Somehow, you get the sense the ancillary issues in the NBA’s collective-bargaining agreement aren’t exactly receiving prime focus during these marathon mediation sessions.
The traditional defining moment of the end of NBA lockout is the handshake between David Stern and Billy Hunter, followed by some sort of blathering about the “partnership” going forward.
Based on the slow-go turn in lockout negotiations, it is safe to say that we’re officially on the clock, a backwards timetable to the earliest-possible start to the NBA season.
We already have a complete 2011-12 schedule, because how, otherwise, could the NBA prove to the National Labor Relations Board that it is bargaining in good faith amid the lockout?
The enduring memory of Alonzo Mourning and Patrick Ewing is of Georgetown alums who didn’t allow their Hoya loyalties to get in the way of a healthy scrum.
They are, for now, the Lockout 13, the 13 players selected by the NBA to be listed as defendants in the class action complaint for declaratory relief filed Tuesday by the league with the United States District Court Southern District of New York.
A few years back, amid one of those periods of inspection when it came to NBA officiating, the attempt was made during one of his NBA Finals media sessions to get David Stern to comment on greater access to referees.
