scheduled, but Kessler said the sides may meet later in the day and try to resolve the one remaining issue.
In Phoenix, the executive director of USA Basketball said he didn't know if the lockout would affect the Dream Team.
"They may choose to do whatever theychoose to do, but the players are individually contracted with USA Basketball and not the NBA," said Warren Brown, executive director of the Olympic team's governing body. "There's no direct relationship between being on the Dream Team and the dispute between the NBA and the Players Association."
The $50 million in dispute would come from profit sharing with NBC and TNT, the league's two TV rights holders. Once the networks recoup the $750 million they paid for broadcast rights, the resulting profits are shared.
The dispute arose when the league insisted that 50 percent of those profits be applied toward player salaries and the union contended that 100 percent be included.
"It's an issue that's worth tens of millions of dollars to the players, and the league is trying to keep all the money," Kessler said.
Jordan, O'Neal, Miller, Alonzo Mourning, Juwan Howard, Gary Payton and Dennis Rodman are among the 150 or so players eligible to become free agents.
Last summer, a three-month work lockout was imposed. It ended when the players voted to ratify a modified labor deal rather than decertify the union.
The agreement remained unsigned, however, while the two sides argued over details, and the league threatened a lockout for July 1 if the differences couldn't be resolved.
That led to four straight days of talks that produced an agreement on all remaining disputed issues, and an eight-day moratorium was put in place until the labor deal could be completed.