Stern: Sides ‘very far apart’ on NBA labor deal

By BRIAN MAHONEY, AP Basketball Writer

DALLAS (AP)—Repeating the words several times, David Stern made it clear: NBA owners and players are “very far apart” on a new labor deal.

And with the union saying the league hasn’t moved off its harshest demands, it may be hard to get closer in time to prevent a lockout.

“I think one of the owners indicated at the conclusion of today’s meeting that he was very pessimistic as to whether or not they’d be able to reach an accord between now and the end of the month, and I’m forced to share that sentiment,” union executive director Billy Hunter said Wednesday. “I think maybe it’s going to be a difficult struggle.”

Representatives of the owners and players completed a second day of meetings, scheduled two more for next week, and expressed hope that continued dialogue before the June 30 expiration of the collective bargaining agreement could head off a work stoppage.

Yet the players reiterated their opposition to a hard salary cap, reduction in contract lengths and the amount for which they could be guaranteed, and said owners haven’t budged on their desire for all three.

“No change at all. What has changed is maybe the mechanism, the system somewhat in maybe how we get there. We tossed around some ideas in that regard, but there is no hiding the fact that the main components of what we originally received in their proposal have not changed at all,” union president Derek Fisher(notes) of the Lakers said. “So from that standpoint, there hasn’t been much of a negotiation because that really hasn’t changed.”

Owners are seeking an overhaul of the system after losses of hundreds of millions of dollars annually during the current CBA, which was ratified in 2005. They believe they could get the relief they seek through a hard cap that would replace the current soft cap system that allows teams to exceed the limit under certain exceptions.

“We do not believe that a hard salary cap system is something that is good for basketball,” Fisher said.

The sides met for four hours Wednesday after a meeting that lasted about 5 1/2 hours Tuesday. They will meet again next Tuesday in Miami if there is a Game 7 of the NBA finals, or otherwise in New York, then sit down again Friday in New York.

Stern said each side exchanged new proposals during the sessions, but used the term “far apart” five times in about 8 1/2 minutes to describe where things stand. Hunter said they are “miles apart.”

“Both sides have moved, but we’re not anyplace close to a deal,” Stern said.

Despite the players’ opposition to the hard cap, Hunter said he believed the biggest issue is the division of revenues. Players are guaranteed 57 percent, and he believes owners want a system that guarantees each profits by millions.

“We don’t necessarily feel it’s the employees’ responsibility to guarantee that,” Fisher said.

The league is projecting leaguewide losses of about $300 million and wants a reduction in player salary costs of about $750 million annually. Players have argued the system largely works and owners can help themselves with expanded revenue sharing.

Neither side would offer specifics of the proposals, beyond Hunter saying the owners wanted a 10-year deal. He thought the league may eventually move on the hard cap issue, recalling that it eventually did in 1998—but only after losing games for the only time.

“We were here in ’98 and they wanted a hard cap and it was only on the eve of losing the season that we were then able to strike a compromise,” Hunter said. “We’re hoping it doesn’t go that far this time, but we’re still waiting.”

Hunter said he has guaranteed in writing that players won’t strike, but Fisher said owners have told them they will be locked out if they don’t agree on the three central issues.

Both sides said they are willing to keep meeting right up to the deadline, and it will take at least that long with the differences in their positions.

“As of right now they don’t add up,” Stern said. “I’m not proceeding on the projection that they won’t, but that’s certainly possible and I think that both sides recognize that the outcome of no deal would not be a good outcome and so we continue to plot away.”

Read a few comments someplace that Minny would give up the #2 for Andy V. I don't know if that is possible but I think they should do that and use the #4 on a pick to replace Andy. Adding Irving and Williams would re-energize the franchise and if we can turn the TPE into a lottery pick next year we could have a heck of a team to build around. I don't want middle of the road veterna players as we have already went that way and collapsed. We need to follow OKC's model

On LBJ, seems to me he is in a funk caused by having to defer to Wade. Everything was great when he was the man, but playing the Rodman role (can't give him the Peppen role, as that goes to Bosh so far) has killed his energy.

