Salary Cap

The head of the NBA Players Assn. said Wednesday that the union might attempt to abandon the salary cap when the collective bargaining agreement expires after the 1993-94 season. Charles Grantham, the union's executive director, said that the players agreed to the salary cap when the NBA was in financial difficulty, and that the players might not agree to extend the concept. "I'm not so sure the salary cap is the answer to our problems," Grantham said during a sports business forum.

The NFL Players Assn. is accusing league owners of secretly -- and illegally -- agreeing to put a salary cap in place in the uncapped 2010 season. The union filed a complaint in federal court Wednesday, alleging the owners colluded to impose a $123-million salary cap on teams, when they did not have the authority to do so. The league has since penalized Washington and Dallas for overspending in 2010, reducing the future salary caps of the Redskins and Cowboys by a combined $46 million over the next two seasons.

Major league baseball owners discussed reinstating the salary cap as their main labor thrust but failed to reach a conclusion during a six-hour meeting Wednesday at Itasca, Ill. They also refrained from setting a date for the resumption of bargaining talks with the players' union.

The NFL Players Assn. has accused the NFL of putting a secret salary cap in place in the uncapped 2010 season — a violation of antitrust laws — and is seeking monetary damages that could climb into the billions. The union filed suit against the league Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Minnesota, accusing the NFL of collusion for conspiring to set a $123-million cap for 2010, when owners would have required the consent of players to do so. The NFL flatly denied the claim.

Baseball's team owners were told by at least one attorney during their meeting in Chicago Thursday that their planned implementation of a salary cap system probably could not withstand a legal challenge by the Players Association, especially if the owners were to take that step immediately, sources close to the situation said.

Forget for a moment the stance of the New York Knickerbockers, who are pledged to defend the sanctity of an NBA contract. Put aside the claim of self-determination by Patrick Ewing, who says he is placing individual freedom above monetary compensation. Let's focus on the source of the rift that threatens to disrupt Pat Riley's championship plans before the coach blows his first whistle in New York. Clearly, it's the fault of the salary cap. A little history is in order here.

Negotiators for baseball's owners and players won't resume formal talks on management's demand for a salary cap until Wednesday, 48 hours before the players' strike deadline. There will be meetings Monday and Tuesday in New York to discuss non-economic issues. "Assuming there is ultimately an agreement on the economics, we might as well try to get everything else out of the way first," management negotiator Richard Ravitch said Friday.

The future of the Sockers and the Major Indoor Soccer League is up in the air again after a pair of meetings in Cleveland on Tuesday. In one meeting, MISL owners met with prospective buyers from Tacoma who are interested in re-activating the Star franchise. The owners, in deciding to wait until next Wednesday to hear the offer, gave the 27-person group headed by Jim Manza some time to formalize its final bid.

In the weeks leading up to Monday's Rose Bowl game, reporters have approached Trojans Mark Carrier and Junior Seau to talk, ostensibly, about the game, injuries or strategy. It has been somewhat of a diversionary tactic. Sooner or later, the reporters manage to steer the conversation around to The Question: Will the pair, having enjoyed excellent, high-profile seasons, turn their backs on their final season of eligibility and opt for the NFL draft?

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Terry Kennedy kept cursing out loud Tuesday night, not because the Padre-Met game was postponed because of rain, but because this baseball season may soon be postponed because of stubbornness. Kennedy, the Padre player representative, spent his lunch hour on Tuesday with Don Fehr, acting executive director of baseball's player association.

A financial riddle stumped officials in one NBA team's front office. It concerned the league's byzantine legalese regarding the salary cap. They needed help, fast. One official phoned the league office, seeking clarity. Another inspected the text of the NBA's collective bargaining agreement, a canon of lawyerly jargon as comprehensible as Sanskrit. Then, another official surfed to an exhaustively detailed online FAQ about the NBA labor deal authored by Larry Coon, a 49-year-old information technology director at UC Irvine.

