The players demanded greater revenue sharing among the owners be part of the labor deal. The small market owners demanded it as well — they wanted the rich guys to share.
They got it, a new plan was approved in concept at Thursday’s Board of Governor’s meeting, Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver told the assembled media. A final version of the plan will be in place once the owners approve the labor deal with players and know that split of revenues.
Silver also said that David Stern was sent home with the flu and likely would not be part of negotiation with the union on Thursday.
David Aldridge of NBA.com (and TNT) had these tweets after the meeting.
Two thoughts: $150 million would be a near tripling of the $60 million that was shared last season. That should make players happy. However, big market owners had said they only wanted to share money that they saved under the new deal — they didn’t want to touch their existing profits. That they are sharing shows what they think they are getting out of the new labor deal.
Second, the owners may say that the revenue sharing was a separate process from the labor negotiations, but the players didn’t see it that way at all. The union wanted proof that the owners were working to share their burdens, not just balance their books on the backs of the players.
We’ll see if this deal satisfies them. If so, it is another step toward an agreement.