NBA notebook: Revenue sharing still a dispute in NBA labor talks

NEW YORK — Commissioner David Stern agrees with his players: NBA teams need to do a better job sharing revenues.

They disagree over when that should happen, and what input the players should have in the system.

Players contend that a revenue sharing plan belongs in the new collective bargaining agreement. Owners say the plan is coming, but only after the CBA is settled.

"We're of the opinion that any shortfalls that they're suffering, that they can be rectified through revenue sharing," players' association executive director Billy Hunter said last week. "And while we've had some discussions about revenue sharing, they have not disclosed to us an iota of what their proposed revenue sharing plan might look like, what the contribution would be coming from the owners of the respective teams, et cetera."

Owners will be briefed on both collective bargaining and revenue sharing Tuesday during a Board of Governors meeting in Dallas, with the CBA set to expire at the end of Thursday. Owners and players then plan to meet Wednesday and/or Thursday, perhaps giving them one final chance to avoid a lockout.

The union would surely like details of the board's revenue sharing discussion, but isn't likely to get much.

"Whether or not that would precipitate a move by us beforehand or whatever has yet to be seen," Hunter said. "But, yeah, we would definitely like to know and see it. We'd like to not only see it, but to incorporate it as far as the collective bargaining. It should be incorporated in the CBA."

Not so, says Stern.

"We can't make the final push on revenue sharing until we know what the yield or not of the labor deal is," he said.

Stern has previously said the CBA and revenue sharing were on separate tracks, one needing to be completed before the other. Owners want to see what their savings will look like from the players before they commit to how much additional money would go to each other, but players want to be assured revenue sharing won't be a tool to control salaries, such as by making teams stay below a certain spending limit to qualify for it.

The league has projected losses of about $300 million this season. Players believe the number is lower and could be addressed if teams making money help those who aren't, and called for expanded revenue sharing in their initial proposal for a new CBA.