New story? New Version? or New Spin? The Paul Allen saga

Paul Allen took a starring role in the NBA lockout as accounts of Thursday's breakdown in negotiations between players and owners spread Friday.

But contrary to several accounts, the Trail Blazers owner did not personally deliver an ultimatum on Thursday to the NBA players union, a top league official said Friday night.

In fact, Allen did not speak during a session between a group of owners and player representatives that was overseen by a federal mediator, Deputy NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a telephone interview with The Oregonian.

Also Friday night, Blazers president Larry Miller rejected the contention, contained in one account of the Thursday mediation session on a national website, that Allen was positioning the team for sale.

"Absolutely the team is not for sale," Miller said from New York, where he has been attending bargaining sessions as the team's representative on the league's labor relations committee.

"Paul is just as committed to the team as he was when he purchased the team 23 years ago," Miller said.

The Blazers and the NBA made Silver available for an interview in part to respond to stories written about Allen's participation in Thursday's negotiations. Silver is the league's chief operating officer and is Commissioner David Stern's top lieutenant.

The NBA's players and owners broke off negotiations Thursday on a new collective bargaining agreement after three consecutive days of meetings, prolonging the lockout that hit its 113th day Friday. No additional sessions have been scheduled and the league's exhibition season and the first two weeks of the regular season have been canceled.

Thursday's negotiations marked the first time Allen that was reported to have been involved in the current CBA talks.

Allen's presence Thursday was partly coincidence, Miller and Silver said. He was in New York to attend the league's Board of Governors meeting on Thursday morning, Silver said, and "that happened to fall on the same day as the negotiating session with the union."

After the meeting, "We asked Paul if he was available to attend the mediation session in person," Silver said.

Up until Thursday, and for the past 2 1/2 years since the league's labor relations committee was formed, Miller has represented the Blazers. He is the only non-owner on it -- in essence serving as Allen's proxy. The committee was formed at about the same time Allen was diagnosed with cancer.

"Larry has been an active member of the committee," Silver said, and as a result, "Paul's views have been incorporated throughout."

At the mediation Thursday, "Paul did not speak at the session with the players," Silver said.

However, some accounts have portrayed Allen's mere participation in the meeting as the league's effort to send a signal to the players union. By joining with his fellow owners at a bargaining session, some accounts said, Allen was signaling he was a "hard-line owner," even if he did not utter a word.

And Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski wrote that a possible reason Allen has become a hard-line owner is that Allen could be trying to reduce expenses in preparation sell the Blazers.

Silver rejected the characterization of Allen's one-day participation.

"I do not understand why his presence has taken on a life of its own as if he was sent in to deliver a message to the players," Silver said.

"Paul is in the same position as every other owner. He wants a system where every team is in a position to compete for a championship and every team, if managed properly, has a chance to make a profit.

"In no way was his presence intended to send a message."

That perception may owe to the fact that Allen carries weight that most other owners do not. He is the league's richest owner and one of its longest tenured (only five owners have had NBA teams longer), and as a co-founder of Microsoft has name recognition well outside the league.

When Allen arrived, the sides had failed to close much ground on their disagreement on the players' share of basketball-related income (BRI). The players had come down half a percent to 52.5, but owners were holding firm at a 50-50 split. At that point, Hunter had suggested that the sides table BRI talk and focus on systems issues, such as luxury tax and salary cap.

Allen's attendance at the Thursday meeting, Silver said, was an indication that he supports his fellow owners' goals in seeking a collective bargaining agreement. Silver rejected the notion that only wealthy owners should be able to compete at the highest level.

"We're not interested in running a league where only a billionaire willing to reach deep into his pockets has the ability to compete with a franchise," Silver said. "That is unsustainable."

Distrust between the players and owners appears to be high. Players representative Derek Fisher of the Los Angeles Lakers accused Silver of lying in his post-meeting press conferences.

News accounts of Thursday's meeting appear to rely on National Basketball Players Association executive director Billy Hunter and union lawyer Jeffrey Kessler as sources for what transpired in the meeting.

Hunter told reporters Allen was sent into the meeting to "deliver the message from the board of governors meeting."

Hunter said owners refused to discuss systems issues unless the union first agreed to a 50-50 BRI split. When Allen walked into the meeting, Hunter said he addressed the Blazers owner directly.

"I asked Paul, 'Are you prepared to talk about the system?'" Hunter said. "'They've indicated that you've been sent or brought to deliver the message to us that 50-50 is where it is. But where do you stand on the system?'

"And Paul didn't respond. He was just in the room. So that's sort of where we are."

Kessler told reporters, "We were told Paul Allen was here to express the views of the other board of governors and that view was, 'It's our way or the highway.'"

To those characterizations, Silver reiterated that Allen did not speak during the meeting. Silver declined to say which owners did speak.

Mike Tokito of The Oregonian contributed to this report.

--Allan Brettman

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2011/10/paul_allen_takes_center_stage.html

 

Frankly, that sounds a lot more like an honest report than what we heard from the union (and infinitely more honest than we heard from Woj). Paul attending but not speaking is perfectly in keeping with his personality.

And yeah, he's not selling.

barfo

 

Only when they're giving out candy.

 

Hey MarAzul! Nice to see you over here at S2.