The point in this deal is that we’ve raised the cap way up, and the hope is that (all) teams operate under it, said deputy commissioner Russ Granik. We’ve tried to eliminate the (salary) cap abuses. That was our primary goal here.

Both Stern and Gourdine have repeatedly said that the lack of a new agreement is the result of a power play by the union’s agent advisory board, composed of some of the game’s biggest player representatives.

Jeffrey Kessler, an attorney who represents Ewing and other unhappy players in two legal proceedings related to the labor unrest, said Stern and Granik are being disingenuous when they speak about how good a deal the proposed contract would be for the players.

Advertisement

By including a hefty luxury tax and more restrictive provisions in the salary cap, Kessler contends, the framework is in place for a system that virtually will eliminate guaranteed contracts, stifle free-agent movement further and depress salaries.

That’s why this system is so devious, Kessler said. Each year of the deal it will get worse for the players.

Ewing (who is scheduled to receive $18.75 million in salary over the next two seasons) and a broadly based economic group of players ranging from Michael Jordan to journeymen who are delighted to sign 10-day contracts, have started the process of asking the National Labor Relations Board to remove, or legally decertify, the National Basketball Players Association as their collective-bargaining representative.

An NLRB hearing on the issue is scheduled for Wednesday in New York. Dan Silverman, the NLRB regional director, is expected to set a date for the decertification election within two weeks, with the most controversial item to be decided being whether to call a vote by mail or in person. The union favors in-person secret balloting; the petitioners will seek a mail ballot.

A decertification vote is unlikely to be held before early August. Until then, Gourdine has re-opened negotiations with the league. Gourdine admits the union might lose the decertification vote if it were held today, but he is hopeful a new, better deal will change players’ minds.