Super Agent Leigh Steinberg

Steinberg: NBA title dreams might not be reality

By Leigh Steinberg via The Daily Pilot

May 19, 2012 | 10:54 p.m.

It’s an exciting time for Southern California sports. Staples Center just hosted four playoff games in three days, and has two more in store Sunday. The Kings are serious contenders to win the Stanley Cup. The Lakers and Clippers, though, have a much tougher challenge ahead of them.

Having grown up in sunny Southern California, what I knew about hockey could fill about half of a thimble. But I have rooted for the Lakers since the days of Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlin and Elgin Baylor, and I have always empathized with the traditionally inept Clippers. Both teams performed better than expected in the regular season, but the playoff outlook is not bright.

The Lakers have been a premier franchise since they arrived in Southern California. They came from Minnesota, which is why perpetually drought-stricken Southern California has a team nickname connoting a life on inland water. They have won multiple NBA championships thanks to great players such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. On paper, this year’s Lakers still look like they should dominate, but the series with Oklahoma City has exposed their weakness.

Center Andrew Bynum played in the All-Star game this year and forward Pau Gasol has in the past. They are tall, strong and athletic, but not consistent. Bynum takes games and plays off. He should be unstoppable offensively and defensively, but his attitude is not conducive to team play. He draws multiple technical fouls and is difficult to coach. When he decides to play well, the Lakers are successful, but he can simply disappear in games. That’s a difficult thing to do at his height.

Gasol has a better attitude but is equally streaky. He is getting older and it shows. Both players are perfect examples to younger athletes of why talent can be outplayed by desire and heart.

The Lakers, who trail the Thunder, 3-1, following Saturday night’s 103-100 collapse, have not been able to find a point guard to run the offense since the heyday of Derek Fisher. Point guards can completely alter a team, as Derrick Rose does in Chicago and Chris Paul has done for the Clippers. Ramon Sessions simply can’t keep up with the younger OKC players.

And then there’s Kobe.

He has had one of the greatest careers in the history of the NBA. His shooting has won countless games in the clutch. In this series, he has not been able to score at dramatic junctures as he has in the past.. He is still brilliant, but is also aging. Oklahoma City, with Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, has been fast and accurate. It is sad to watch the Lakers struggle with a younger, more athletic team, but OKC could well win the championship.

This has been the most exciting season for the Clippers since they arrived in Southern California. The trade for Paul brought a spectacular floor leader at point guard, who has a remarkable soft shooting touch and a hyper competitive mentality. Blake Griffinmakes crowd-pleasing dunks from every angle. But Griffin is nursing a sprained knee and has not been as effective, and Paul has not been his consistent brilliant self against a seasoned San Antonio Spursteam that has won multiple championships.

The Spurs, who hold a 3-0 edge against a Clippers going into Sunday’s elimination game, may be the best coached team in the playoffs. Tim Duncan has been rejuvenated and the Clippers need DeAndre Jordan to neutralize him. The Clippers lost veteran Chauncey Billups early in the season, who would have been critical to their success in this series. The playoff inexperience of this team is no match for the well-oiled Spur machine.

It looks like our hoop dreams for the two local NBA franchises are turning into hoop nightmares. Maybe next year.

LEIGH STEINBERG is a renowned sports agent, author, advocate, speaker and humanitarian. His column appears weekly. Follow Leigh on Twitter @steinbergsports or blog.steinbergsports.com.

Chris Gets Laker Partners

#Lakers So last night a friend of Scott’s+ours,Chris Quinn, went to Laker Auction.He put up 25% of his racehorse “Siempre Mio” for live auction.Kobe+Pau competed on bids&when Kobe won Pau asked if he could buy 25%,now they own half a horse.

Lin’s story refreshing, inspirational

By Leigh Steinberg - click here for original article

February 18, 2012 | 9:12 p.m.

Just as we start to get despondent about a sports page that reads like the business section or even worse, the crime beat, along comes a new refreshing young star to give us excitement and hope.

Jeremy Lin is the hottest sensation in the NBA this year and his story is compelling. He grew up in Palo Alto and starred as a point guard for his high school team. His team actually beat Mater Dei High in a dramatic matchup.

