THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 16, 1995 TAG: 9509160397
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 107 lines
When Joe Smith's name was called first at the NBA draft June 28, he stood up and gleefully pounded his chest.
He has spent much of the 2 1/2 months since scratching his head.
Three days after Smith was selected by the Golden State Warriors, NBA owners locked out the players. What has followed during the NBA's summer of discontent is a laundry list of labor strife - from a commissioner feuding with agents to a move by dissident players to decertify the union and a threat the season would be canceled.
For the 20-year-old Smith, it has been a frustrating indoctrination into a strange new world.
``I didn't really understand fully what was going on,'' Smith said. ``I just want to play ball. I didn't come out of school a year early to sit out a whole season and not play ball.''
Based on the events of the past week, Smith will get to play. NBA players voted overwhelmingly not to decertify, and then player representatives approved a new six-year collective bargaining agreement. Owners approved the deal Friday, and the lockout will end at noon Monday.
So Smith, a former star at Norfolk's Maury High and Maryland, is happy, right?
Sort of.
One thing Smith clearly understands about the new collective bargaining agreement is that it contains a rookie salary cap. Instead of a 10-year, $68.15 million deal like Glenn Robinson signed as the first pick in last year's draft, Smith will be limited to a three-year deal worth no more than $8.53 million.
Because of that, Smith said had he been able to vote, he would have voted despite the threat that the season would be canceled.
``I think it cost me a couple million,'' Smith said.
Although perhaps not as much as it appears. Robinson's contract averages $6.8 million a year, but it is heavily back-loaded. The $2.06 million Smith will be allowed to make in his first year is not too far off the $2.9 million Robinson earned as a rookie.
``The only reason I'm upset, even though it's not much the first year, is it's like taking money out of my pocket,'' Smith said. ``Even though ($2 million) is a lot of money, if you can get $3 million you'll go for $3 million.''
Len Elmore, Smith's agent, said having a 10-year guaranteed pact like Robinson's obviously is preferable to the short-term limitations Smith faces under the rookie salary cap. The upside, Elmore said, is that after three years Smith becomes an unrestricted free agent and can negotiate a sweetheart deal. Robinson is locked in for 10 years no matter what, even if NBA salaries escalate to the point where his $10.73 million in 2003-04 is not so spectacular.
``Joe has the potential, if this deal is as good as the league says it is, to do better than Glenn Robinson in the long run,'' Elmore said.
The onus is on Smith to prove he's worth the megabucks as a pro, rather than getting it handed to him based on his college performance.
``But in the first three years, he's still going to receive 99.999 percent more money than the average 20-year-old in America,'' said Elmore.
Elmore is vehemently opposed to the new collective bargaining agreement and how it was ratified. He said that NBA Commissioner David Stern used coercion by threatening to cancel the season if union decertification passed, and that the players accepted a contract they know is not a good deal.
Elmore, who traveled to Oakland on Friday, will begin negotiating Smith's contract immediately. Elmore said despite the limitations of the salary cap, with some ``creativity'' a good deal for Smith could be worked out.
Because of the lockout, Smith has had no contact with the Warriors. But coach Rick Adelman said this week he hopes Smith can get in town and get settled soon. Smith traveled to San Francisco on Friday to appear at a card show, and then heads to Los Angeles today to promote his one-on-one game with fellow rookie Kevin Garnett in Atlantic City Sept. 30 on pay-per-view.
``He was all set to come out this summer,'' Adelman said. ``I think that will be real important for us to get that done as soon as this thing is settled.''
Training camp opens Oct. 6, which means Smith and his mother, Letha, have three weeks to find a place to live in the Bay Area and make a transcontinental move.
``I've gotta start packing now,'' said Letha, who will live with her son for at least a year. ``I didn't want to do anything until they found out what they were going to do. I've never left home before, and now when I leave home I'm going on the other side of the world.
``I'm jittery on the inside. I've got a lot to do and a short time to do it.''
Smith said he has worked out all summer both here and in Maryland, where Elmore said Smith faced NBA players Chris Webber, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo and Walt Williams. He's also had some fun, such as vacationing in the Virgin Islands, attending Pernell ``Sweetpea'' Whitaker's August title fight in Atlantic City and presenting a Maryland basketball jersey to Cal Ripken on the night Ripken tied Lou Gehrig's consecutive games played record.
But through it all, he waited and wondered what would happen with the labor dispute.
``I'm very happy that it's over with and the season will start on time,'' Smith said. ``Basically I have to get in the frame of mind that the season is here and I have to go to work again. Hopefully my career lasts as long as Cal's.'' ILLUSTRATION: STAFF FILE
Former Maryland and Maury High star Joe Smith will be limited to a
three-year deal worth no more than $8.53 million because of the new
labot agreement. In contrast, last year's top pick, Glenn Robinson,
received a 10-year, $68.15 million contract.
by CNB