Stern Goes Postal on Lockout

Commissioner David Stern took his case directly to the players Thursday, mailing each of them a nine-page letter outlining the owners’ latest collective bargaining proposal.

The letter, complete with charts and graphs, was sent by overnight mail as the opposing sides were deep into another lull in talks. No new negotiations are expected until after Christmas.

“I urge you to focus on the extent of the compromises the owners have made from their initial bargaining demands,” Stern wrote. “The proposals now on the table represent the following significant concessions that were made in direct response to your union’s forceful assertion of your concerns”:

* No hard salary cap.

* The retention of the Larry Bird exception.

* No immediate changes to free agency timing rules.

* A limit to the escrow tax that would be collected from players’ paychecks.

“We view this as a desperation tactic by the NBA,” union director Billy Hunter said in a statement. “They had counted on the passage of time to weaken the players, and it has become obvious that strategy has failed. The fact is, we have kept the players fully apprised of the league’s offer.”

The union sent its players a 19-page response.

After previously insisting that there undoubtedly will be a season, Hunter changed his tune somewhat.

“At this stage I’m not so sure,” he said. “I can’t say I’m convinced there will be a season. I think the owners have already decided if they have to sacrifice this year in exchange for their long-term gain, they’re prepared to do it. But if they are ready to make a deal and are prepared to compromise, we can make a deal tomorrow.”

The sides are fighting over how to split $2 billion in annual revenue.

Several major issues remain unresolved, with the main points of contention being what percentage of revenue will be devoted to salaries, whether the union will accept an absolute limit on what players with more than seven years’ experience can be paid, and whether the owners will accept additional salary cap exceptions that would increase the number of players in the league’s so-called “middle class.”

Stern’s letter included a 12-point summary of the principal economic terms of a new agreement.

Some of the owners’ changes to previous proposals had not previously been disclosed. Among them:

* An increase in the maximum allowable raise, from 10% on Bird contracts and 5% on other contracts, to 12.5% on Bird contracts and 7.5% on others.

* Allowing a maximum contract length of seven years for Bird players, up from six years, and six years for other contracts, up from five.

* Allowing a team to use the new “middle class exception” to re-sign its free agent, instead of limiting it to another team’s free agent.