In other words, LeBron is, was, and will always be a wuss. Whenever he has to work, he quits and starts throwing up daggers. Marion has made him quit. The reporter asking him about shrinking completely ruined his desire to play.

Andy is worth way more then the #2 pick in this draft.

Wait till you see Andy play with someone like Kyrie Irving.

Stephen A. Smith, on his radio show, said that LeBron James struggled in Game 4 due to some personal issues. He didn't go into any details. 2 hours ago · reply · retweet ·

Read more NBA news and insight: http://www.hoopsworld.com/#ixzz1OngVobub

LeBron always has an excuse. He was probably tired from spoiling us.

Lebron has shown that he can quit on his team at big moments.

No denying his talent, but his mental makeup is horrid for someone hyped as GOAT.

Hard to remember a time in the playoffs when Lebron took over the game at both ends of the floor ala Wade. The Piston game was all offense. Did you see Wade block those shots in Game 4?

The only concern about Andy is how long he can hold up physically until the Cavs are good. No way I trade him for the #2, Williams or anyone else.

Those Dirty LeBron James and Rashard Lewis Rumors

By Kyle Munzenrieder, Thu., Jun. 9 2011 at 4:02 PM Comments (2)

​You might remember that last year, Fox Sports Radio personality Stephen A. Smith was the first guy to report that LeBron James indeed would be joining Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade with the Miami Heat. People laughed at him when he first tweeted the assertion, but he looked pretty prescient after it all went down. Well, now he's back calling attention to some new LeBron rumors, and it's the kind of baseless gossip-mongering you'd think he'd be above.

Smith was on ESPN 2's Mike & Mike this morning the to drop some cryptic hints about what might be eating LeBron's grapes. Via SportsGrid:
This morning, Smith said that he's "[heard] things" through the "grapevine" of a "personal nature," and it may or may not involve, "somebody other than the player," and it may or may not "have a profound effect on the player," and it has nothing to do with "the game of basketball."



What could Smith be talking about? The Internet seems to know. Twitter is rife with rumors that LeBron's longtime girlfriend, Savannah Brinson, is having an affair with the Washington Wizards' Rashard Lewis.

Smith might have ignited interest in the rumor, but Twackle tracks its source to a Houston, Texas-area hip-hop radio station:
"I have a very reliable source who clubs and drinks with all of the athletes that come through Orlando. He was all over the Tiger Woods issue and knew what all happened with Tiger prior to it being released publicly. My buddy has a place in Orlando, Lake Nona to be exact, and he lives among some athletes that live there in Orlando. Needless to say he golfs, drinks, and parties with some of the best people in central Florida. So when word got to him while at the bar last night, he called me. Word got out while drinking with friends, that Rashard Lewis slept with Lebron's girl while visiting South Beach."
This all seems like a shady, unfounded rumor stemming from LeBron's poor play in Game 4.

For one thing, don't trust anybody in Orlando who thinks he's "connected."

Second, Lewis recently got engaged, and his lovey-dovey engagement pictures hit the net earlier this week. Granted, it's not like a man cheating on his fiancée is unheard of, but he's not a single guy either.

Besides, even if the rumors are true, LeBron is far from the only player on the Heat going through a personal problem right now. Chris Bosh is fighting a custody battle just so his young daughter can attend a game. Meanwhile, Mike Miller's newborn daughter has been battling for her young life.

Yet Bosh and Miller seem to be playing pretty effectively. We'd think LeBron would be able to take inspiration from his teammates and put his personal problems, however serious they might be, on the sideline during the game. Which makes us think these rumors might be pretty baseless. Sometimes, even during the finals, a player has a bad game. That doesn't mean his personal life is crashing down behind the scenes.

Mo in :
is Irving that good of a player/PG that the Cavs wont draft Williams first and then either Walker or Knight with the 4th?
Joel Brigham:
That's not a bad strategy if we're working in the hypothetical world of mock drafts, where careers and potentially billions of dollars hang in the balance, but the #1 pick needs to be a can't miss if at all possible. You have to take the best player possible, and Kyrie Irving is that in this year's draft. Knight isn't as sure a thing NBA point guard as Irving is, and Kemba is a little smaller. Kyrie might be the only guy in this draft with All-Star potential, and you can't afford to pass on him in favor of Derrick Williams if you think Irving is the better player. It's the least risky way to go about it.


