Instead of just talking about the agents in control of collective bargaining negotiations for NBA players, why don’t we hear directly from one of the main power brokers himself? Sam Amick of SI.com helps us out by interviewing Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports & Entertainment. As Amick notes, Bartelstein is well respected (even by his peers) and has many clients. Here are bits and pieces from Bartelstein:
“There’s an inaccurate perception out there that there’s this group of agents — including myself — that have decided to quote-unquote blow up the union, or destroy the union, and nothing could be further from the truth.”
“Billy [Hunter] is in this position where he’s trying in good faith to get a deal done, but you can’t negotiate by yourself.”
“I have a duty to make sure I’m exploring everything I can in terms of helping bring this thing to a positive resolution. That’s my job. I’m going to do that, but I’ve always been doing it in concert with Billy and the players’ association.”
“The way this thing reads, it’s like there’s all this plotting going on. That’s just not true. The idea has never been to blow up the union.”
