NBA referees are prepared to be locked out at the start of the season after negotiations with the league on a new contract broke down this week when commissioner David Stern ended the latest bargaining session. No further talks are scheduled – and when they do resume, it'll be without Stern. Referees spokesman Lamell McMorris accused Stern of acting childish and not negotiating in good faith, so Stern removed himself from the process. Stern said Thursday he told McMorris that, “In fact if it was going to get personal - which apparently he's decided to make it by calling news media and leveling a series of inaccurate allegations - that I would absent myself from the negotiations, which I have. “Hopefully we'll make a deal with the referees, or we won't, but it won't be on the basis of personality, it'll be on the basis of economics,” Stern added. The league's contract with its referees expired on Sept. 1, and McMorris said the sides have basically agreed on salary issues for a new two-year deal. He said the league wanted to freeze salaries for the first year with a 1 percent increase in year two. The officials were willing to go along with that, McMorris said, because of the economic difficulties the league was facing, but the NBA was still asking for significant reductions in the referees' budget. “We've laid $2.5 million back on the table,” McMorris said. “Some things we have to be able to go back to our group and to say that we collectively bargained in good faith. Our goal is not to take all the hits, we can't do that.” Stern abruptly halted Tuesday's talks at the league headquarters, saying the officials reneged on something previously agreed upon, but McMorris was critical of the way the commissioner handled things. “The problem is, David Stern does not negotiate. He tells you what's going to happen and then when you don't do it, and do something differently, he whines and acts like a child,” McMorris said. “That's not how you negotiate. Not with adults.” Referees are due to open their training camp on Sept. 20, and the league's first preseason game is scheduled for Oct. 1. Without a deal soon, the NBA will begin the season with replacement officials for the first time since 1995. The league is seeking cuts in areas such as the referees' benefits, travel budget and their per diems, which Stern said would “bring their numbers in line with other league employees.” McMorris feels there is more to it, with the league possibly trying to rid itself of older referees or perhaps send a strong message to the players, whose collective bargaining agreement with the NBA expires after the 2011 season. Officials from the NBA Development League could end up calling NBA games as the league scrambles for replacements.
