Carmelo Anthony a union leader, Silver hopes for deal by December

TORONTO – The New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony became the latest NBA superstar to take an active role in union leadership on Friday, when he was voted in as a member of their executive committee.

The committee, which included mostly role players until this recent trend of elite players taking part, is headed by the Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul as president, with the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James as vice president and Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), Andre Iguodala (Warriors), James Jones (Cavaliers), Steve Blake (Detroit Pistons), Kyle Korver (Atlanta Hawks), and Anthony Tolliver (Pistons) all members as well. And as is the case with his fellow players and team owners, Anthony is hopeful the two sides can reach an agreement on a new deal in time to avoid a possible work stoppage in the summer of 2017.

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“I hope so man,” Anthony said at All-Star weekend in Toronto. “And I hope we can kind of come to an agreement, you know, sooner rather than later. We don't want another (work stoppage) man. We don't want to do that. But we've just got to sit down at the table, and I think now it's talking about more important issues than what we was talking about in the past, and kind of just being transparent with one another…Now is the time where we should lay everything out on the table and come to an agreement.”

The players are widely expected to opt out of the current deal by the mid-December deadline, but commissioner Adam Silver recently told USA TODAY Sports that he’s optimistic an extension can be reached before then.

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“So the optimism, in my mind, is justified based on the process,” Silver said. “With collective bargaining, you never know until that final moment when you get a deal done, and…seemingly these deals tend to get done at the last minute.

“(But) from a process standpoint, I feel that we, the league, and the players association, (NBPA executive director) Michele (Roberts) and the new team that she has brought in … I feel that we're building trusting relationships. And we've gotten a very early start.”

As Silver said, they have 10 months to forge a meeting of the minds while avoiding the sort of lockout that cost them 16 regular season games in the 2011-12 season.

“While the Players Association hasn't officially announced that they intend to opt out, clearly we're operating under the premise that if we can't get a new deal negotiated by then they are likely to opt out and I think that puts a lot of pressure on both sides to work over the next 10 months, which is a long time, to get an extension done,” Silver said. “Again, I think that my cause for optimism is based on, to me, the spirit, of the discussions, the frank and directness with which we've been dealing with each other, the direct participation from an owners committee, our labor relations committee, from the NBA side. I know the Union has an executive committee that they communicate with frequently. So to me, my sense of optimism comes entirely from the process.”

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A process that will surely involve fits and starts on both sides before the outcome is clear.

“Ultimately, each side will take whatever positions they do, but at least - and this doesn't come from the negotiation but more from just my extensive traveling around the league - I feel that from both our teams and from the players, there's a sense that things are going very well,” Silver continued. “It's not to say that both sides, if they could amend the collective bargaining agreement, wouldn't have things that they'd like to see changed. And that will likely happen as part of this process. But again, I feel like there's a very positive vibe around this league right now (and) my sense is that players are enjoying being in this league right now. …(The goal is to) look for a win-win solution where coming out of these negotiations both sides would be in a position where there would continue to be a fair deal, but we would have addressed whatever concerns each side has with the current agreement.”