The NBA heard players’ union president Billy Hunter loud and clear Wednesday when he introduced race into the rhetoric surrounding the sport’s stalled labor talks.
The league canceled a scheduled negotiating session Wednesday, accusing the union of backing off several agreements and adding that a group of agents pressured Hunter.
In an interview with ESPN.com, Hunter said he resented the NBA’s implication that he was pressured by agents and “the fact the inference is that me, as a black man, cannot operate an institution such as the union without having some white man oversee and (legitimize) whatever it is I’m supposed to be doing.”
Russ Granik, NBA deputy commissioner, took exception to Hunter’s comments.
“Certainly, I think it’s unfortunate,” Granik said Thursday. “No one in the NBA has concerns about whether Mr. Hunter can run the players association. He did a lot before he began being involved with the NBA.”
Hunter and the players’ union couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday. Granik said he thought the comments would not permanently disrupt the negotiations.
“Something like (Hunter’s comments) have to bother you,” Granik said. “It was said in a certain moment. I’m sure it won’t change the positive relationship we have.
“I hope (it doesn’t affect things). Certainly, I hope not. We want to get a deal done. Our big dilemma is how to do it.”
The collective bargaining agreement expires June 30, and a lockout could begin as early as July 1 if no agreement is reached. A summer lockout would cancel the summer leagues, but training camp is not scheduled to open until October.
Nuggets officials have been told by Kroenke Sports Enterprises they are not allowed to comment on labor talks.
Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke, a member of the NBA Labor Relations Committee, could not be reached for comment. But Nuggets forward Mark Pope, who has played a role in representing his teammates in labor talks, weighed in.
“I don’t see a lot of motivation for the union or the owners to strike a deal by July 1,” Pope said. “Nobody really cares if you miss July and August. Unless they feel, ‘Let’s do something historic for the sake of doing something historic,’ there’s no pressure. If they were going to get the deal done without pressure, they would have done it five months ago or a year ago.”
Granik cautions that the current situation with the NBA and the union is not similar to the situation in 1998 that led to a lockout. He also believes the NBA’s 1998 lockout was more like the current NHL lockout that started last September and canceled the 2004-05 season.
“It’s different in one important respect,” Granik said. “(The 1998 lockout) was the same as hockey’s in a sense that the owners had to see change in the way things worked. … That’s not the case now. There are some workable issues now.
“It’s not the same kind of issues. That’s what makes it more frustrating since we haven’t been able to put it to bed.”
Said Pope: “Everybody’s doing well right now. I don’t hear anybody – I don’t hear the union or the owners – making the argument that the current deal is bad. … With hockey, you had a situation where people were saying, ‘We cannot exist with this deal.’ You don’t hear that from either side here.”
Staff writer Adam Thompson contributed to this report.
Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-820-5449 or mspears@denverpost.com.
