NBA Players Have New Offer, but . . .

The NBA players’ union says it is ready to make the biggest offer to owners since labor talks began. But that doesn’t mean the lockout is any closer to being over.

The union said Thursday it was ready to offer a limit on the amount of money any player can earn. But after NBA Commissioner David Stern and union director Billy Hunter spoke by telephone early in the day and the league issued a news release saying the offer would be forwarded to the owners’ labor relations committee, union attorney Jeffrey Kessler objected to the lack of a face-to-face bargaining session at which the offer could be presented.

“They refused to meet with us, so we’re not giving it to them,” Kessler said. “That’s no way to negotiate. We’ll sit on this until Jan. 7 if we have to.

“If they want to find out what’s in it, they’re going to have to meet. This is not a game. It’s time to bargain in good faith, and the posturing has to stop,” Kessler said.

Sources close to the union who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Associated Press that the proposal includes an absolute maximum salary for all players. The union previously agreed to limit the salaries of only those players with less than 10 years’ experience.

The owners had been asking for an absolute maximum of $12.25 million for players with 10 years experience, while the union’s offer was expected to come in somewhere around $15 million.

The union also was ready ask for lower minimum salaries for veterans and to move off its demand for 57% of revenues, dropping as low as 55%, sources said. The owners have offered between 53% and 54%.

If an agreement is reached before Stern’s Jan. 7 deadline, a 45- to 50-game schedule probably would begin in early February.

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Vinny Del Negro of the San Antonio Spurs is close to signing with an Italian team in a deal that would allow him to return to the NBA if the lockout ends.

Del Negro, who has dual American-Italian nationality and played in Italy during the early ‘90s, is expected in Italy on Sunday to complete the move to Fortitudo Bologna of the Italian basketball league.

The NBA has said players can play overseas during the lockout. However, FIBA, the governing international body, has refused to admit NBA players if they are bound to rejoin the NBA after the lockout. Del Negro and his Italian club have an escape clause, allowing him to return after a minimum 30-40 days in Italy.

Also, on Wednesday, a federal judge in Houston refused to grant a temporary restraining order to allow Nick Van Exel of Denver, Marcus Camby of New York and Reggie Slater of Toronto, who are suing the NBA and USA Basketball, to play the rest of the season in Europe regardless of when the lockout ends.

Baseball

The Seattle Mariners signed free-agent infielder-outfielder John Mabry to a two-year contract.

Mabry, 28, hit .249 with nine home runs and 46 runs batted in and played four positions in 142 games while making $1.4 million last season. He has a .286 career average with 32 home runs and 200 RBIs in 544 games with St. Louis.

Pete Rose might become manager of the Sacramento Steelheads, a newly formed team that will begin play next year in the independent Western Baseball League.

Rose’s agent, John Esposito, said Rose is interested in the Steelheads because he views Sacramento as a major media market where his managing efforts would draw national attention.

Rose was banned from baseball in 1989 by then-commissioner Bart Giamatti for allegedly betting on games while managing the Reds. The banishment does not extend to the Western League because it operates outside of major league baseball’s farm system.

Soccer

Germany, England, Brazil, South Africa, Morocco, Egypt and Ghana have officially bid to host the 2006 World Cup finals.

The seven countries all notified FIFA in advance of the Thursday night deadline of their intent to stage soccer’s quadrennial showcase. They now have until the end of July to submit their full bid documents, with FIFA’s executive committee scheduled to select the site in March 2000.

A German fourth-division soccer club, seeking to boost its promotion chances with an injection of Caribbean talent, has signed up virtually the entire Cuban senior national squad in an unprecedented deal.

Cuba’s ruling Communist Party, which supervises sports on the island, announced the agreement, telling the nation that football was “open to initiatives which, of course, do not harm its sovereignty or that of Cuban sport in general.”

Under the scheme, the team, Bonner SC, will cover the Cubans’ costs and give them facilities and coaching. In return, the German club can field any of the players.

Miscellany

In its year-end newsletter, the International Olympic Committee addressed the accusations of bribery and extortion involving the selection process for Olympic host cities, saying it is “strong enough” to overcome the worst scandal in modern Olympic history.

Salt Lake City officials have acknowledged that 13 people, including six relatives of IOC members, received nearly $400,000 in scholarship payments during the bid for the 2002 Winter Games.

IOC members also were given thousands of dollars worth of guns and skis, and some received free medical treatments, including plastic surgery.

Brian Gionta scored two goals as the United States beat Canada, 5-2, for its first win in four games at the world junior hockey championship at Winnipeg.

Scott Gomez added a goal and two assists for the U.S., which beat Canada for the second consecutive year at the world tournament.

The American Basketball League, which went out of business last week, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and said it was unable to conduct an all-star game that was reportedly set for San Jose on Jan. 24.