WNBA

WNBA's season, possibly future, on shaky ground

Friday is deadline to agree to NBA's salary, free-agency proposals.

By ANTONYA ENGLISH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 17, 2003

As a representative of some of the top players in the WNBA, Mike Cound has been a little stressed this week.

Eight months after its contract ended and collective bargaining talks between players and management began, the player's union faces a Friday deadline to give in or get out.

NBA commissioner David Stern has said the league and player's union must settle its dispute or the season "will not proceed" -- a move many believe could effectively kill the WNBA.

Wednesday's draft was canceled and labor negotiations are going down to the wire. Union director of operations Pam Wheeler said the sides are "within arm's reach" of a new labor agreement, but there has not been a resolution.

"I think the clients are real nervous in general," said Cound, co-president of AAI International, a branch of AAI sports. "The party line is we're together, we're not nervous. The truth is how can anybody in their right minds be completely relaxed when four teams folded (last season)?"

Talks resume today, but therein lies much of the problem with the union's stance: lack of leverage.

In its six seasons, the WNBA never has turned a profit. Last season, four teams folded -- including teams in Orlando and Miami -- two of which were relocated to Connecticut and San Antonio.

Before today's meeting, Stern characterized negotiations as "not in the same ballpark," but said he understood the perspective of the individual players.

"They are playing the sport at the highest level ... and they see the men getting astounding numbers by comparison," Stern said after a meeting last week of the NBA Board of Governors. "The same could be said with respect to coming out of the World Cup the way the women soccer players captivated the nation, but the commercial realities are there that required them to take cuts. We're the NBA, we are backing this league and we are not asking our women to take cuts. But we are asking them to make a deal that we can demonstrate once and for all that the WNBA has a strong future. It's up to the women of the WNBA."

According to Cound, whose clients include former Florida Gators DeLisha Milton and Murriel Page, Ruth Riley, former Orlando Miracle Taj McWilliams-Franklin and former UConn star Swin Cash, the sides are about $2-million apart on the issue of salaries.

"I very much agree with the union stance that $2.2-million, relatively speaking, isn't a lot of money spread over 14 WNBA teams," Cound said. "But the question is, what is the line in the sand for the owners? They've basically drawn a line in the sand, and we're trying to see if they'll step over it or not."

The WNBA has proposed a five-year deal worth about $8.6-million on player salaries, to be divided among 14 teams. The union is requesting a three-year agreement between $9.5-million and $10.5-million annually on salaries.

Under the league's proposal, the rookie minimum salary would be reduced from $30,000 to $25,000. The salary cap would equal $616,000, with the maximum player salary dropping from $79,000 to $63,000.

The league also is proposing a 3-percent pay raise and will not allow unrestricted free agency until a player's 10th season. A player could become a restricted free agent after seven seasons, which consists of about four months, including training camp.

But the players want more: an average minimum salary for rookies of $33,000 and a minimum of $40,000-48,000 for veterans. The union is seeking unrestricted free agency after five seasons, restricted after four.

"The WNBA players have made significant sacrifices to help the WNBA grow, so it's unfortunate that the league has taken such a hard-line stance," Wheeler said during a conference call. "We've always sought to have some sort of meaningful free agency."

Cound says that in theory, the players' demands aren't unreasonable. But taken in the context of how the league has struggled, a different approach may be necessary.

"These are the elite players in their sport in the world, they play an extremely high brand of basketball, and it's a good entertainment value -- that's where I am together with the rest of my colleagues," Cound said. "Where I differ is that I don't believe that this product that we call the WNBA has caught fire. My argument ... is, I want you guys to have everything you can get, but let's recognize the climate in which we are acting. And let's recognize that we have a little more convincing of the American public that this product is a prime time product.

"Are they underpaid for their ability as athletes? Absolutely. Are they underpaid based on what the market can bear? Maybe not."

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