| | The NBA's annual August gold rush not only alters the face of the league's superstar lineup with some of the most creative dealing available, it has promoted a dangerous turn toward broken promises and double-crosses.
|  | | Kendall Gill held the Lakers hostage, then went back to Jersey. |
The frantic hunt for chunks of cap money that bob like melting ice flows on a warming ocean have led to some unprecedented backsliding in a league where a man's word in negotiations traditionally has meant everything.
Twice in a span of a week, two veteran players agreed to contracts with teams and then reneged on the deals with at least the tacit approval of their financial representatives.
The first to be exposed was the action of Greg Anthony and his agent, David Dunn, who agreed to go with Atlanta, then re-signed with Portland for $1.5 million more. In addition, an established agent (who asks that his name remain confidential) says that Kendall Gill in fact agreed to sign with the Lakers before back sliding for considerably more money with the New Jersey Nets. Gill is represented by Arn Tellem.
"Arn had to know what he was doing," the unnamed agent said. "The Lakers were offering $2.25 million and the Nets more than $7 million. Arn's cut from $7 is a lot more than he would have got from L.A."
In both instances there was a verbal agreement. The one by Dunn on behalf of his client who allegedly wanted a chance to play more minutes with the Hawks, was also for the middle-class exception. The other was from Gill himself. As I recall, a chance to win a title was more important than the money, but only until Gill started counting.
So, what's the big deal here? Simply this. Much of the business of professional sport is accomplished through verbal agreement.
In fact, let us go to the work of agent Leigh Steinberg (Joe Montana, Steve Young, et al) and his book from a year ago, "Winning With Integrity." It is important to note that David Dunn labors with Steinberg's firm.
On page 221 of Steinberg's book, he offers us this insight into his business:
"Unlike negotiations in other industries ... in professional sports it is possible to announce and fly to a city to close a deal without actually have signed a single piece of paper. The agreements made during the course of sports negotiation discussions are almost always oral. But they are also dependable. When the team GM or president on the other side of the line says, 'It's a deal,' it is invariably a deal."
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| Anthony |
To put the seriousness of the breach in even better perspective, Turner sports teams president Stan Kasten polled the general managers of his NBA Hawks, NHL Thrashers and MLB Braves. "We represented about 100 years of combined experience and none of us had ever had this happen before."
Kasten said the two sides had faxed contracts back and forth. He said he had Dunn's voice on an answering machine saying, "I've gotten all the contracts and it looks fine."
Apparently Dunn had never engaged in such activity, either, but in this case was unwilling to buck a client of 10 years standing. One day before Anthony was scheduled to fly to Atlanta and sign, Dunn phoned to cancel the deal.
After declining to discuss the matter, Dunn admitted, "After a superb recruiting effort by the Hawks we had reached an understanding that Greg was heading to Atlanta and then changed our minds."
Now, there is information that Anthony actually engaged in a triple cross, that he actually agreed to terms with the Blazers, backed out to talk to the unsuspecting Hawks and then went back to the Blazers, in each instance gaining monetarily by his deception.
Unless the Anthony and Gill cases are absolute exceptions, Kasten says that trust in negotiation could become a thing of the past. "Understand, losing Greg Anthony isn't that big a deal, but it's the way it happened," he said.
The unnamed agent goes another step. "One of my guys had a half-dozen teams looking at him and I said, 'Look, you make your decision and that's who we'll go with. We're not going to reach an agreement but one time.' "
What would he do if a client of long-standing duplicated Anthony's actions? "I'd tell him good-bye."
On the subject of oral agreements, the agent said, "I've had one broken on me and I will never forget it. But it's the way we do business. If your word is no good then you're in trouble and I'm afraid there are a lot of desperate players out there who are going to push the envelope because the salary cap is so darn tight these days."
Oh, an aside to this little saga. Steinberg's "Winning With Integrity" also features his 12 essential rules for negotiation. Here's No. 3: "Convince the other party that you have an option -- even if you don't."
So, in order to win with integrity, you ... lie?
Around The League
And here is a certain sign that the Apocalypse is near for the NBA:
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| Davis |
Dale Davis, at a press conference to announce a two-year $19.13 contract extension that takes him through age 36, talked about how dissatisfied he is.
"I'm happy I got $19 million, but I'm not happy about the fact I'm not paid market value," Davis told the Indianapolis Star. "I look at what (other) power forwards are making and what I bring to this team, and ... it's just a question of if I can live with it or not. ... I've got to figure out ways, whether it's in Indiana or wherever, how I can get to somewhere I can finish my career and play comfortably at the level and the market value I deserve."
Flabbergasted, Pacers president Donnie Walsh said, "I have no reaction to that. I really don't."
Davis has three years remaining on his original agreement. The average for five years is $8 mil. Happily, Davis does agree that's a lot of money. By the way, he has averaged double-figure rebounds once in his career, never more than 11.7 ppg. Last season his numbers were 10.0 ppg., 9.85 rebounds.
Jeffrey Denberg, who covers the NBA for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. | |
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