NBA players rejected the league's latest contract offer on Monday and will disband as a union, a move that could wipe out the entire NBA season with the sides taking their labor dispute into the court of law.
The NBPA said it would no longer continue in collective bargaining and would dissolve the union to become a trade association in order to pursue legal action against the NBA, with the entire 2011-12 season hanging in the balance. (MORE>>>)
The NBA lockout has nearly reached four months, and there's more than just negotiating with NBA Commissioner David Stern that's left the players union restless. There's also issues they have to discuss amongst themselves.
For worse, the two sides don't have any negotiating sessions scheduled. But at least the NBA Players Assn. plans to meet Thursday in New York on what will likely involve a number of timely issues. Below are two of the things the players union must iron out. (MORE>>>)
It doesn't matter that Derek Fisher is blowing smoke in the public's direction by denying reports of a rift between himself and a few members of the NBA players' union. What matters is the reason why he felt the need to do so, the effect it could possibly have on labor negotiations and whether he'll get the support he needs to secure a 2011-12 NBA season.
Fisher did the right thing by writing an open letter to players Monday, reiterating his commitment to them while attempting to swat away any hints to the contrary. He did it again in a statement Tuesday. Quite honestly, he had to say something. When you're accused of talking to owners behind the backs of union executives and promising to deliver the owners' coveted 50-50 split of annual revenue (known as basketball related income or BRI) without anyone's knowledge -- words like "alleged" or "allegations" won't floss over the damage done to your reputation.(MORE>>>)
NBA Commissioner David Stern canceled NBA games through Nov. 30 on Friday after NBA labor negotiations broke down for the second time in a week.
''It's not practical, possible or prudent to have a full season now,'' Stern said.
After two days of making some progress on salary cap issues, the two sides brought the revenue split back into the discussion and got stuck on both.
Owners are insistent on a 50-50 split of revenues, while players last formally proposed they get 52.5 percent, leaving them about $100 million apart annually. Players were guaranteed 57 percent in the previous collective bargaining agreement. (MORE>>>)
Thursday was the last straw, the end for those who believed this was a negotiation -- a hard-nosed one, to be sure, but a negotiation -- between two worthy adversaries, each looking for the best possible deal for themselves, but ultimately willing to make a deal. Thursday came and went, and at the end of 30 hours of negotiations that were finally, painstakingly bringing the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association toward a deal that would finally end this damnable lockout, there was, for some unfathomable reason, no deal. No further talks were scheduled and there was no more George Cohen, the mediator who just a day before had publicly expressed optimism at how well things were going. Thursday came and went, and it was clear that the NBA's owners were determined to get everything. (MORE>>>)
Over the course of the recently expired collective bargaining agreement, the San Antonio Spurs were the winningest team in the NBA. They compiled a regular-season record of 342-150, made the playoffs every year and won the 2007 championship. Over that span, they played at better than 98 percent capacity at their home arena, the AT&T Center, and were praised for the careful management of the salary cap.
The Spurs were the NBA’s gold standard, a model franchise. Yet, over the last two years, according to owner Peter Holt, the team lost money. That’s proof positive, he said, that the NBA needs to overhaul its deal with players. (MORE>>>)
The NBA and Players Association have made progress on the proposed revenue split between owners and players, an important element in settling a new collective bargaining agreement and ending the lockout, league sources involved in the ongoing labor negotiations told Yahoo! Sports.
As long expected, the two sides have moved closer to a “50-50 split, give or take a point with ranges based on revenue performance,” one source said. (MORE>>>)
How u, NBA fans?
Oh, nobody asked u? Not even Roger
Mason, whose infamous "how u" tweet isn't so funny anymore and whose
National Basketball Players' Association colleagues learned the hard way
on Monday night that -- as I've been writing for months -- owners
weren't about to back down? Not even commissioner David Stern, who has
failed so spectacularly in a labor fight that just got a whole lot more
serious? (MORE>>>)
acing a Monday deadline to reach a deal or have regular-season games canceled, NBA owners and players have resumed talks toward ending the lockout.
Commissioner David Stern said last week he could cancel the first two weeks of the season Monday without a new deal. Opening night is scheduled for Nov. 1.
Top negotiators for both sides returned about 14 hours after ending talks Sunday night. They are still apart on the main issues of the division of revenues and salary cap system, with many lesser items still not even discussed. (MORE...)
On the night before the N.B.A. was to begin canceling games, league and union officials gathered one more time Sunday night, but once again parted without an agreement, or any overt signs of progress.
The hastily called meeting began at 6:30 p.m. in Manhattan and ended just before midnight. The only news either side would share was that they will continue meeting Monday afternoon. Presumably, Commissioner David Stern will wait until after that meeting to decide whether to cancel the first two weeks of the regular season, as he had indicated he would do. (MORE>>>)
