NBA hopes not to block

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After an afternoon of talks Wednesday, the NBA and the Players Association both expressed the hope that the league can avoid a lockout when the collective agreement expires at the end of the month.

Both sides said progress during a four-hour meeting in a hotel in the city have been made. League and union officials will meet in Dallas June 7 to 8 in the NBA Finals move to Texas next week.
The CBA League is 30 June. A blockade could begin the following day if no new agreement in force.

The players' union said Billy Hunter, Director-General before 99 percent sure that a work stoppage would take place this summer. But after talks on Wednesday expressed the hope and said that discussions were much more fluid than we've had for some time. Stern added that although the two sides still very far, just enough time to negotiate a solution.

I'm optimistic,  said Hunter. We know that the pressure increases. And if something is to happen, is to spend up to June 30.
 Keyon Dooling NBA players (Notes), joined Roger Mason (notes) and Maurice Evans (Notes) Hunter in union representation at the talks. planned President of the Union and the Lakers Derek Fisher (marks) do not participate initially because of family vacations. Among owners in the negotiations was the Miami Heat's Micky Arison, the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, CMJ Grousbeck the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers, Dan Gilbert. Jeanie Buss Lakers vice president also visited.
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Stern said the two parties must negotiate relief teams to the meeting next week.


Both parties went to would reveal details of discussions with star only say that economic issues, and the system was discussed. Hunter refused to say whether the owners are willing to reduce their demands for a salary cap.

Mason said that the big market teams seemed more open about revenue sharing. Dooling said the deal was still far, and both parties agree, it will take much longer to reach an agreement to begin a lock.
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Hope is all we have right now,  said Mason. I know they are further apart on key issues. We want to reach an agreement as a player. We do not want to shut up. I do not think the owners want himself to block. Both positive and we have to do much work in the coming months.

Tyson Chandler struggles on the glass

One of the big storylines heading into Game 1 of the NBA Finals was how the Mavericks' big men would handle the Heat's.

One big man, the Mavs' Tyson Chandler, didn't have his best performance.

Chandler struggled in his 34 minutes Tuesday night, scoring nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field but also tying his playoff low with four rebounds and playing in foul trouble most of the evening. He picked up his fifth foul with 10.1 seconds left.
"They were aggressive on the rebounds," said Chandler, whose team was outrebounded 46-36. "I thought we did a good job defensively of containing them and keeping them under control. But what we didn't do was secure the rebounds once we got a stop."

That was true during one key sequence late in the game in which Chandler didn't perform well.

With the Mavericks trailing 87-79, Jason Kidd missed a 3-pointer. Chandler appeared to have position on Dwyane Wade but couldn't secure the rebound. Wade dribbled to the corner and was trapped by Chandler and another Mavericks player but spun away from them.

Wade dribbled through two more defenders before stopping in front of Kidd near the foul line. Wade floated a pass to Chris Bosh, who got ahead of the defense and scored on a dunk to push the lead to 89-79.

On the ensuing possession, Dirk Nowitzki missed a short jumper. Chandler was near the rim but failed to grab the ball to put it back in. It appeared Chandler was afraid he might get called for basket interference. He let the ball go, and the Heat got the rebound and went on a fast break.

This time, Wade drove the lane and Chandler left LeBron James alone, allowing him to finish an alley-oop pass for a dunk and a 91-79 lead.

"They made the plays at the end of the game," Chandler said. "... We've got to clean up some things, do a better job on the glass. They came up with a couple of plays down the stretch that let them open up the game."

Chandler's low scoring isn't a problem for the Mavs, but rebounding issues could hurt.

In the Western Conference finals, Chandler averaged 10.6 points and eight rebounds per game. He had two double-digit rebounding games and didn't have a game with fewer than eight boards.

Shawn Marion, who grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds Tuesday night, can't do it alone. Brendan Haywood had seven rebounds off the bench, and Nowitzki added eight.

The Mavericks have relied on Chandler's rebounding during the postseason. He grabbed a playoff career-high 20, including 13 offensive, in Game 5 of the first-round series against Portland, and he's averaging 9.3 rebounds overall in the postseason.

"Our bigs have to be active, containing their great players on the perimeter," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said, "so it draws them away from the basket some. I'll look at the film."

