ittalion
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Page 13 • Wednesday, August 26, 1998
A players argue “language” with owners
)eriod in Fe[-j
)ana
yer of the^
n tract,
Wilkin:
ion, five-yen]
'timer has
e line.
YORK (AP) — NBA players,
[aseball players, routinely sign
s that do not mention what
in the event of a lockout.
|s ^ gray area that has become
million skirmish as the NBA
drags on.
ack of lockout language in
cohtracts—with the exception
iden Polynice’s deal with Sacra-
ked next-i; (ito—was one of the arguments
percentage, mion made Monday at an arbi-
y Ellard, the on hearing on its contention
chael Wesib > wners must pay salaries due
wide ret: • 'guaranteed contracts during
ack of the!! ock()Ut -
ms in eaclif h e fi rst session lasted 7 1/2
| with commissioner David
n the only witness,
lie hearing resumed this morn-
and the sides planned to decide
ay whether to reconvene later
week or next week.
Polynice contract could be
because the union claims
ers should have protected
Ives with lockout language,
ball owners do.
leen a weapi
issedsixgai®
ained le
last year.
: were 2-4.
The union will try to convince ar
bitrator John Feerick, who ruled in
the Latrell Sprewell case, that the ex
plicit lockout language in the Polyn
ice contract — and the lack of it in
every other contract —
makes those deals payable.
“We’ve discovered that
there are two specific con
tracts, as opposed to the
other 409, that do in fact
contain lockout language,”
union director Billy Hunter
said. “Keep in mind that in
each instance the commis
sioner and league office
sanctioned these contracts.”
The Polynice clause pro
tected the Kings from losing
any money they had already paid
him in the event games were can
celed due to a work stoppage —
whether a strike or a lockout.
Shawn Kemp of Cleveland is the
only other NBA player with any type
of lockout language in his contract,
but his clause is more complicated
than Polynice’s.
Agent Keith Glass, who negotiat
ed the contract for Polynice, said the
Kings insisted upon the strike-lock-
out language because they feared
the players would strike in 1995.
“I took a gamble agree
ing to the clause, but I knew
the players wouldn’t strike,”
Glass said Monday before
departing for Munich,
where he was available to
be deposed by telephone
today if needed.
“It’s funny how these
things work out. It looks
like this gamble was worth
it,” Glass said.
Polynice became a free
agent July 1 when the Kings
opted out of the final season of the
five-year, $15 million deal, so the lan
guage in question has become moot.
The league claims the Polynice
language relates only to the possi
bility of the repayment of a $500,000
advance the player received when
he signed his contract.
There is no precedent in sports
law regarding liability for guaran
teed contracts during a lockout. No
union has ever filed such a claim —
including the NBA players who were
locked out in the summer of 1995.
Lawyers for the league presented
case history to support their argu
ment that the very essence of a lock
out is the fact that employees don’t
get paid.
“There may not be a specific
precedent for this,” Hunter said. “But
the reality is that there are other cas
es that we are able to cite where the
courts have ruled that individualized
contracts not only supersede collec
tive bargaining agreements, but in
fact that there’s an obligation to pay
once an agreement has expired.”
Feerick’s ruling is expected in
early September.
If the owners lose, they would
have to go to court and ask a judge
for a restraining order to avoid pay
ing about $800 million in salaries
for some 220 players who have
guaranteed contracts for the 1998-
99 season.
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