Give former Knicks president Donnie Walsh a pat on the back. The NBA announced yesterday its audit for the 2010-11 season is complete and, according to a person familiar with the situation, the Knicks did not pay a luxury tax for the first time since the now-expired collective bargaining agreement was reached in 1999.
According to a person debriefed on the audit, the Knicks 2010-11 payroll finished over the salary cap following the Carmelo Anthony bonanza, but finished at $67 million — $3 million less than the luxury-tax threshold.
During the Isiah Thomas and Scott Layden years, the Knicks paid a dollar-for-dollar luxury tax of $24-30 million annually, when their payroll skied above $100 million, leading to Walsh’s hiring and his massive cap-cutting. A source said the three luxury-tax victims were the Lakers, Orlando and the NBA champion Mavericks, each paying around $20 million.
The NBA released a statement on the audit yesterday, claiming basketball-related income and total player compensation each increased by 4.8 percent this past season. The players are locked out because the league is trying to reduce its cut of the BRI.
The Players Association and NBA delegates met yesterday to discuss how to raise more revenues — their first powwow since June 30. It was not considered a negotiating session and more generic meetings on the “system” are being planned.
The NBA press release pointed out the average player salary this past season was $5.15 million and that over the six years of the expired CBA, average salaries increased by 16 percent. The reason for the inclusion of those stats was clear. The NBA, in times of alleged losses, is trying to put a freeze on salaries in a proposed 10-year CBA — a major sticking point.