The Asian-American value system and priorities are very similar to Jewish families. Family is the highest priority. Education is stressed.

Good Chinese-American boys are expected to excel academically. There is no debate about mandatory college attendance with the almost obligatory graduate school to follow. Families like these produce attorneys, doctors, scientists, engineers and professors. That is why Asian-Americans dominate the high school valedictorian category and rarely need an affirmative action program to be accepted to institutions of higher learning.

Self discipline and a sterling work ethic are drilled into these kids. I grew up in a family like that and God forbid I ever brought home a grade lower than an A.

These families don’t tend to produce NBA stars.

Jeremy didn’t receive scholarship offers to play college basketball. He applied to and was accepted to Harvard University as a regular student.

He walked on the basketball team and ended up setting virtually every record in the history of Harvard basketball. In his junior year he was the only Division 1 men’s player to be ranked in the top 10 of his conference in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, blocks, field-goal percentage, free-throw percentage and three-point shot percentage.

A Harvard degree offers access to the highest level of business and political success. He had a 3.1 grade-point average in economics even with the distraction of practice and games. But Jeremy loved basketball. However, the NBA didn’t return that love and he went undrafted in the NBA Draft.

But he was determined and played in the NBA Developmental League. Only about 20% of these players ever receive an invitation to join an NBA team. The crowds are minuscule, the living conditions are hard, the average salary ranges from $12,000 to $15,000. But Jeremy had a dream.

He was finally invited to the Golden State Warriors camp. Because of the attenuated lockout and labor negotiations training camps did not allow as many chances for aspiring players to work their way on to teams.

Jeremy was cut adrift by the Golden State Warriors on the first day of training camp which made his chances of being picked up by another team very problematic. But Jeremy had a dream: to become the first Chinese-American athlete to play in the NBA. Then in December he was claimed off waivers by theHouston Rockets and lasted 12 days before being waived. He then was signed by the New York Knicksand assigned to their D League team. A couple weeks ago he was brought up by the Knicks because of an injury.

He hit the court running. He compiled the highest scoring first five games in the history of the NBA., replacing Shaquille O’Neal.

He scored 38 points against the vaunted Lakers and made their East Coast visit frustrating. It’s almost as if no one has found a way to stop him.

He has become a major media phenomenon. President Obama has called his story “one that transcends the sport itself.”

He has been on the cover of Sports Illustrated. The sales and traffic for the Knicks’ online store have risen more than 3,000% since his debut.

There is a Twitter page which is solely dedicated to Lin puns. He has electrified the Asian-American community. And if he continues to be this successful he will be a major Madison Avenue draw for endorsements.

Expect to see him on every national talk show.

So for any kid discouraged with lack of success and frustration in any endeavor, hang in there. Follow your dreams like Jeremy.

LEIGH STEINBERG is a renowned sports agent, author, advocate, speaker and humanitarian. His column appears weekly. Follow Leigh on Twitter @steinbergsports or blog.steinbergsports.com.

Hanukkah Hoops

What a great idea from our friend Randy Gordon. Check out all of the details here: www.hanukkahhoops.com - and follow them on twitter @hanukkahhoops.com

Steinberg: Huge week for SoCal

By Leigh Steinberg via Daily Pilot

December 13, 2011 | 10:38 p.m.

There is a theory that God created the concept of time so everything wouldn’t happen at once, but the dizzying pace of announcements regarding the Southern California sports scene last week defied that principle.

A series of events altered the landscape dramatically and should provide enhanced thrills for local sports fans.

Arte Moreno, owner of the Angels, has demonstrated his passion for winning and concern for the fans throughout his tenure. The two-year absence of MVP candidate first baseman Kendry Morales contributed to a power drain this past season that enabled the Rangers to take their second straight title. There was one franchise altering free agent available this year — Albert Pujols, who appears on his way to the Hall of Fame. His ability to dominate a game with powerful hitting is unequaled.

Moreno stepped to the plate, and $254 million later the Angels pulled off the deal of the year in baseball by signing Pujols to a long-term deal.

Mark Trumbo, incumbent first baseman, came close to Rookie of the Year honors, having the two sluggers at the same position is what is called a quality problem.

