NBA legends weigh in on labor dispute

Bill Russell believes that the league he helped establish and popularize will not begin its 2011-12 season on time. And his view was the most optimistic among NBA legends at Friar's Head in Riverhead Monday for the Mentor's Champions Golf Challenge.

Russell, the former Celtics great and coach, said of the NBA lockout, "They're making some progress, but I think they'll miss a few games.

"There is a great misunderstanding in the public on what the issues are, and both sides have a point. People think it's a battle over money. There is more to it than that," he said. "The thing about negotiations, though, is that to a true believer, compromise is retreat. So you have the element of saving face."

Greats from all sports played in the golf outing, hosted by Russell and Long Island business executive Geoff Boisi to raise funds and awareness for Mentor, the national mentoring program that Russell is championing. If Russell were to mentor either side on the labor dispute, the 11-time NBA champion said he would advise them to "figure out the human aspect."

"One of the statements that David Stern made when he took the job of commissioner was, 'I don't consider the NBA Players Association as my adversary, I consider them my business partner.' If you take that attitude, you can work something out," he said.

Charles Barkley was more blunt and pessimistic. On the Friar's Head practice tee, he said, "It's going to be ugly. I've already been on the record saying I don't think they're going to play at all next year. That's unfortunate. But the system is broken and they've got to find a way to fix it. They've got to come to a compromise. The small-market teams can't compete. We've got to find a way to fix that."

Jerry West, a consultant with the Warriors, followed league policy and offered no comment. "I'll talk about the NFL," he said. Sam Jones, Russell's former teammate on the Celtics, was asked if the season would start on time and said, "I don't think so. I really don't want to talk about it because it's political, as far as I'm concerned."

Julius Erving said, "I don't know. It's looking like they're not , but I'm hoping that they will. I'm not in the pipeline right now."

Rick Barry seemed mystified by the players union: "It's tragic, what's happening there. I really, truly don't understand what they're doing. How do you walk in when 22 of 30 teams are losing money, and ask for a five-year contract that takes the average salary from $5 to $7 million? That's unconscionable."