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NBA union head says he won't accept
pay during lockout
June 16, 2005
National Basketball Association players union Executive Director
Billy Hunter said he'd forgo his salary if there's a lockout, a work
stoppage that he said "might be the death knell" for the league.
"If the players have to suffer some kind of losses, we're in it
together," he told Bloomberg News during an interview in Detroit, site
of the NBA Finals between the Pistons and San Antonio Spurs.
The labor contract between owners and players expires in 15 days. Hunter
said he sent a letter to league Commissioner David Stern two days ago
expressing a willingness to resume negotiations. So far, no talks are
scheduled.
Owners and players are haggling over how to divide more than $3 billion
in annual revenue.
Hunter on June 26 will leave for Las Vegas for the union's annual summer
meeting. Collective bargaining is the only topic on the agenda.
Hunter, who has held the union post since 1996, wouldn't disclose his
salary in the interview. A filing by the National Basketball Players
Association with the U.S. Department of Labor showed he earned about
$1.5 million annually.
NBA owners locked players out prior to the 1998-99 season, forcing the
cancellation of regular-season games for the first time. The league
wound up playing a 50-game schedule, down from the usual 82 games.
Hunter said he was paid during the last work stoppage.
The league's average player salary was $4.9 million this season, up from
$2.3 million when Hunter took over.
Stern said on June 12 that the players would be making "a mistake of
epic proportions" unless they reached a new collective bargaining
agreement by July 1.
Owners have a short list of what Stern called "blood issues." Among them
are a reduction in the length of player contracts, a 19-year-old age
limit for rookies and a stiffer drug-testing program. Hunter said there
are four or five other issues he wouldn't disclose that are blocking an
agreement.
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