Oprah Winfrey And The NBA

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What does Oprah Winfrey have in common with NBA players? Answer: Not sure but consider this.  During a quarter century of her self-titled TV show, Oprah went from humble beginnings to mega-rich, and ended with a last show that was her second largest viewership ever. Every day in America, Oprah was watched by 7.4 million people. The vast majority of viewers were white with a growing cross-cultural international audience.

This year’s NBA playoffs are the most watched in cable history. The vast majority of viewers are white, with most of the players from humble beginnings and black. The players cannot match Oprah’s 7 million viewers a day. But every playoff game, depending on the network, gets 3 – 5 million TV viewers in the US alone. And according to Richard Buchanan, Executive VP and General Counsel of the NBA, the season started with 63 Million fans following them on social media sites, primarily Facebook and Twitter. By the playoffs, the figure increased to 100 million. Also like Oprah, the League’s international business has skyrocketed. The NBA expansion in China and India headline a roster of countries that now causes the NBA to have 15 international offices. Games are available in 46 languages. In China alone, the league has more than 140 employees and is currently negotiating multi-million dollar digital sponsorships and media rights agreements. In fact, the NBA has supporting facts for the conclusion that it is now the second most popular professional sport in the world, right behind what Americans call soccer. While I was vacationing in Hawaii, one of the owners of an NBA team spanned the stunning sunset, leaned over and told me, “We’ll have a team in Europe before you know it.”

What started me down this road was a speech. The speaker said: “Doing this to get rich? Get over it…The one thing standing in the way of happiness …is that sense of entitlement.”

If you only believed talk show sports pundits you might think the entitlement reference was to NBA players. We’ve been brainwashed and brawn-washed into thinking these players are brats. Talking heads have spewed spoiled brat-i-ness for so long one might forget to pay attention to the facts – and hence a more accurate sense of reality. By the way, the above comment was actually made by an Emory Law School professor at commencement to non-dribbling law school grads that are less likely to get a million dollar signing bonus.
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Reality is that millions of people hear the talking heads but say nay.  What resonates with them is not branding NBA players as knuckleheads. Rather it’s the realness of players like Derrick Rose – a 21 year old who stood up to accept the NBA’s MVP award as the youngest ever to do so.  He could have taken that opportunity to brandish his own personal greatness. Instead, unrehearsed, he looked only at his mother and softly spoke of what she meant to him – saying he worked harder knowing how hard she worked to get him there.  He ended with “I love you, Mom” in front of millions of TV-viewing macho men who may ridicule such players, but not whisper those same words in the privacy of their parents’ home.  That is the same Derrick Rose that the NBA was smart enough to use for a promotional spot called “NBA Cares”, though it was preciously expensive commercial time during the Eastern Conferences Finals between Miami and Chicago.  Despite the high cost air time, Rose didn’t speak the language of the entitled. In the most plain of English he talked about how players give back and ended by how he was taught “by giving you shall receive”. His sincerity was just as plain to see, and many NBA players give back more than we’ll know from television.

I think, and yes, I want to think, that it’s the sincerity, the unentitled realness that is the plasma for Oprah’s success and the NBA’s increased viewership.  For the NBA, it’s not because of eye-popping on-court performances of a few stars. Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and a Hall of Fame list of others had that. Without those stars, there is still a certain connectivity with millions of the more plain spoken among us. The term “plain spoken” is code for those of us who gain exhilaration from seeing extraordinary feats by otherwise ordinary people – the unentitled. As Rose said in the “NBA Cares” spot, “many of us came from neighborhoods in need… we want to take that experience and turn it back into something positive for our community” or words to that effect.
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That law professor told the law grads something similar in hopes that her words would resonate with her audience. “You might also have to learn to be a giver, and not a taker. … Givers tend to be happy people, on the whole. Takers are never satisfied. I want you to be satisfied with your professional lives. That’s why I do this for a living. To look back later and say … look at the people I helped.”

Oprah too lives the “give back” philosophy.  And she has succinctly said, “”Turn your wounds into wisdom.”  When I watch the NBA, I see players who in many instances were wounded by being born into a fatherless home and a school system not of their choosing that does not compete with suburban systems. But in well-spoken articulate ways, I hear them speak about doing the right thing, and increasingly I see them growing in the wisdom to do it. I’ve noticed older players mentoring the non-college graduate rookies. As a result, there is a lesser incidence of crimes among those rookies than some other well-known sports.  And after beating on each other all game, I see players from opposing teams hugging and whispering in the ear of their adversary, words not intended for TV.  I suspect these are often words of respect and… wisdom.

