ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- For at least one night, it was a return to the life NBA stars are used to: on-the-court intensity, a riled-up arena crowd, private post-game parties complete with adoring fans. In that regard, "The Game" played Saturday at the Boardwalk Convention Center was a success.
But today, it's back to reality, as the leadership of the locked-out NBA players meets in New York to plot its next move in an attempt to settle the labor dispute with owners and salvage the season.
In sending the owners' proposal to each NBA player last week, commissioner David Stern warned that the season is close to being canceled. But if there was any concern over that among the upper echelon of players, it didn't surface over the weekend. The 16 NBA stars in "The Game" maintained their unified front in the lockout that began on July 1.
"Nervous? We're not nervous," said Orlando Magic guard Anfernee Hardaway, one of those who participated in Saturday's game, won 125-119 by the Patrick Ewing-led Red team over Alonzo Mourning's White team. "We're very confident that [a deal] can get done. Both parties will have to meet after Christmas and see where we can go from there."
No new talks are planned. And it's not likely they'll occur anytime soon, with Stern having flown to Colorado on Saturday for a holiday vacation.
Under the terms of the proposal Stern sent to players last week, owners backed off their hard salary cap, replacing it with a soft cap. Under the system, players with zero to six years of service would make a maximum of 25 percent of the cap, players with seven to nine years would make a maximum of 30 percent of the cap and players with 10 or more years a maximum of 35 percent.
In that scenario, a player with 10 or more years experience in the final year of the contract (2003-04) would make, at most, $25.5 million per year, and a player with seven to nine years could earn more than $21 million. The average player salary would be $4.5 million in the final year, more than the current $2.6 million average.
"The proposal, it wasn't bad," said Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone. "But we're not out of the woods. We have to stay firm like we are."
The union is dead set against a cap of any kind on individual salaries, leaving the season at risk. Which is why the lockout continues, leaving players saddened about not being able to perform before the fans.
"This game makes us realize how much fun basketball really is," said Sacramento Kings forward Chris Webber. "Despite the turmoil, we're still in it for the love of the game. It was fun to get back on the court with my peers and sometimes my enemies."
Webber was asked whether race had anything to do with the stalemate, an idea that was broached in a magazine article last week.
"This is a labor dispute, not a race dispute," Webber said. "The owners aren't bad people. We aren't bad people. It's just we disagree on some really big issues. And once we stop disagreeing, everything else will fall into place. I'm optimistic."
If the lockout isn't settled soon, the players said they would consider playing more games like the charity event Saturday. The questions are whether players would continue to participate in such events without compensation and whether fans would support the games.
Event organizers said 9,512 tickets were sold for Saturday's game, although it's suspected many were giveaways -- one scalper outside the arena was selling six tickets for $20.
"We wanted to do this for the fans, and I hope it was a success," Mourning said. "The support appeared to be there. Now, hopefully we can get a deal done. But if the owners don't get off their position, it's going to be difficult for us to get a season started."
Pub Date: 12/21/98