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 General Basketball WiretapIt's Lying Game seasonTim Buckley of the Deseret News reports: Some call it fibbing. Others prefer misinformation, or even disinformation, a term usually reserved for describing the planting of false information regarding political and military matters. But whatever it's dubbed, make no mistake: At this time of year, normally honest, upstanding men throughout the NBA cave in to the pressures of playing . . . The Lying Game. "Oh, it's real," said David Fredman, the former Jazz scouting director, now a Denver Nuggets assistant general manager. "It used to be that from the management and coaching end of this business, agents used to be looked upon as guys that wouldn't tell the truth and would break the rules," Fredman added. "And I think now there are people like that on our end of things, too." Why? Perhaps because the draft has become such a high-stakes affair. Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Free-agent class not likely to get big paydayMike Kahn of Sportsline.com reports that this season’s free agent class is in for a rude awakening. On July 1 -- the date contracts end and free agents can begin negotiating with other teams -- young and very talented free agents are going to find out real quick about the business of basketball. Major free agent moves are unlikely because the NBA’s new TV deal is actually worth less in the first two years than the old deal was. According to commissioner David Stern, teams won't make the $23 million they made the final season of the NBC deal, but will make far more in years 3-6. This will have a negative impact on the salary cap which is bad news for free agents. Also, the threat of the luxury tax is more real this summer than it was last year. The escalation of previously signed contracts coupled with the decreased revenue due to the TV contract means the luxury tax is almost a certainty this season. What that means is that owners already thinking about next year's money issues won't be inclined to give big contracts to free agents. "This summer," one NBA general manager said, "teams are going to spend even less money, you can count on that." The NBA Players Association has filed a suit of arbitration against the league charging collusion among the owners kept player’s salaries down and in some cases, kept players out of the league all together. The luxury tax was written into the CBA, but what wasn’t written into the document was what the NBA would do with the 10% escrow payback on players’ salaries. When the NBA decided to disperse the escrow payback to teams that are under the luxury tax limit, the Players Association was upset. Essentially, it was another tax of at least $3 million imposed on teams that exceeded the limit. "We didn't agree to this deal for a double-tax," NBPA executive director Billy Hunter said. "That's bad faith. That's collusion." Not according to NBA’s Russ Granik. "The language was very clear that it was up to our discretion how we would handle the escrow money," Granik said. "They can see that as well as we can." But the good-faith element lingers, or as one NBA source said, "The players got backdoored on this one. There were a thousand ways they could distribute the money rather than threaten to withhold it from teams. Stern got his hard cap that way." However, there also is the strong possibility that if the luxury tax does not go into effect, a portion of the escrow tax will be returned to the players that would ease some of the pain. "I guess if in fact there's no tax, that opens up the possibility that not all of the escrow will be paid to the owners, that some of it will be paid to the owners and some paid to the players," Stern said. "That would be great, too. All we want to achieve is the percentage in salaries and benefits that are provided for in the agreement. If there's no tax and -- if it turns out we didn't need the tax or the escrow to achieve that result -- that would be No. 1. But to achieve it with part of the escrow and no tax is No. 2. That would be very positive." General Basketball, Contract Signing Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback World Equalizes in Sporting StrengthsAs many as 10 non-Americans could be drafted in the NBA first round next week, including Yao Ming, the first. Five went last year in Parker's class, and they weren't all giants who couldn't have played soccer. Raul Lopez, the choice of the Jazz, is Parker's size. The gap is closing, all right. It won't be long before the U.S. pros are upset in an Olympics. It almost happened in Sydney. So if the gap is closing in one direction, it only makes sense that it's also closing in the other. The NBA's rookie of the year this past season came from Spain. So isn't there some symmetry when young Americans such as Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley impact soccer? General Basketball, San Antonio Spurs Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Jun 2002 Archive
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