But wait (as they say on late-night infomercials), there’s more. The Angels then signed C.J. Wilson, arguably the best free agent pitcher available. That gives them a rotation of Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, Wilson and Erwin Santana.

I’ve been a fan of the Angels since 1961 when they had Little Albie Pearson, “Daddy Wags,” Bo Belinsky and Eli Grba (the only player to have a last name starting with three consonants). My father was a die-hard Angel fan and I wish he would was alive to see this season.

The Dodgers, the most beloved franchise in the history of this area, did nothing to enhance their team at the league meetings. That cracking sound you hear is the shifting of SoCal baseball primacy in the direction of Anaheim.

Jerry Buss of the Lakers has rebuilt a team that shifted from the dominance of West/Baylor/Chamberlain to Kareem/Magic/Worthy to Shaq/Kobe to Kobe/Gasol/Bynum, with aggressive moves over and over. The Lakers made a trade to bring Chris Paul, the most talented young point guard in the NBA, into a pairing with Kobe Bryant that would give them the most devastating backcourt in basketball. In steps commissioner David Stern, whose intransigence delayed and complicated the CBA negotiations, to veto the trade.

This was a move pressured by so-called small market teams to prevent the continuance of super franchises like the Lakers and the Heat. Dan Gilbert owner of the Cavs, and Mark Cuban, owner of the Mavericks (since when did NBA champ Dallas become a small market) led the revolt.

Ironically, there are NBA observers who argue the trade favored New Orleans, a rebuilding team which would have gotten four starters for their franchise. Some argued that the Lakers would be giving away their rebounding and defensive power in the middle by trading Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, and that Andrew Bynum is not dependable.

The Lakers ended their pursuit of Paul. They are trying for Orlando Magic superstar forward Dwight Howard. However this plays out, the Lakers figure to be more exciting this year.

UCLA football has been in the doldrums for some years now. This is the program that produced multiple high round draft picks and Rose Bowl wins in the 80’s and 90’s. Troy Aikman, Freeman McNeill, Kenny Easley, Gaston Green, Mike Sherrard, Eric Turner were players very competitive with USC. Why Rick Neuheisel didn’t succeed was a great puzzlement. This was same Neuheisel who coached Aikman to greatness, made Kordell Stewart a star at Colorado, was a noted offensive genius with great recruiting skills. But he could not get a Luck, Barkley type of quarterback to come to the program, and even though football is a team game, a productive quarterback is a must. Rick had the background, skill set, passion to lead a dynasty, and his behavior post-firing showed real character, but something didn’t work.

My parents hauled me to Bruin games in the 50s in the Coliseum, where Red Sanders coached the single wing. Please don’t revoke my citizenship status in this area, known as “SC heaven” because my parents had five UCLA degrees between them. UCLA has been competitive with USC in the past. But the 50-0 shellacking in the USC game was the last straw for alumni and the athletic department.

Many have criticized the UCLA athletic department for lacking the commitment and resources to build a plan for football success. UCLA seems to have been turned down by major coaches like Chris Peterson of Boise State and Al Golden of University of Miami. They have selected Jim Mora Jr., former NFL coach of the Falcons and the Seahawks, as their new coach.

This selection will not evoke great excitement among UCLA fans. But these hirings are difficult to predict. When Pete Carroll was hired by USC, the anger of fans was displayed for some time. He was excoriated in the local papers, talk radio, letters sections as a “out-of-work retread” who was not up to SC standards.

Three years later he could have run for mayor of Los Angeles. The NCAA violations are a separate and troubling issue, but when it came to on-the-field excellence, he was a perfect choice. It wouldn’t be hard to get his early critics to admit it now.

And that was the week that was — changing the face of our sporting scene.

LEIGH STEINBERG is a renowned sports agent, author, advocate, speaker and humanitarian. His column appears weekly. Follow Leigh on Twitter @steinbergsports or blog.steinbergsports.com.

Steinberg: NBA is back, but several mistakes were made

By Leigh Steinberg via Daily Pilot

November 30, 2011 | 6:42 p.m.

The NBA and its players finally reached accord on a new collective bargaining agreement last week. The season is scheduled to begin on Christmas Day.

