....Wow..!! Didn't know it was THIS bad.....
Refs expecting Oct. 1 lockout
Updated: September 10, 2009, 5:40 PM ET
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
The lead negotiator and spokesman for NBA referees announced Thursday that the referees expect to be locked out when exhibition play starts Oct. 1 after contract negotiations with the league broke down this week.
Lamell McMorris, in a press release, also asserts that the NBA has begun to contact replacement referees to work in the preseason and perhaps the early part of the regular season.
NBA lead negotiator Rick Buchanan, in response, said Thursday that talks collapsed because the referees' union changed its mind after agreeing to accept the league's proposals on retirement benefits. Buchanan added that "all the union has offered to us is minimal concessions that are neither consistent with economic reality nor with the information it is currently distributing to the media."
The statements were issued in the wake of an ESPN.com report Tuesday, when the latest negotiating session between the referees and league executives came to an abrupt end in New York, significantly increasing the possibility that replacement refs will be needed in the NBA for the first time since the 1995-96 season.
"We understand that everyone in the country is facing tough times, but the NBA is continuing to make money, sign large marketing and television contracts and expand their business internationally," McMorris said. "We have attempted to negotiate in good faith and give substantial cuts to get the referees back to work."
[ame="http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4463154"]Marc Stein: NBA referees expect to be locked out on Oct. 1 - ESPN[/ame]
Refs expecting Oct. 1 lockout
Updated: September 10, 2009, 5:40 PM ET
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
The lead negotiator and spokesman for NBA referees announced Thursday that the referees expect to be locked out when exhibition play starts Oct. 1 after contract negotiations with the league broke down this week.
Lamell McMorris, in a press release, also asserts that the NBA has begun to contact replacement referees to work in the preseason and perhaps the early part of the regular season.
NBA lead negotiator Rick Buchanan, in response, said Thursday that talks collapsed because the referees' union changed its mind after agreeing to accept the league's proposals on retirement benefits. Buchanan added that "all the union has offered to us is minimal concessions that are neither consistent with economic reality nor with the information it is currently distributing to the media."
The statements were issued in the wake of an ESPN.com report Tuesday, when the latest negotiating session between the referees and league executives came to an abrupt end in New York, significantly increasing the possibility that replacement refs will be needed in the NBA for the first time since the 1995-96 season.
"We understand that everyone in the country is facing tough times, but the NBA is continuing to make money, sign large marketing and television contracts and expand their business internationally," McMorris said. "We have attempted to negotiate in good faith and give substantial cuts to get the referees back to work."
[ame="http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4463154"]Marc Stein: NBA referees expect to be locked out on Oct. 1 - ESPN[/ame]