The Kings beat the clock once this season, scoring the winner against Columbus last Wednesday at Staples Center despite a one-second timing pause late in the third period (more on that later). Now, can they beat the clock before the Feb. 27 trading deadline and make a deal to boost their anemic offense? The Kings' goals-per-game average shrank to 2.09 after they started a six-game trip with a 1-0 loss at St. Louis and 2-1 loss at Carolina. Only the Dustin Brown - Anze Kopitar - Justin Williams line has been reliable.

Faced with mounting public and legislative pressure to rein in presidential pay packages, California State University trustees Wednesday adopted a new policy that limits executive compensation. The policy will cap the salary of newly hired presidents at 10% above that of their predecessor, with a ceiling of $325,000 in public funds. The measure was approved unanimously by the Board of Trustees at a meeting in Long Beach. The action followed a public outcry over the decision in July to pay the new president of San Diego State University an annual salary of $400,000 — $350,000 in public funds and $50,000 from a campus foundation — which was $100,000 more than his predecessor.

It's Christmastime in the NBA. What did the amnesty clause bring your team? The Clippers got Chauncey Billups, adding a former All-Star guard to their improving-by-the-minute roster for the bargain-bin price of about $2 million. Gilbert Arenas and Baron Davis are other waived players who could be had for little more than a cup of eggnog, at least by NBA salary standards. The NBA's new collective bargaining agreement has produced other peculiar-sounding gifts that could keep on giving into 2012.

Finally, basketball is back. NBA Commissioner David Stern announced Thursday that the owners and players ratified a new collective bargaining agreement, the final steps to ending the 161-day lockout that began July 1. That allows teams to officially open training camp Friday and for the free-agency period for the 2011-12 season to begin, at 11 a.m. PST. The NBA's regular season will begin Christmas Day, the start of a shortened, 66-game...

So the Lakers want to sign a veteran player who is waived by another team? Baron Davis, Brandon Roy, Rashard Lewis? Not so fast. Details are still emerging from the NBA's yet-to-be-ratified collective bargaining agreement, but the Lakers will have to get in line and bid for players who are cut via the one-time "amnesty" clause. The process is not designed to favor the wealthy, successful teams. It's designed to help teams well below the salary cap. While the Lakers already have a payroll of $91 million for only 11 players, almost half of the NBA's 30 teams will be below the salary cap of $58 million after signing their draft picks and can potentially offer millions more than the Lakers for waived players.

Socker goalkeeper Jim Gorsek was looking forward to next season for financial reasons. That has become a scary thought for a player in the Major Indoor Soccer League. Last Friday, the MISL Board of Directors called for the Players Assn. to reduce the salary cap from $1.275 million per team to $898,000 ($850,000 for the regular roster and $48,000 for four developmental players) for the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons, and to eliminate all guaranteed contracts.

At first glance, it was your basic "Oh wow, what another great move by Magic." That's the kind of reaction Los Angeles Lakers guard Magic Johnson provokes, particularly when he asks if he can give back $100,000 of his salary as he did two weeks ago. It allowed the Lakers to maneuver the salary cap enough to acquire Terry Teagle and his $600,000 contract. "I did it because I want to win," Johnson said. "Of course, that's the most important thing." It is for all the NBA teams.

The Galaxy had only just begun a victory celebration that would stretch deep into Monday morning when Coach Bruce Arena was jarred briefly back to reality. Sure the team had a dominant season, finishing with Major League Soccer's best regular-season record for the second year in a row, then beating the Houston Dynamo in the MLS Cup. But what would the Galaxy do for an encore? "That will be our challenge," Arena said. "To try to keep the team together. " That will be tough to do. Captain Landon Donovan, who scored the only goal Sunday in the title game, has two years left on his contract.

Talks to end the NBA lockout Friday failed again to generate an agreement, and NBA Commissioner David Stern canceled the rest of November's regular season games. "We made a lot of concessions, but this time, unfortunately, it's not enough," players union Executive Director Billy Hunter told reporters after a five-hour-plus meeting with NBA officials in New York. Hunter said he felt "snookered," by NBA Commissioner David Stern, who promised Thursday to make a financial move Friday.