The cost has been massive to owners, players and employees at the venues. Lost television revenue is enormous. Little of the lost revenue can be replaced. The deal was aimed at teams like Miami and the Lakers – it will be impossible to keep a roster filled with highly paid stars because of the luxury tax.

This is an example of a failed negotiating process. How did rational businessmen and players with short playing careers allow the process to go so wrong?

Whenever anyone tells me in reference to a conflict-filled negotiation process that “things can’t get any worse,” my instant response is, “Oh, YES THEY CAN!”

When strong-willed men, convinced that their position is imminently reasonable, begin to feel that the other party is in bad faith, and compromise that will lead to disaster. Unintended consequences occur.

I wrote “Winning With Integrity” to suggest how deadlocks can be avoided in negotiations and produce a win/win result. Deadlock between parties can lead to divorce, war or the loss of an NBA season.

The longer an impasse continues, the more entrenched and intransigent people can become. Having let the process drag too long, parties are more inclined to see an apocalyptic future and are locked into the absolute necessity to maintain their future.

How did the negotiations for a new CBA get so destructive between the NBA Players Assn. and NBA management?

1. They lost perspective that they are in the entertainment business in an ailing economy. The real battle for the NBA should not be labor versus management, rather the competition with the NFL, NHL, HBO, Disneyland and every other form of discretionary entertainment spending. The priority is building the brand of the NBA and stimulating revenue flow from attendance, television, sponsorship and merchandising and other creative ancillary revenue opportunities. The cardinal rule for any professional sport is: don’t alienate the fans. As P.T. Barnum proudly proclaimed “The Show Must Go On.” The specter of millionaires bickering with billionaires leads most fans to say “a pox on both their houses.”

2. They committed a form of sports suicide. Fans had high school, collegiate and professional football and the NHL and college basketball to keep them occupied. Cancelling of games means irreplaceable revenue is lost. The players lost an estimated $82 million with each two weeks of missed games. Owners lost revenue. The impact spreads to dozens of other employees and businesses that depend on the playing and broadcast of games. It will take 30 days to have a reasonable training camp and exhibition games as the league ramps up to launch on Christmas Day, which just so happens to be the most profitable day of the regular season.

3. The parties delayed talking substantively until way too close to training camp. In the NFL negotiations, the players decertified and went to court in March and April and they cut it close. But they knew that in the NFL, no one gets serious about business until a deadline exists, and they responded to the deadline. In NBA and NFL rookie negotiations I would tell owners: “Let’s pick a date several weeks prior to the opening of training camp and work against that deadline. Let’s pretend that the negotiations have gotten acrimonious, the coach and owner are ready to say ‘this player will be of no use this year if he doesn’t sign,’ fans are angry, media coverage is harmful, and the player is ready to say ‘I never want to play for this team, I’ll wait until the next draft,’ what would be your position then?” They needed to narrow the gaps and anticipate a worst-case scenario much earlier. And, they should have been in non-stop mediation in the summer.

4. The parties started publicly arguing that only their position was right. David Stern is much more antagonistic and anxious to paint the union leadership as betraying the best interests of their players than he needs to be. I listened to an interview he did last week that was a declaration of war, painting the union into a corner. The NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell knew that his constituency was owners, but said little publicly and never personalized the process. Individual players have spoken out, to which the public has praised some and admonished others.

5. A significant group of owners firmly believe that they would lose money if the season is played and without substantial changes in rules and profit splits, they would be better off not having a season at all. That group thinks that the last management offer was excessive and was relieved to see the players didn’t take it. Keep in mind that the deal will make it extremely difficult for a team like the Lakers to keep its top stars together. The new luxury tax will see sweeping changes after the initial two-year grace period. For the first $5 million over the salary cap, owners like Jerry Buss will be forced to pay $1.50 for each dollar above the cap, and that penalty rises to $3.75 for every dollar above a 20-million-dollar overage. This system would have cost the Lakers almost $60 million in penalty payments last year in addition to payroll and other costs. It looks like it’s time to say goodbye to Laker dominance – large numbers of highly paid veteran superstars simply won’t be able to stay together.