The connectivity between Oprah and her fan base is not just about her guests, her on-show gifts, or her wit. And the connectivity with the players is beyond dunks and three pointers. They both resonate realness.  People of ordinary intellect get it, watch it, and share it regardless of race and culture because that intangible “it” is a virtue common to humanity.  This common language defies cultural barriers. Be it China, India, or Indiana, the NBA is growing because of that plasma. So I would not be shocked to see Oprah sitting next to Spike Lee at a Knicks game, or Jack Nicholson at the LA Forum.  More assuredly, I expect to see more fans from China, India, and Indiana watching NBA players.

The Answer: They both draw big audiences for simply being gifted and real.

Dallas Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki speaks softly but carries a big game

 Dirk Nowitzki takes the microphone out of its stand and holds it with a sly smile on his face, as if he's ready to begin zinging at a roast.

But that's about as exciting as the Dallas Mavericks forward gets. He sinks into a chair on a dais and stares vacantly at the table in front of him while answering reporters' questions with a slightly accented monotone.

Not much had happened 30 minutes earlier, only the Mavericks' second-ever trip to the NBA Finals in the franchise's 31-year existence.

Nowitzki's deceptive, though. It's too clichéd to say he's a man of actions, not words, as Dallas begins the NBA Finals on Tuesday against the Miami Heat.

Before judging Nowitzki, you'd have to experience the action part in person on a night before one of their playoff games.

He will arrive at a quiet arena and soon have a ball in hand. No shot clock, no defenders, no All-Star votes or championship trophies to be earned that particular night.

"He constantly works on his game," Dallas Coach Rick Carlisle said. "Look, he shoots every night during the playoffs so he keeps things tuned up."

Then Carlisle pauses.

"He's really into winning."

Winning a championship, however, is the last thing left to accomplish in a 13-year career that's been on a strong enough uptick the last six weeks to draw comparisons to the sacred Larry Bird.

Nowitzki has been sublime since the playoffs began, averaging 28.4 points, shooting an identical 52% from two-point and three-point range, and missing only 10 of 140 free throws (93% accuracy).

He's a little down on himself for his rebounding (7.5 a game), but it's hard to criticize anybody who averaged 25 points in a sweep of the Lakers and 32 points against the supposedly speedier Oklahoma City Thunder.

And to think people wondered about him at the midpoint of the season after a mysterious injury sidelined him for three weeks. It was officially called a sprained right knee, but it seemed more than that, costing him more games (nine) than he'd ever missed in his career for an injury.

He came back slowly, dragging his leg behind him and putting together a strange string of games in February, including a 12-point effort against Cleveland followed by 10 points against Sacramento.

Nowitzki, who turns 33 in a few weeks, is definitely back, trailing compliments behind him in his remarkable postseason run.

"I don't think no one can singlehandedly stop Dirk," said Miami forward LeBron James. "He's a shot maker, one of the best shot makers we've ever had in this league. It looks like a bad shot if you don't know basketball or you don't know his game — one-legged fade-aways off the glass and pull-up jumpers off the dribble, pump fake, pump fake, fade-away. Things like that."

Things that have been especially notable in the playoffs.

Nowitzki practically ended Oklahoma City's hopes with his Game 4 effort in the Western Conference finals. He had 12 points in the final 3 minutes 15 seconds, including a pair of off-balance, up-and-under moves as Dallas came back from a 15-point deficit to win in overtime.

"I thought he was good . . . now he's phenomenal," Miami guard Dwyane Wade said. "Obviously, the shot-making ability is one of the best this league has seen. But I think what he's gotten better at is taking over games in the fourth quarter. It seems like he's taking more shots or he's made a bigger impact. I think he's a hungrier player and even a more efficient player than in '06."

That's a time and place Nowitzki doesn't like to talk about.

Dallas had a 2-0 series lead on Miami in the 2006 Finals and led by 13 late in Game 3 before completely collapsing and somehow losing four consecutive games.

"I almost felt like we had unfinished business after '06," Nowitzki said. "We're here again at the big stage. Hopefully, we can turn it around this year and finish strong."

Only Nowitzki and Jason Terry remain from that Dallas team. Wade and Udonis Haslem are the only ones still with Miami.

This collection of Mavericks seems more balanced than that one.

"It's tough to double [Nowitzki] because they have so many great shooters around him," Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant grumbled after being eliminated. "They have a great team."