Read more NBA news and insight: http://www.hoopsworld.com/chat.asp?chat ... z1OogRtkue

Joe Kotoch of Pro Basketball Draft was just on WKNR for the past hour. Was asked about Andy and #4 for #2. Kotoch said that the Cavs could get a better package for Andy then the #2 pick.

As heard on Mike and Mike: Someone asked Lebron for change for a dollar, but only got back 75 cents.

Lebron didn't have the 4th quarter.

LeBron teeters on ultimate Finals failure

By Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports



DALLAS – Everything promises to be sheer torture now, the worst basketball nightmare of LeBron James(notes) unfolding one mocking, ridiculing jeer stacked upon another until the world comes crashing down Sunday night. Biggest game of my life, James proclaimed, and the final minutes of Game 5, the final score, still belonged to someone else. Beyond failure, this felt so much like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Biggest game of his life, James proclaimed, and his good was unacceptable again. Greatness is demanded for a global icon. Greatness is the burden. Back to the brink for LeBron James, back to the dizzying, dumbfounding edge of his chaotic, careening planet.

All hell crashed down upon James and the Miami Heat in a confounding 112-103 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, an avalanche of Mavericks 3-pointers conspiring with one more pedestrian performance from James in the fourth quarter. From Dirk Nowitzki(notes) to Jason Terry(notes), the Mavericks humiliated him in the clutch and moved within a victory of an NBA championship. Nothing out of James in the fourth quarter, nothing to honor and validate a talent that ought to be controlling these Finals.

These Dallas Mavericks go to great lengths to mess with him, hurling insults and insinuations with regularity that they never would’ve dared with different superstars. Why? Because they believe it messes with his mind. They believe the words will fester within him, keep him thinking when he ought to be reacting. Terry says James can’t guard him, and so far he’s been right. DeShawn Stevenson(notes) essentially called him a quitter in Game 4. Shawn Marion(notes) appeared to call him much worse on the floor, too.

James won’t get mad, and James won’t get even and make people pay a price. When opposing players hear people insist they ought to be respectful of James out of fear of retribution – be careful they don’t stir him with words – they privately giggle.

“Different guys are different,” Stevenson told Yahoo! Sports in a corner of the Mavericks’ locker room Thursday night. “Kobe Bryant feeds off stuff like that. He looks for it every time. LeBron’s a different kind of person. Obviously he’s a freak of nature, able to do a lot of things, but everybody in this league is built different.”

Built differently. Translated: Where’s the killer within? Where’s the best player in basketball, the prodigious talent that left the Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics crumpled messes back in the Eastern Conference? Where’s the cold-bloodedness?

Where is this guy?

Deep down, James has to still see the opportunity tangled within the disheartening defeat. He goes home, and gets a chance to fight back and take that championship. The opportunity is historic. Down 2-3 in the series, James has a chance to manufacture the most dramatic narrative in Finals history.

The ultimate frontrunner could still craft the ultimate comeback story.

Maybe going home makes the difference for him. Maybe this was just too much for him in Dallas. After all, James has lost the desire to drive to the basket and get to the free-throw line. He’s lost the touch on his jump shot. He’s lost the fourth quarters of these Finals, totaling just 11 points in all five of them.

Still, LeBron James hasn’t lost these Finals. He hasn’t lost this series. Now, winning could be bigger than ever. He’s set himself up for one of the great, great victories in NBA history or one of the biggest flops ever seen. Never in-between with him, never halfway.

When the game was over, someone asked Chris Bosh(notes) how James had played. Bosh stared blankly for a moment, because James’ performance was statistically sound and perfectly forgettable. Finally, Bosh looked down at the stat sheet and managed to spit out, “Triple-double.”

Yes, triple-double: 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. In the final five minutes, 59 seconds, James missed two of his three shots, had no assists, no rebounds and a turnover.