This should have been a time where the parties locked themselves into a room and kept patiently negotiating until they reached a compromise. Binding arbitration could have been tried. Major League Baseball committed a form of brand suicide with its 1994 strike. The following season attendance dropped by $40%. Merchandise sat on shelves, unwanted.

It took the steroid-enhanced home-run totals – highlighted by the Sammy Sosa-Mark McGwire race to bring that sport back.

The NHL never seemed to fully recover from its disastrous strike/lockout and still doesn’t have a major network television contract.

So when pundits proclaimed that a situation can’t get any worse, believe me, it can.

Consequences occurred here that will be highly destructive for the NBA. Hopefully future sports CBA negotiations can put their sport first and keep negotiations private and constructive.

LEIGH STEINBERG is a renowned sports agent, author, advocate, speaker and humanitarian. His column appears weekly. Follow Leigh on Twitter @steinbergsports or blog.steinbergsports.com.

Steinberg: NBA can learn from NFL

By Leigh Steinberg via Daily Pilot

October 15, 2011 | 10:37 p.m.

The NBA lockout drags on with games canceled this week.

On Tuesday a federal mediator will meet with the sides in New York. A mediator is not someone empowered to force the sides to compromise — as in binding arbitration. Good mediators are skilled at moving between two groups in conflict and painting apocalyptic visions of a future in which they do not settle.

He conveys offers back and forth between parties that are in different rooms. He cajoles and threatens hour after hour until an agreement is reached. The process can be grueling for everyone involved. Even if there is not an agreement, the mediator may have forced the parties to show their hand in a way that narrows the gap and leads to a future settlement. It is a good sign that the parties agreed to mediate.

David Stern has predicted that if a new collective bargaining agreement is not reached by Tuesday, games won’t be played on Christmas. He is a combative and aggressive negotiator for the owners, who has laid out the NBA position publicly in an attempt to get fans angry at players for their large salaries. He knows these are tough economic times and the public has little sympathy for a battle that pits millionaires and billionaires.

The NFL was very shrewd in keeping a news blackout on their talks, as were the players. For a major economic dispute involving billions of dollars, there were very few statements made by the sides to publicly paint the players or owners as villains. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was intentionally very bland in his stance other than predicting a deal would be done.

The problem with demonizing the other side is that it does real damage to the brand of the sport. It breaks down the delicate bond between fans and sports. When the last major league baseball strike was done, fan loyalty was seriously impacted. Attendance dropped the next season, and it took the steroid (allegedly) fueled home run duel between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa to bring it back.

My book “Winning With Integrity” outlines how deadlock and conflict hardens positions and prevents a win-win result. It is the same impulse toward passionate self justification and vilification of the other side that leads to war, divorce and other dire consequences. It is necessary to put yourself in the other parties heart and mind and see the world the way they see it. It requires creative minds engaged in a process that will respect the other parties goals and priorities.

PT Barnum said “The show must go on.” Every two weeks that games are canceled, players and owners lose money. There are thousands of stadium vendors, adjacent businesses, television, advertisers and many other victims who don’t have a voice in the matter.

And how much is the average sports fan suffering without preseason training camps and exhibition games? Not much and therein lies a lack of external pressure. This weekend there will be a cornucopia of exciting sports experiences, in person and on television. High school, collegiate and NFL football have a loaded schedule. The MLB playoffs have been exciting. The NHL is playing, as is soccer.

What NBA?

The remaining issues are both economic and structural. According to multiple reports, the players have dropped their demand for percentage of revenue to 53%, the official position of the owners is 47% but they have hinted at coming to 50%. Worst case, this is a difference of $120 million the first year, which is not an insurmountable hurdle in a massive CBA.

The NBA, unlike the NFL, has a “soft cap.” In the NFL teams are not allowed to spend beyond their cap limit and are not allowed to sign players if they are over the cap, and given limited time to get under.

While everything in sports business only happens under the pressure of deadlines, it is inexplicable why the parties would allow a month to pass in the summer while they didn’t communicate. When people think that things can’t get worse, they assuredly can. The goal is to keep the NBA popular with fans, develop as many ancillary revenue streams as possible, and grow the pie. But a group of owners is so convinced that they stand to lose money under the current system, they would rather not agree to play games until they get their way. Players are desperately trying to hold on to gains they have made in the past.

