Lamell McMorris, the lead negotiator for the referees, said that executives at the NBA league office received raises this year despite the severe economic recession.

McMorris said that this summer, the NBA's senior vice president of referee operations was granted a $50,000 raise plus a bonus for last season, while two other NBA officials each saw a raise of $25,000.  The NBA declined comment.

McMorris stated that the starting salary for NBA referees is $91,000 and the top salary paid to referees currently is between $350,000 and $400,000.

The league is asking the referees to take a pay cut due to the difficult economic climate and released information on the salary ranges in the referees' past contract, prompting the aggressive response by McMorris.

"Did they put David Stern's salary in there?" McMorris asked.

Despite the angry words, McMorris said he is open to continuing negotiations.

"Our phone lines are open," McMorris said. "We're the ones who got kicked out of the meeting last week. We're not the ones who ended the call (Thursday). It's not on us."