Oct

24

NBA, Refs Agree To New Deal

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under NBA Contract Extension, NBA News 

A whistle blew within the ivory towers of the corporate ofices of the NBA; and for once, the whistle was of a positive nature. According to Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press, the league and referees union on Friday agreed on a two-year deal, ending a lockout of over a month and ensuring that the NBA does not use replacement officials to start the 2009-2010 NBA season.

The officials voted to ratify the deal earlier this week; as per custom, details on the vote nor terms of the agreement were disclosed. And of course, the referees union did not provide any comment.

The refs’ contracts are typically five years, but at the request of the union, opted for 2 years instead in the hopes that it could renogotiate sooner with the hope that the current economy rebounds. Both sides agreed on a salary structure that would give the referees a slight raise in the second year; however, they remained apart on proposed changes to the refs’ pension and severance packages, as well as a plan to develop younger officials by having them work in NBA games.

The refs will begin a three-day training camp on Saturday (today), just in time for the regular season, which begins Tuesday night.

All of this came at the right time as the complaints against the replacement refs came early and often. That’s not necessarily saying that all of the replacement oficials were bad, although you couldn’t say that early on. And NBA commissioner David Stern is of the mindset that a number of them could have a future in the league down the road. But for now, we have the best basketball refs in the world signed for the next two years, so let’s enjoy the ride.


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