According to sources NBA commissioner David Stern will not receive a salary during the lockout.
This comes in the wake of Philadelphia 76ers forward Spencer Hawes stating on Twitter his displeasure with Stern not taking a pay decrease while he is encouraging players to do so.
Stern has not made an official declaration, but sources close to the commissioner have stated that he indeed plans on declining his salary as long as the league is in lockout.
It’s possible that the recent NFL lockout has played into this as well. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell lowered his salary to a mere $1 as a sign of solidarity with the players to show that reaching a labor agreement was the ultimate goal.
When asked about Goodell’s decision Stern implied that he wouldn’t even accept $1, stating that “a dollar would be too high in the event of a work stoppage.” Stern also went on to say that the last time there was a work stoppage (1998-99), he didn’t receive his salary.
While the commissioner’s salary is technically unknown, one source said that Stern brings in $500,000 for each team in the league. That adds up to approximately $15 million in annual salary. Another rumor says that Stern actually makes up to $23 million annually.
Regardless of the actual numbers on Stern’s paychecks, it seems he is looking to turn down those numbers until the lockout is resolved. With many expecting a long, drawn-out work stoppage that may be awhile. Hopefully Stern’s decision is indicative of his optimism that the lockout won’t extend too far into the start of the regular season. Until then, however, this appears the only piece of optimistic news coming out of the NBA labor agreements.
This is slightly more encouraging news than what broke yesterday, when it was announced that the NBA was suing the players’ association.