As Game 5 slipped away, James missed an open 3-pointer with the Heat trailing 102-100. He was called for a charge on the baseline. And he let Terry beat him on the biggest 3-pointer of the night. No one had talked more trash at James, and no one backed it up with such brilliant shot-making. For nearly the entire fourth quarter, James went without a basket – and don’t dare count a layup inside the final minute once the Heat were far gone. This was A-Rod with a ninth inning solo shot to make it 7-2.

Eventually, James is going to do this. He’s going to win a title. Once again, the Heat need to win Games 6 and 7, or the Year of LeBron becomes one big bust. These days, he is a one-man, 24-hour news cycle. When James is done talking between games in these playoffs, half-baked reports on his personal life are flying and innocent bystanders are ducking shrapnel, forced to publicly deny cyber gossip. He’s the deepest, darkest swirling vortex of insanity that modern sports has ever seen.

Just Thursday morning at the Heat’s shootaround, someone asked James how he had been spending his time since a costly and dreadful eight-point debacle in Game 4. Why, he had been reading everyone’s columns on the Internet. This inspired a good laugh, but he probably wasn’t joking. From his mid-teens, he’s always seen himself from the outside looking in, as a spectacle within a spectacle. Reality is a fuzzy place for a child prodigy raised, empowered and enabled by the sneaker industry.

As a product of that environment, the need for James to validate his brand with unforgettable performances, with clutch play in championship games, is monumental. And perhaps paralyzing. He had a good game on Thursday night, but it doesn’t matter that James plays with Dwyane Wade(notes) and Bosh. Good isn’t good enough for him. No one’s even sure great covers it for him.

By design, James and his crackerjack marketers wanted the feeding frenzies, wanted the residual of “The Decision” to be the dawning of a generational, global sports icon. Well, global icons take over fourth quarters. They find a way to will their teams – will themselves – to victory. LeBron James still has his chance. He still has Games 6 and 7 in Miami. All cheers, all adulation for him. He needs it, craves it, because he isn’t so hot with hostility.

The next 72 hours promise to be the most torturous for James, because the world will keep closing on him, keep parsing and replaying and re-engaging everything about his Finals failures. He can’t help himself, because so much of the way he sees himself, the way he built himself, was through the prism of this basketball “Truman Show.”

From the edge of disaster, from the brink, James can still do the unthinkable. After running off to play with Wade and Bosh, the ultimate frontrunner can still craft the ultimate comeback. Between now and then, the biggest job for James will be to spare himself combustion from ingesting everything that’s coming for him now. These Mavericks don’t seem to believe this is all fuel for James. They don’t believe he gets angry and narrow, but shaken and obtuse. They aren’t alone, and that’s the burden on James now.

All these months, all about him, and good isn’t enough now. Greatness is demanded, dominance. James gets his chance again. All that noise, all that static, and those 72 hours between Games 5 and 6 promise to raise the volume, raise the stakes on a man who sometimes can be so easily distracted, easily disturbed. Back to the brink for James, back to that combative, spinning place where his basketball career, his life, has long existed. Seventy-two hours of poring over everything – what the world’s saying, thinking and wishing – could be crippling. Biggest game of his life, all over again.

Here comes Game 6 for LeBron James, here come the walls, the chances, the mayhem of everything he’s created, real and illusionary. Here comes LeBron James, the contradiction of contradictions: the frontrunner chasing a comeback story.

rocky raccoon wrote:As heard on Mike and Mike: Someone asked Lebron for change for a dollar, but only got back 75 cents.

Lebron didn't have the 4th quarter.

Word is that Lebron is taking his talents to the NHL, b/c they only play 3 periods.

Lebron takes Wade along with him to be a butthole:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cppinwc1 ... r_embedded

While watching the game last night, it really hit me how much I want the Mavs to win this series. I was fist pumping for them like it was a Cleveland team.

Same here. LeBron has already ruined his so called legacy. Wade's lap dog.

Really fun to watch Dallas and Dirk play.

That rainbow 3 by Dirk was a thing of beauty.

I loved Terry hitting the game clinching 3 over James( hands down, man down) and going Jet.