| 01 September 2009
Given the amount of money that was thrown around with reckless abandon during the off-season thus far, it would appear as if the only group within the NBA interested in 'fiscal responsibility' is the actual NBA itself. Ok, overstated: there are a lot of teams reducing roster size in efforts to save money, but there were more than a few free agents signed at eye-brow-raising rates this off-season. Anyway, one group of people that the NBA are absolutely not interested in sharing any of the monetary pie with is the referees.
The NBA and the referees union are in ongoing negotiations, with the Association opening proceedings by proposing a 10% reduction to all referee salaries. It's believed that the cuts are not only to salaries, but to travel costs, pension pay-outs and health benefits. How much does an NBA referee make? From $90,000 to $225,000. Compare this to MLB's $100,000 to $280,000 US for the 162-game season and over $50,000 for an expenses package (over 162 game season). First class airfares are provided by the MLB.
Proposed cuts would amount to in excess of $10,000 to over $25,000 (when non-salary cuts are figured in).
For a professional sporting body that's pledged to improve the performance of it's adjudicating staff, this is not an auspicious start. Given that the current deal with referees expires today (Tuesday 1st September), this is a ridiculous situation that the league finds itself in. All and sundry believe that the quality of work from refereeing crews needs to improve - especially in the playoffs - but this can't even be begun to be addressed until a new agreement is in place.
A piece in ESPN by Marc Stein sites an unnamed source:
As of "right now," according to the source, existing NBA referees "will not be working preseason [or the] regular season."
The frustration that the league office must feel with the referees is obvious. There were many, many problems with officiating during the last season, and some during the playoffs that were quite costly. The Tim Donaghy situation is still a blight upon their profession, and will be for a long time to come. But part of the problem with officiating is the expectation that the league has placed upon playoff games, and the entire set up of officiating crews.
David Aldridge had some excellent suggestions that would reap immediate rewards, such as keeping the same officiating crew for an entire playoff series (so at the very least you're going to have consistency for the duration).
The NBA pre-season begins in October, and as yet it's somewhat uncertain as to whether the league office has a contingency plan in place if they cannot get this done with the referees, and it's a deal that the NBA can ill-afford not to have in place. Surely a 'testing-of-the-waters' should've occurred well before now, and realisation of the distance between the two parties apparent. Negotiations shouldn't be this far apart at the eleventh hour.
Get a deal done that both the referees and the NBA can live with - include performance bonuses and improve training, evaluation, coaching (of referees), and reward those that meet clearly set performance standards. This is standard business practice, and it's amazing David Stern finds himself in this position.
Obviously there's a long way to go before both parties have the trust of the common fan again, and a desire by the NBA to improve the adjudication of games is commendable... but going to the negotiation table with such a draconian cut in mind is not how it should begin.
