What's going on with the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement between the owners & players?

By Adonal Foyle

Editor's note: The following is a blog post by Adonal Foyle from the February 18 edition of the Orlando Sentinel. This season, he is a regular "Opinionator" for The Sentinel. You can read all of Adonal's posts by clicking here >

A lot of people have e-mailed me (as First Vice President of the NBA Players' Association) asking what's going with the New Collective Bargaining Agreement between NBA owners and players. So I'm going to take the opportunity to try to explain where we are at in the negotiation process. The NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is up for negotiation over the next 16 months and there has been much to-do about the proposal that the owners submitted to the players a few weeks ago. For those not in the know, All Star Weekend is not just about the slam dunk contest and the East-West tournament, it is also an opportunity for the players to have their semi-annual union meeting to discuss all pertinent issues, such as the latest proposal from the owners. According to the owners, they are losing in the neighborhood of $400 million in revenues annually and their proposal seeks to recoup that loss by slashing players' salaries by almost 35 to 40 percent while in the process gaining an additional $400 million. The proposal also tries to decrease the length of contracts and in effect try to move towards a hard cap by eliminating all built-in exceptions (like the Bird Exception, Mid-Level & all salary cap exceptions, etc).

What I found most intriguing about the meetings was the new-found interest of our superstar players as many took the opportunity to fill the negotiating room with their presence and face the owners across the table. For most, it was their first experience with the other side of being a professional basketball player - reading the fine print and understanding the stipulations and basis of the contracts that they are able to enjoy today. Some of the greats were there including Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett.

We have 16 months as both the Union & the League to come up with a new CBA and it is clear from the owners' proposal that we are far away from this goal. I came away from the weekend as one of the Executive Committee tasked with helping craft a proposal of our own to present to the owners at the negotiating table.

We are clearly in a serious down-turn in this economy, and while we are very sensitive to that, we nonetheless must continue to strive for a good deal on behalf of the players. This is not a question of rich or poor, but rather a question of the distribution of equity between two unbelievably wealthy entities. I know a lot of people may be disgusted by the whole notion of rich professional athletes and owners fighting over money, but I want to emphasize that it's beyond the issue of dollars and more about fairness. This is going to be a very long summer and my hope is that players continue to understand the issues at hand and continue to save in the event of a lockout.

One of the things that I want to suggest for any upcoming CBA is the notion that there should be revenue-sharing amongst teams at the local level. There is already some sharing at the national level, and this would be a natural progression. At the end of the day, there is one undeniable truth -Memphis has no chance of ever getting to the same level as teams like the Lakers, Knicks or Celtics. Thus for Memphis to be a successful organization (within a highly successful League), there must be more revenue sharing.

What I believe to be true is that we are very lucky and privileged to play this amazing game that has allowed us to live well. The players want to play ball, and we believe that if we all come to the table thinking of the fans and the serious ramifications that a game stoppage (lockout) would have - it behooves us to develop a deal that favors both sides. That's why I believe the current contract, although not favorable to either owners or players is one that has worked well enough for several years and should be used as a framework from which to move forward, rather than throwing it out completely as the owners have suggested.

Join me and my teammates tonight for a Charity Celebrity Fashion & Jewelry Show: Please join me at the Groove at Universal Studios City Walk tonight (Thursday) for a Celebrity Fashion & Jewelry Show to benefit my Kerosene Lamp Foundation and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. My teammates, JJ Redick, Rashard Lewis and Marcin Gortat will be appearing along with Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick from *NSYNC and Wanya Morris from Boyz II Men. More information at www.holdenonevents.com. Tickets will be available at the door. Doors open at 7:30pm, show starts at 8pm followed by an after-party. We've got some exciting auction items ranging from spa packages and sports memorabilia to dinner for 6 hosted by me! Come on down and join the fun and support my work with at-risk youth in the Caribbean. To learn more about my foundation, visit www.kerosenelampfoundation.org.

- Adonal