It might be enough to get that first elusive title for Nowitzki. If that happens, it's easy to foresee his words catching up to his actions.

Mark Cuban's quiet time goes on, to Mavs' delight

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Mark Cuban's quiet time continues.
Now that they've gotten used to it, the Dallas Mavericks kind of like it this way.
"It's fine with me," Dirk Nowitzki said. "It should be all about the players."
The Mavs have roared into the NBA finals with Cuban taking the traditional, low-profile role of most team owners. Of course, Cuban has never been like most team owners, making himself part of the story pretty much from the day he went from buying season tickets to buying the club.
He's racked up more than $1 million in fines over his 11-year tenure, mostly for outspoken comments — like berating the officials during the 2006 NBA finals in Miami, where his team returns for Game 1 on Monday night.
"Mark's a smart guy, one of the smartest I've ever been around," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "Like all of us, he has great humility and respect for the position that we're in right now. We're all doing everything we can to put ourselves in the best possible position to do well."
Cuban's silence began after Dallas won its first-round series against Portland. The Mavs are 9-1 since, so why mess with a good thing?
"Mark is a very vocal guy," Jason Kidd said. "He's going to say what he wants to say at the right time, but I think he's been a little been quiet during this playoff run."
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Just to be clear, this is only a media silence. He chitchats with reporters, but has made only a few innocuous comments on the record. He has also remained active on Twitter, tweeting "Go Mavs" a few hours before every game. He may have even fired off a few e-mails to David Stern.
The emphasis is that Cuban is avoiding the spotlight. The only exception was to accept the Western Conference trophy. His mainly thanked the crowd, then offered up the rallying cry, "We ain't done yet."
Cuban refuses to explain why he's taken this tact. If anyone in the organization knows the story, they're not saying.
Heat forward Udonis Haslem, one of two holdovers from the '06 Miami team, offered his speculation: "It's five years ago and he's probably learned from that experience. He's moved on and he just wants this team to have the best opportunity to win."
___
SPO'S POPULARITY: The Heat broadcast department has been running live pregame, halftime and postgame shows on the team's official website during the playoffs, generating about 500,000 distinct hits so far and with growing numbers as the playoffs go deeper.
Most of those hits come from the United States, of course.
The nation logging on to Heat.com second-most? The Philippines.
That might sound surprising at first, but there's a very good reason for Filipino interest.

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Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is extremely proud of his Filipino heritage, and has a huge following in his mother's homeland. He visited there in July 2009 — his first trip there since being a toddler — and plans to go back sometime this summer.
Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom rank third, fourth and fifth as far as international clickers onto the Heat webcasts. Germany is sixth — a number that might rise during these finals, given the immense popularity of Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki in his homeland.

John Klein: Thunder not waiting for lightning in a bottle

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 The opportunity for Kevin Durant to lead the Thunder into the NBA finals and perhaps a championship may not be as long and as assured as some believe.

Oklahoma City has terrific young players and a coach that pushed most of the right buttons.

The Thunder reached the NBA Western Conference Finals, finally losing the series to Dallas in five games, with players that should get better with experience.

If so, next year Oklahoma City will again be a contender in the NBA Western Conference.

Yet, there are no guarantees. Just because you are young and good one year does not automatically mean you'll be even better the next season.

Everything changes every season.

The schedule changes. The chemistry, regardless of how many of the same players remain in place, changes.

Injuries, free agency and other teams can change how a season plays out.

This was a perfect storm for the Thunder. Oklahoma City did not have to contend with the Los Angeles Lakers or San Antonio Spurs. Both suffered rare quick exits in the playoffs.

Do you really believe the Lakers and Spurs are going to remain bad?

Sure, it could happen. Age is starting to bring San Antonio and Los Angeles back to the pack.

Still, it is hard to imagine the Lakers and Spurs, two of the top organizations in the NBA, not getting back to a level to contend pretty quick.

Plus, there are other franchises, like Dallas and Houston, that aren't likely to stand still.

What about Memphis? It took OKC seven games to knock out the Grizzlies.

How long Oklahoma City can keep its young stars together, and how moves impact the team, may depend on the future labor agreement.

Still, despite all of the factors, there are plenty of reasons for optimism.

