Via USA Today:
The 2011-12 NBA season could be over before it starts.
By Seth Wenig, AP
Surrounded by NBA players, NBPA executive director Billy Hunter (holding microphone) and NBPA president Derek Fisher, speak to the media after the players rejected the league's latest offer.
The National Basketball Players Association, saying the collective bargaining process has "completely broken down," served notice to the NBA on Monday that they plan to dissolve and pursue antitrust lawsuits against the league for the 137-day lockout.
"The players feel they're not prepared to accept any ultimatum," NBPA executive director Billy Hunter said. "We think it's extremely unfair to give (players the ultimatum) that they accept (the owners') proposal or roll back to 47%" from a 50-50 split of basketball-related income.
"We have negotiated in good faith for over two years," Hunter said. "But the players just felt they have given enough, that the NBA was not prepared to negotiate, that things were not going to get better."
Hunter said there was a "high probability" there won't be a season.
NBA Commissioner David Stern had spent the weekend telegraphing to the players that the league intended to roll back to the 53-47 BRI percentage split and a hard cap if the players did not accept the last offer on the table, which came at the end of 23 hours of negotiations late last week.
"The proposal made by the NBA was regressive," Hunter said.
Stern, saying he was saddened and "terribly disappointed," refused Monday to say the
words "the season is over" but made it clear the outlook is not good.
"I think the chance of the season slipping away from us, and the players losing all they have worked very hard to achieve … it's really a tragedy," Stern said.
"I must say that when you negotiate for 2 1/2 years and finally get to where the parties are, that's not an ultimatum, that's a proposal ready to be voted up and down. But the union decided in its ultimate wisdom that the proposal would not be presented to the membership with a fair description."
NBPA Derek Fisher said that was unnecessary because at Monday's meeting of the player representatives for the 30 teams, the vote was unanimous not to accept.
"After two years of making a genuine effort … we've come to the conclusion today that the process has not worked for us," Fisher said. "We decided this is the best decision for the players."
Veterans populated the players meeting:
•"We understand we may not have a season," NBA free agent Mo Evans said.
•"We're not gonna be Strong-Armed," New Jersey Nets Anthony Morrow tweeted.
Then there are the younger players.
Guard Kyrie Irving, the No. 1 overall draft pick out of Duke to the Cleveland Cavaliers, tweeted: "Lol now everybody wanna flood my mentions with you shoulda stayed in school…eh yea and no…I have NO regrets at all though!! Sorry"
Forward Tobias Harris turned pro after one year at Tennessee and was drafted 19th overall in June by the Charlotte Bobcats, then traded to the Milwaukee Bucks.
"I'm not going to say who I think is at fault," Harris said. "I just think the season needs to be playing.
"It's a tough situation for me. My agent is looking at Europe and other options. In the meantime, I'm going to keep on working out and staying in shape. I have hope the lockout will end, but not as much as I did four months ago."
Former NBA Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik said the union's actions "certainly can't be any kind of surprise" to the league. And the consequence of the union's disclaimer of interest, i.e., dissolving?
"It will cause everybody to spend the next several weeks, at least, to focus on litigation rather than make a deal," Granik said, "making it far less likely to have any kind of real discussion."
Fans, predictably, are not happy:
•"My personal feeling is that the players might be making a huge mistake," said Washington Wizards fan Rick Rowe, from Ellicott City, Md. "I don't know the inside scoop. I don't know if it's the owners being greedy or not, but it doesn't look that way. … (When it's settled) I will support them, only because my son is 23, and that's what we do together. If not, I would boycott. I have season tickets, so if not for him, I'd probably call them up and ask for my money back."
."I'm upset to hear about it. It augars a very desolate winter," said New York Knicks fan David Englander, 58, a former attorney from Forest Hills, N.Y. "The Knicks have made longterm deals that turned out to be busts and put them in such a bind for so many years. So to the extent that changes (from the owners) would be made to prevent that in the future, (their proposal) certainly makes sense."
Stern had reiterated Sunday to USA TODAY that the proposal on the table was the best players would get and agreeing to the terms was the best shot to salvage a 72-game season.
Monday, he ramped up his rhetoric, saying this is the "nuclear winter of the NBA."
"Frankly, by what I would say is an irresponsible action at this late date, Billy Hunter has decided to put the season in jeopardy and deprive his union members of an enormous payday," Stern said. "It gets stranger and stranger."
Stern put the exclamation point on Monday's events in a statement:
"The NBA has negotiated in good faith throughout the collective bargaining process. … There will ultimately be a new collective bargaining agreement, but the 2011-12 season is now in jeopardy."
Earlier:
Lawd.. Lawd.. I need to see my baby Kobe play!!!!! :D
Give the players what they are asking for... They earn it, not the suits!
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