Talks between NBA executives and the league’s referees broke down on Tuesday, leading to the possibility that replacement referees could be used for the first time since 1995. ESPN’s Marc Stein reports:
The prospect of replacement referees calling NBA games for the first time since 1995 is looming larger by the day after the latest negotiating session between the current refs and league executives broke down Tuesday.
The NBA’s most recent contract with its 60-plus referees expired Sept. 1 and Tuesday’s bargaining session in New York was called to an abrupt halt by commissioner David Stern, according to one source with knowledge of the talks.
No further talks are scheduled between the sides with only 22 days before the league’s first scheduled exhibition game Oct. 1. The likelihood that replacement refs will be needed for that game — Denver at Utah — has “increased dramatically,” according to the source.
ESPN.com reported Aug. 25 that the league is seeking an across-the-board reduction of 10 percent to a referee budget that costs an estimated $32 million.
One source said Tuesday that the referees have proposed a reduction of $2.5 million — roughly $700,000 away from the NBA’s target — but added that the refs are bracing for a lockout at this point after Stern “shut [Tuesday's] meeting down.”
