1999-01-07, By Glenn Rogers
球员与老板达成协议
总会有协议的。
这是几周前，在联盟老板与球员之间激烈争吵期间，NBA总裁大卫·斯特恩(David Stern)说的话。
斯特恩的这句话其实是一句口误，但他的话在周三早上变成了现实，双方达成协议，结束了长达 191 天的停摆。
斯特恩和联盟工会执行董事比利·亨特(Billy Hunter)在凌晨 6 点结束了通宵谈判，距离 NBA 管理委员会投票决定取消本赛季剩余比赛仅剩 29 个小时。
该协议对球员个人薪资设置了上限，至少有效期为六年，老板有权将其延长至第七年。
球员们已经准备好在纽约投票赞成联盟的最新提议，他们以 179 票赞成、5 票反对的结果通过了计划。管理委员会预计将在今天批准该协议。
联盟和工会一直就如何分配预计每年 20 亿美元的收入而争执不休。停摆期间，球员们损失了近 5 亿美元的薪水。
接下来，将是全联盟范围内的疯狂景象，各支球队将争相签下自由球员、进行交易，并将球员们调整到最佳状态，准备迎接一个从 2 月 2 日开始、共 52 场比赛的缩短赛季，常规赛将延长两周。NBA 球队通常会进行 82 场比赛。
训练营将于 1 月 17 日开营。
赛程仍在制定中，但似乎比赛将集中在联盟内部的比赛。
“很多时候，球迷们不同意 NBA 的数字和术语，但我认为他们会很高兴看到我们回来比赛，”马刺队后卫艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)说。
联盟还可以将目光放在说服芝加哥公牛队超级巨星迈克尔·乔丹(Michael Jordan)不要退役上。包括查尔斯·巴克利(Charles Barkley)在内的多位球员坚称，乔丹会继续留在高尔夫球场。他的经纪人戴维·法尔克(David Falk)表示，乔丹很快就会宣布自己的计划。
根据新协议的条款，一项祖父条款允许任何球员以其之前薪水的 105% 与其球队重新签约。这意味着，乔丹去年获得了约 3300 万美元，他可以从公牛队获得约 3470 万美元。
其他任何球队都无法向他提供超过 1400 万美元的薪水。
马刺队将开始进入交易市场，他们可能会试图组建一支包括拉特雷尔·斯普雷维尔(Latrell Sprewell)或布伦特·巴里(Brent Barry)的球队。马刺队中锋威尔·珀杜(Will Perdue)可能是任何交易的核心。
对协议的反应褒贬不一。
“每个人都输了。我们损失了三个月的赛季，我们对这项运动造成了损害，所以没有赢家也没有输家，”巴克利说。“将会造成很大的损失。”
经纪人史蒂夫·考夫曼(Steve Kauffman)代表着多位中等薪水的球员，他说这笔交易“非常棒”。
“工会实现了他们的目标：他们照顾了中产阶级，只对薪资帽做出了两个例外，”他说。“他们还获得了 55% 的篮球收入，我认为这是他们一直想要的目标。”
联盟在最后的报价中提供的最高比例是 54%。7 月 1 日，老板们将球员们锁定，因为球员们从收入中获得的比例已经上升到 57%。
球员们仍然可以在合同的前三年获得任何比例的收入，在接下来的三年内比例逐渐降至 55%，在第七年达到 57%。从第四年开始，将实施一个托管和税收制度来规范收入分配。
其他要点包括：
工会同意对拥有 10 年经验的球员设置 1400 万美元的最高薪资。拥有 1-6 年经验的球员薪资上限为 900 万美元，拥有 6-9 年经验的球员薪资上限为 1100 万美元。
工会同意实行三年新秀阶梯制，球队拥有第四年的选择权，并在第五年拥有优先购买权。
换句话说，新秀球员将签署三年合同。球队可以将合同延长一年，涨薪 25%。然后，他们有权在第五年匹配任何其他球队的报价。
马刺队的蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)不会受到新秀条款的影响，但他将受到钱包的打击。根据旧协议，邓肯原本有资格要求一份从 1800 万美元或更多起步的合同。根据新的协议，他将从 900 万美元起步。
该协议要求禁止使用大麻，所有球员将在每个赛季接受一次药物检测。该协议还包括更严格的球员纪律处罚和行为规范。
联盟同意了工会提出的“平均”工资例外和“中位数”工资例外，两者将在未来三年内逐步实施。球队仍然保留最低工资例外。
因此，每支球队都有权在每个赛季签下三名额外的球员，即使他们的工资超过了工资帽。今年的工资帽预计为 3000 万美元。
这些例外将帮助超过工资帽的马刺队，使他们能够至少在自由球员市场上以超过 100 万美元的价格进行报价。
每年允许的工资增长将为拥有“拉里·伯德权利”的球员提供 12%，即不受工资帽限制的自由球员被球队重新签下，而其他球员的工资增长为 10%。
联盟同意了比他们之前提出的更高的最低工资。
“这听起来非常合理，非常公平，”考夫曼说。“我认为这将有助于创造一个更平衡的联盟，并防止球员们对高薪越来越不满。”
经纪人凯斯·格拉斯(Keith Glass)则显得过分兴奋。
“我认为最好不要被选中，”他说。
工会可能吹嘘他们的 55% 和他们的例外条款，但老板们绝对得到了他们想要的——在薪资方面实现了成本确定性。
——美联社对此报道有贡献。
点击查看原文：Players, owners strike a deal
Players, owners strike a deal
There’s always a deal.
