NEW YORK — With NBA stars from veteran Kevin Garnett to rookie of the year Blake Griffin standing behind him, union president Derek Fisher said Thursday that players won’t accept a bad deal to avert a work stoppage.
“We’d love to avoid a lockout, but we’re unified in the sense of not being afraid if that’s what we’re faced with,” the Lakers guard said.
Player representatives from each team were in town for their summer meeting and were updated on the state of negotiations with owners. The collective bargaining agreement expires next Thursday, and the sides remain far apart headed into another session today.
The players say their proposal called for them to give back $500 million in salary over five years by reducing their share of guaranteed revenues from 57 percent to 54.3 percent, an offer that commissioner David Stern called “modest.”
“To call our moves modest is just not accurate,” Fisher said.
Though the league has projected $300 million in losses this season and says 22 of its 30 teams will lose money, players point to record TV ratings and increases in merchandise and ticket sales in their belief that things aren’t bad enough to warrant the changes owners seek.
“Everything you can measure success by have been at record levels,” Fisher said.
Footnotes.
The Suns made a qualifying offer to restricted free agent Aaron Brooks and modified the date Vince Carter’s contract becomes fully guaranteed because of the labor uncertainty.
• Mavericks owner Mark Cuban received a $340,947 bill for the cost of a June 16 parade honoring the NBA champions, which he has pledged to pay out of his pocket.
