Key Issues - NBA Lock Out 2011

Here's a look at some major issues that face the two sides in the negotiations.

Taken from NBA.com

The Salary Cap

What you need to know: In their desire to bring costs for players under control, owners have called for a cap on salaries. These caps have been described, at various times, as "soft" or "hard" or even "flex." The last agreement included a salary cap, too, but it could be exceeded through various exceptions (see glossary). The players would be satisfied with a cap like that one, but the owners are adamant in their call for a "hard" cap that teams cannot exceed.
Bottom line: An insistence on a hard cap has proven to be the major sticking point in these negotiations. The union flat-out doesn't want one. The league says it has to have one.

 

Salary Cap Exceptions

What you need to know: These are rules that allow teams to exceed the cap under certain circumstances. A new agreement could limit these, which would help owners with a little cost certainty but make it more difficult to sign certain types of players. A new agreement, too, could bring new exceptions, such as the "franchise" tag that's used in the NFL. An enhancement of Bird rights (see glossary) is another possibility. "Amnesty" provisions could be reinstated to allow teams tax relief for current contracts, too.
Bottom line: Despite the owners' insistence, an NBA with a "true" hard cap, one without any exceptions, will be hard to come by given the union's stringent resistance to the idea.

Split of Basketball Related Income

What you need to know: Players earned 57 percent of all Basketball Related Income (see glossary) in the former agreement. Owners are demanding that number come down.
Bottom line: The league is dead-set on scaling back the percentage of BRI the players receive. The union, predictably, wants to keep the percentage at or near where it is now.

 

Revenue Sharing

What you need to know: Owners and players are in agreement on the need for increased revenue sharing among teams as a way to make more teams profitable and competitive. Somewhere around $60 million was shared in the 2010-11 season. That won't be enough for either side in any future agreement.
Bottom line: What owners do with their half of revenue would seem to be a mostly owner-controlled issue, but players in a collectively bargained agreement must sign off on any revenue-sharing plan. They want more money to be shared among teams, more than some of the league's richer teams are willing to offer.

 

Guaranteed Contracts

What you need to know: Owners reportedly favor a system that would allow them to cut their losses on so-called "bad" contracts for underperforming players. That could mean shorter-term contracts and less guaranteed money.
Bottom line: Guaranteed contracts have been a staple in the NBA for years. The union isn't going to give up what they have without a fight. In negotiations before the lockout, the owners agreed to come off their stance.

 

Contraction

What you need to know: Stern has said that the idea of eliminating at least a couple of teams in order to enhance the league's bottom line -- and its on-court product -- is on the table.
Bottom line: Contraction remains a longshot for a few reasons. One, there's a question as to whether any teams, even those losing money, would be willing to sell. Two, other cities may be willing to take on a struggling NBA franchise, so many argue that relocation should be considered before contraction. And, of course, cutting teams would mean fewer jobs for players. That's something the union would fight.