When two parties get locked in, unintended consequences ensue. This mediator has his work cut out for him.

LEIGH STEINBERG is a renowned sports agent, author, advocate, speaker and humanitarian. His column appears weekly. Follow Leigh on Twitter @steinbergsports or blog.steinbergsports.com.

NBA talks headed to federal mediator

Posted on: October 12, 2011 6:24 pm

Edited on: October 12, 2011 8:54 pm

The NBA labor talks are headed for government intervention after the canceling of games drew the attention of the nation’s top federal mediator.

George Cohen, director of the federal mediation and conciliation service, will oversee further negotiations between the NBA and its players’ association on a new collective bargaining agreement, the agency said in a news release Wednesday. The sessions will begin Tuesday in New York.

“For a number of months, I have participated in separate, informal, off-the-record discussions with the principals representing the NBA and the NBPA concerning the status of their collective bargaining negotiations,” Cohen said in the statement. “It is evident that the ongoing dispute will result in a serious impact, not only upon the parties directly involved, but also, of major concern, on interstate commerce—i.e., the employers and working men and women who provide services related to the basketball games, and, more generally, on the economy of every city in which those games are scheduled to be played.

“In these circumstances, the agency has invited, and the parties have agreed, to convene further negotiations under my auspices,” Cohen said.

Billy Hunter, the NBPA’s executive director, divulged in a radio interview with WFAN in New York earlier Wednesday that the two sides had agreed to have their failed negotiations federally mediated.

Cohen, appointed by President Obama, was called upon to mediate the NFL’s labor negotiation with the NFL Players Association before that sport’s recent lockout was imposed. He has no binding authority and can only make suggestions. If nothing else, a fresh set of eyes and opinions — not to mention meetings with a different venue and format — couldn’t hurt.

Cohen has argued five landmark labor cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and last year helped avert a crisis in Major League Soccer’s labor talks. He is a former appellate court attorney with the National Labor Relations Board, and in fact argued before then-U.S. District Judge Sonia Sotomayor on the day she issued an injunction that effectively ended the Major League Baseball strike in 1995. Cohen was the MLBPA’s lead attorney in the case, and also has worked with the NBPA.

In a Los Angeles Times article from March, football agent Leigh Steinberg said a good mediator is “an expert in the psychology of human gridlock.” To that extent, Cohen has joined the right fight, as the NBA and NBPA are hopelessly, needlessly gridlocked over issues that should have been easily solved once they approached a compromise on how to divide the sport’s $4 billion of revenues. The league’s bargaining talks broke off Monday night after 13 hours over two days and multiple sessions over a two-week period. The league on Monday canceled the first two weeks of the regular season.

Drawn by the fact that lost games will have an economic impact beyond the parties involved, Cohen’s office called both parties this week to request that they voluntarily participate in mediation, two sources said. Both agreed.

For those wondering why the step wasn’t taken sooner, federal mediators generally don’t get involved in labor disputes unless asked, or unless they reach an impasse after the sides had ample time to bargain. The NFL requested Cohen’s involvement before the lockout was imposed, and while it’s unclear what impact he had on the ultimate resolution, his powers at the time were muted by the lack of urgency in the talks.

NBA talks headed to federal mediator

By Ken Berger via CBSSports.com

The NBA labor talks are headed for government intervention after the canceling of games drew the attention of the nation’s top federal mediator.

George Cohen, director of the federal mediation and conciliation service, will be in New York City Monday to interview separately executives from the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association, two people with knowledge of the meeting told CBSSports.com Wednesday. The two parties will then meet in Cohen’s office Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

Billy Hunter, the NBPA’s executive director, divulged in a radio interview with WFAN in New York earlier Wednesday that the two sides had agreed to have their failed negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement federally mediated.

Cohen, appointed by President Obama, was called upon to mediate the NFL’s labor negotiation with the NFL Players Association before that sport’s recent lockout was imposed. He has no binding authority and can only make suggestions. If nothing else, a fresh set of eyes and opinions — not to mention meetings with a different venue and format — couldn’t hurt.