So said NBA Commissioner David Stern several weeks ago amid the heated squabbling between the league’s owners and players.
Stern’s comment actually was a slip of the tongue, but his words rang true Wednesday morning when the two sides reached an agreement that ended a 191-day lockout.
Stern and the union’s executive director, Billy Hunter, ended an all-night bargaining session at 6 a.m., just 29 hours before the NBA Board of Governors was to vote on scrapping the rest of the season.
The deal puts a cap on individual salaries and carries through at least six years, with an owners’ option to keep it going for a seventh season.
The players, already in New York ready to vote on the league’s lastest offer, ratified the plan 179-5. The Board of Governors is expected to approve the deal today.
The league and the union had been fighting over how to divide an estimated $2 billion in annual revenue. The players lost nearly $500 million in salaries during the lockout.
Next will come a leaguewide frenzy of teams trying to sign free agents, make trades and get players into shape for a shortened season that will begin Feb. 2, cover 52 games and extend the regular season by an extra two weeks. NBA teams normally play an 82-game schedule.
Training camps are to open Jan. 17.
Schedules still are being worked out, but it appears games will be concentrated on intraconference play.
“A lot of times fans don’t agree with the NBA numbers and the jargon, but I think they will be happy to see us come back and play,” Spurs guard Avery Johnson said.
The league also can set its sights on trying to persuade Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan not to retire. Several players, including Charles Barkley, insist Jordan will remain on the golfing greens. His agent, David Falk, said Jordan will announce his plans soon.
Under terms of the new agreement, a grandfather clause allows any player to re-sign with his team for 105 percent of his previous salary. That means Jordan, who made about $33 million last year, could get about $34.7 million from the Bulls.
No other team can offer him more than $14 million.
The Spurs will begin their foray into the trade market, probably trying to stitch together a fabric that would include either Latrell Sprewell or Brent Barry. Spurs center Will Perdue could be the centerpiece of any trade.
Reaction to the agreement was mixed.
“Everybody lost. We lost three months of the season, and we did a disservice to the game, so there are no winners and losers,” Barkley said. “There’s going to be a lot of damage.”
Agent Steve Kauffman, who represents several medium-salaried players, said the deal was “excellent.”
“The union accomplished what it wanted: It takes care of the middle class with the two exceptions to the salary cap,” he said. “It also got 55 percent of the basketball revenue, a figure I believe they wanted all along.”
The league had offered a maximum of 54 percent in its last offer. The owners locked out the players July 1 because the players’ share of the revenue had risen to 57 percent.
The players still can receive any amount of the revenue during the first three years of the contract, leveling at 55 percent during the next three years and 57 percent in year seven. An escrow and tax system will be installed in year four to regulate the revenue sharing.
Other key points were:
The union agreed to a maximum salary of $14 million for players with 10 years’ experience. Players with one to six years’ experience are capped at $9 million, and players with six to nine years’ experience at $11 million.
The union agreed to a three- year rookie scale with teams holding an option for a fourth year and the right of first refusal in the fifth year.
In other words, draftees will sign three-year contracts. Teams can extend the contract for one year with a 25 percent raise. They then have the right to match any other team’s offer beginning in the fifth year.
The Spurs’ Tim Duncan will not be affected by the rookie clause, but he will take a hit in the wallet. Under the old deal, Duncan would have been in position to demand a contract beginning at $18 million or more. Under the new proposal, he will start at $9 million.
The deal calls for a ban on marijuana, with all players undergoing drug testing once per season. The agreement also includes tougher player discipline penalties and conduct rules.
The league granted the union’s proposal for an “average” salary exception and “median” salary exception, with both being phased in over the next three years. The teams still retain the minimum salary exception.
Thus, every team will have the right to sign three additional players each season, even if they are over the salary cap. The cap is expected to be $30 million this year.
The exceptions will help the over-the-cap Spurs, enabling them to at least probe the free agent market with offers in excess of $1 million.
The annual allowable salary increases will be 12 percent for players with so-called Larry Bird rights - those free agents re- signed by a team without regard to the salary cap - and 10 percent for others.
The league agreed to higher minimum salaries than it had been offering.
“It sounds very reasonable, very fair,” Kaufmann said. “I think it will help create a more balanced league and also prevent the growing resentment among players worrying about high-end salaries.”
Agent Keith Glass was overly enthusiastic.
“I think it’s probably best not to be drafted,” he said.
The union may boast about its 55 percent and its exceptions, but the owners most definitely got what they wanted - a cost certainty in the area of salaries.
- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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By Glenn Rogers, via San Antonio Express-News