CBA Life Isn't Bad Alternative

Twenty-five players have been called up from the CBA to play inthe NBA this season. A record 38 were called up during the 1992-93season. While the main dream for CBA players remains to play in theNBA, conditions in the CBA are not as bad as many people believe.

"People still envision the CBA teams riding an old bus down adusty road," CBA chief publicist Brett Meister said. "I get a littlesensitive about that. Ninety percent of our travel is by airline, 10percent by bus. And the buses are chartered.

"We are also staying in hotels and not sleeping on the bus.It's not a bad life. Some of the players are spoiled in basketball.They come from high-profile, Division I college programs. Maybe theCBA is not equal to those programs, but it's way ahead ofminor-league baseball and hockey."Salaries in the CBA range from $1,000 to $2,000 a week ($700 or$800 for rookies). Players get 18 checks during the regular season."We don't have a salary cap," Meister said. "The players gettheir housing paid for, they get a per diem of $25 a day and mostteams provide vehicles in their home city. They are not going to getrich. But they aren't poor, either. A lot of them are making morethan I am. For 18 weeks, they basically have no expenses. (In theoffseason) a lot of them will go to NBA rookie; free-agent camps inhopes of being invited to training camp. They also play in the USBL(the United States Basketball League), a summer league."NOTES: Hawks guard Steve Smith has agreed to a six-yearextension paying him an average of $5 million a year. But Chicagonative Ken Norman is so deep in coach Lenny Wilkens' doghouse that herarely plays even in garbage time.Pat Croce, the future president of the Philadelphia 76ers under newownership, is trying to recruit longtime friends Billy Cunningham andDave Wohl to help him build and run the team. Croce reportedly hastold John Lucas that he must decide whether he wants to coach or begeneral manager because he will not do both. But if he chooses tocoach, he will coach only if the new general manager wants him.Some information for this page was contributed by other NBAwriters.