"We're no different than 29 other teams in this league," said Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks in a post-game press conference. "We want to win a championship. We respect the process that it takes to win one. Our guys do the same thing. They respect the heck out of the game.
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"I don't know how soon we were going to get there but I can tell you this: that guys are not going to hope to get there. They're going to work to get there. They're focused on hitting every day on the practice floor as a day of improvement, a day of work. We have a good future if we continue to keep our mindset in the right place."

The Thunder won 55 games in the regular season. It won two playoff series. It went five games deep into a conference championship series.

This is obviously a good team. But, in the NBA, fame can float away just as quick.

Everybody has good players. There are teams that just need a role player here or there.

The Thunder knows it'll have to get better to move further in the playoffs.

"It's a very good year," said Brooks. "It's a year I'm proud of as a coach.

"But, we'll have to get better, including myself. I will evaluate myself and work this summer to get better going into next year. And, I expect the same out of all of our guys."

Most believe the Thunder will go as far as Durant will take them. Yes, Oklahoma City has a fine group of core players to go around Durant.

Russell Westbrook, who took some heat from the media during the playoffs, developed into an NBA all-star this season. James Harden blossomed into a possible star.

The Thunder has a handful of very nice role players.

Westbrook needs to become better in delivering passes to players, something that should come with experience and age.
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Durant may be the league's best pure scorer but many believe he needs to become stronger to take advantage of his skills on the interior.

And, don't forget Brooks will become better organized as a coach. Some of his late-game decisions in the playoffs were questionable.

Yet, this is a very good season for Oklahoma City. Actually, it was terrific.

That doesn't automatically mean the Thunder will be better next year.

But, it leaves Oklahomans believing more NBA glory may be coming this way.

"Paying attention to details and things like that win you championships," said Durant. "That's what a good team like Dallas did and that's one thing we continue to work on.

"It's tough right now but I'm excited about what the future holds for us."

NBA Labor Negotiations Fouled Up by GC's Sudden Death?

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The unexpected death last week of the National Basketball Players Association's general counsel raises some questions about how his passing might affect ongoing labor negotiations between the union and the league.

Gary Hall, 67, died in his sleep May 16, apparently from natural causes. Hall was a key negotiator in the National Basketball Association's ongoing negotiations to renew its labor contract with players. The agreement expires June 30.

The players union put on a full-court press Tuesday, filing a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board that accuses the league of failing to negotiate in good faith. It was widely reported that the union blames the NBA for engaging in practices intended to provoke the first lockout since the 1998-99 season.

In its complaint, the players union claimed the league has made "grossly regressive contract demands," failing to provide the necessary financial data to justify payment reductions, and "engaging in classic take-it-or-leave-it" bargaining."

The league has denied the claims. The NBA has said that despite soaring ticket sales it is projected to lose $300 million this season. In order to keep costs down, the league is calling for big changes to the collective bargaining agreement-including a hard salary cap for players, a reduction in future salaries, and shorter contracts.
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Jeffrey Kessler, a partner with Dewey & LeBoeuf who serves as outside counsel to the union, said in an e-mail to CorpCounsel.com: "Gary was a key member of the union's bargaining team, a trusted advisor to [NBPA Executive Director] Billy Hunter, and a good friend."

To Kessler's knowledge, the union has yet to name an interim GC to replace Hall. A spokesperson for the NBPA did not respond to calls seeking comment.

Kessler said that Hall had an excellent relationship with the league. "He will be missed by all," said Kessler, "but we will re-dedicate ourselves to getting a fair deal for the players, which is the best tribute we can pay to him."

Both sides are to engage in a formal bargaining session during the NBA finals.

In an interview with ESPN sportswriter Chris Sheridan, league deputy commissioner Adam Silver said, "I think the loss of Gary gives us all a sense of perspective..., and I think it will cause us to redouble our efforts in terms of trying to get a deal done by the deadline."
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Sheridan wrote that the dynamics of the league's labor discussions were irrevocably changed by the unexpected death of Hall. "Hall was Hunter's right-hand man, the person commissioner David Stern and deputy commissioner Adam Silver often used as a vehicle to convey certain thoughts and ideas to Hunter, union president Derek Fisher and their lead attorneys," wrote Sheridan.

The NBA is not the only sports organization for which in-house counsel is making news right now. The GC for the National Football League is taking a leading role in pushing to reach a new gridiron collective bargaining agreement. The Indianapolis Star reports that NFL general counsel Jeff Pash has encouraged owners and players to resolve their own problems and not to rely on a judge to do it for them.