Clippers consider possibility of an NBA lockout

[mkwest]

DeAndre Jordan says the team, which finished its season Wednesday, wants to stick together to maintain chemistry. Coach Vinny Del Negro says he will be giving players workout programs to follow.

The Clippers finished their regular season Wednesday, conducted a team meeting Thursday morning and Coach Vinny Del Negro and his staff held individual exit interviews. Del Negro said he would be giving players workout programs to follow this spring and summer.

Jordan said the players already were talking about what to do when and if there is a lockout.

"We're definitely going to try to stick together and do some things and keep our chemistry up," he said. "Then I'm going to go into acting."

As for Griffin, he was asked whether he planned on running the sand dunes in Manhattan Beach with Jordan. Griffin noted after Wednesday's season finale that his arduous workouts in the past were often mentioned in a negative way by some in the media.

"It wasn't taken as a compliment," he said. "I take a lot of pride in working out, and I feel like I know my body. I feel like I take the right steps to prevent all of that [injuries]."

Lisa Dillman, LA Times

[thanumba2clippersfan]

I was wondering if the guys were going to work out together this summer. I'm curious if they will be able to work out at the Clippers Training Facility or do they have to work out else where?

[mkwest]

NBA labor: Don't believe the hype

If you listened closely enough to Commissioner David Stern's deputy Friday at the NBA Board of Governors meeting, you got a clearer picture of the likelihood of a work stoppage this summer.

And if you thought a lockout was a certainty, you may want to reconsider.

It is now clear that the owners are seeking a recalculation of the formula used to calculate the percentage of revenues that go toward player salaries. Currently, the players are guaranteed 57 percent of gross revenues (also known as Basketball Related Income, or BRI), and the owners are left with the other 43 percent to cover their expenses and try to turn a profit.

It is a system that has not been working for the owners, as 22 teams are projected to lose money in the 2010-11 season and only eight are expected to be profitable, Stern said. The owners' annual losses (which the union disputes, claiming half of the purported losses come from interest payments and depreciation) have gone from $370 million in 2008-09 to $340 million in 2009-10 to an estimated $300 million in the current season.

"We're not looking at the same system. We're looking at changing the definition of what is now BRI to become more of a net system where certain expenses are reduced before we begin sharing with the players," Silver said.

In other words, the NBA wants what the NFL had in its last agreement -- something commonly known in sports labor circles as a cap credit. Under that old NFL formula, $1 billion in expenses was deducted from total revenues, and the sides split up the rest.

Chris Sheridan, ESPN