Can a federal mediator be the NBA’s knight in shining armor?
That’s the hope as George Cohen, the director of Federal Mediation, spends Monday and Tuesday speaking with the NBA owners and players’ association to try and settle the NBA’s stalemate.
He will meet with both groups separately before leading a joint bargaining session with leaders from both sides.
Can Cohen save basketball?
An NBA source told the New York Post that, “George is the only guy I’ve seen as smart as David Stern. And David knows it.”
Cohen is well-versed in settling disputes. He mediated the NFL lockout, helped save the NHL season in 2004, and worked on other settlements including disagreements between the Metropolitan Opera and its musicians and the FAA and Air Traffic Controllers.
Stern’s announcement that the lockout could last through Christmas without an agreement this week has everyone on edge. The financial ramifications of losing the regular season’s first two weeks are widespread.
Players are angry. Fans are sad. Even the President is “heartbroken.”
Please save the NBA, Mr. Cohen. You may be our only hope.