Cohen has argued five landmark labor cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and last year helped avert a crisis in Major League Soccer’s labor talks. He is a former appellate court attorney with the National Labor Relations Board, and in fact argued before then-U.S. District Judge Sonia Sotomayor on the day she issued an injunction that effectively ended the Major League Baseball strike in 1995. Cohen was the MLBPA’s lead attorney in the case, and also has worked with the NBPA.

In a Los Angeles Times article from March, footbal agent Leigh Steinberg said a good mediator is “an expert in the psychology of human gridlock.” To that extent, Cohen has joined the right fight, as the NBA and NBPA are hopelessly, needlessly gridlocked over issues that should have been easily solved once they approached a compromise on how to divide the sport’s $4 billion of revenues. The league’s bargaining talks broke off Monday night after 13 hours over two days and multiple sessions over a two-week period. The league on Monday canceled the first two weeks of the regular season.

Drawn by the fact that lost games will have an economic impact beyond the parties involved, Cohen’s office called both parties this week to request that they voluntarily participate in mediation, two sources said. Both agreed.

For those wondering why the step wasn’t taken sooner, federal mediators generally don’t get involved in labor disputes unless asked, or unless they reach an impasse after the sides had ample time to bargain. The NFL requested Cohen’s involvement before the lockout was imposed, and while it’s unclear what impact he had on the ultimate resolution, his powers at the time were muted by the lack of urgency in the talks.

There is time for the NBA

By Leigh Steinberg via Daily Pilot

September 24, 2011 | 10:59 p.m.

I wrote a book, “Winning With Integrity — How To Get What You Want Without Losing Your Soul,” that suggests numerous techniques for achieving a win-win result in a negotiation. When parties deadlock and harden their positions thinking that the other side will collapse, it usually leads to more deadlock.

The NFL realized that compromise and mutual consideration was the road to mutual benefit and preserved their training camp and season.

The Nielsen television ratings for Sept. 6-12 have the top three shows and five out of the top 10 as NFL games or pre-game shows. The NFL continues to be the dominant entertainment property in this country. That is the result of preserving the relationship with fans and the benefit of labor peace. With ratings like that the next television contracts will be even bigger.

Then there is the NBA hurdling down a road to self-destruction.

Last week the NBA postponed training camps indefinitely and canceled preseason games scheduled to play between Oct 9 and 15. This is because negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement has not been negotiated.

Collective bargaining agreements are negotiated between the leagues and players’ unions to establish the basic rules and financial structure of the sport and benefits for players.

The NBA has an acrimonious and troubled labor past. Because of a disastrous botched negotiation, in 1998 the NBA canceled the entire preseason and played a truncated 50-game schedule. They are on the same path in 2011.

Professional sports are not necessary for sustaining human survival, much as we males seem to think so. They are not food on the table or transportation to get to work and school or shelter to live in.

They are a discretionary entertainment expenditure which competes with other sports, movies, television, amusement parks. At the best of economic times fans have little sympathy for millionaires publicly fighting billionaires for a massive pie. And these are far from the best of economic times.

Force-feeding fans an unremitting diet of labor strife and bad individual negotiations pushes them away from the reason they love sports. It hurts the brand. It is like Marie Antoinette saying to fans and the public “let them eat cake.”

Fifty-six of the 450 NBA players have decided to play in Europe this season. Some have NBA opt-outs in their contracts with their European teams, most do not.

Kobe Bryant received a $6.7 million offer to play in Italy for Virtus Bologna. If star players take this route it could result in a diminished NBA product.

The players are fortunate to have Derek Fisher, a calm and rational person, as their leader.

David Stern, commissioner of the NBA, is a feisty negotiator who “takes no prisoners.”

So the sides are stuck, fiddling while the NBA may go up in flames.

The parties need to look at how truly profitable their sport has become and not make the same mistake that Major League Baseball did in the 1994 lost season. Attendance had a huge drop the next season and it took the McGwire-Sosa home-run race to bring the sport back.

It is not too late to step back from the apocalypse.

LEIGH STEINBERG is a renowned sports agent, author, advocate, speaker and humanitarian. His column appears weekly. Follow Leigh on Twitter @steinbergsports or blog.steinbergsports.com.