David Stern Making Hard Push For NBA Lockout Deal

With the NBA Lockout inching ever closer to the 150-day mark (138 days as of Sunday), NBA Commissioner David Stern is making his biggest direct push to players, taking to the airwaves, radio, internet and now even Twitter to urge players to sign on the dotted line.

Stern’s campaigning comes just ahead of a Monday meeting in which players representatives for all 30 NBA teams will come together in New York City to determine if the newest NBA owners offer meets their requirements.

Sterns open campaigning comes at a time when the deal is pointing towards yet another rejection from players despite the promise of a 72-game season that could start on December 15 if a deal is met.

Stern has become increasingly upset with players agents and in a conference call with reporters on Saturday and a 90-minute “Twitterview” he said:

“I just think that the players aren’t getting the information, the true information from their agents, who are banding together, sort of the coalition of the greedy and the mendacious, to do whatever they can … to make money.”

Stern also discussed some of the various measures that have been approached and dismissed including the contraction of teams. Stern also announced that NBA executives have taken pay cuts while announced that player’s contracts would be voiding if decertification occurred, that last message was likely a threat more than a fact.

In response to his twitter interview Dwayne Wade tweeted:

“Why are all your ‘system solutions’ only impacting the PLAYERS?? What have the owners [been] giving up of significance?”

In response to Wade the NBA Commissioner Tweeted:

“[We] don’t agree; season starts if union agrees to NBA’s proposal.”

Under the current offer NBA players are expected to make substantially less money than they did under their last collective bargaining agreement which expired on July 1. During their former contract players earned 57% of NBA revenue while their new offer is closer to 50% which means a loss of $300 million in earned revenue.

If players walk away from the current deal I’m going to say it’s likely “good bye” to the NBA season if David Stern moves forward with plans to offer players even less at that time.

Do you think players need to bite the bullet and sign on the dotted line or should NBA Owners make more concessions? I wish I could simply demand 57% of my bosses company profits and if I don’t get it whine in public to millions of people.