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>>>)
Less than 24 hours after locked out NBA players turned down team owners' latest contract proposal, the two sides agreed to meet Wednesday to continue negotiations.
The owners and players union were to sit down together in New York at 1 p.m. Eastern time (10 a.m. Pacific).
Both union executive director Billy Hunter and NBA Commissioner David Stern had said Tuesday afternoon that they would be willing to meet Wednesday to see if they could get a deal done.
Stern had given the players a 5 p.m. Eastern deadline to accept the league's offer, or risk the next offer being less. (MORE>>>)
The NBA players and owners will meet this weekend in New York, reportedly in a last-ditch effort before more games are canceled and a threat to a lost season becomes real.
News: After rumors of bickering between union executive director Billy Hunter and president Derek Fisher, some players have explored decertification.
Views: The split could be real, but overplayed. People aren't going to see things the same way, especially with conflicting agendas. Players are worried Hunter has been looking out for his future more than he should. (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>>>)
In his latest letter to fellow players, union president Derek Fisher strongly denied a report published over the weekend that claimed union executive director Billy Hunter and another unnamed member of the union's executive board have questioned Fisher about his relationship with NBA commissioner David Stern and deputy commissioner Adam Silver.
In Monday night's letter, which was obtained by ESPN.com, Fisher responded to Friday's report from FoxSports.com columnist Jason Whitlock and suggestions that the union's leadership is splintering by telling its members: "Usually I wouldn't even dignify absurd media reports with a comment. But before these reports go any further, let me say on the record to each of you [that] my loyalty has and always will be with the players. (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>>>)
The goal all along had been to get David Stern and Billy Hunter in a room together, not just at the start of a day's negotiations but at the end.
That's where they were Thursday, lending legitimacy and hope to what seemed like some serious positioning on a deal that could come as soon as Friday.
Wait, no snarky "Or not" qualifier? Nope. If only for a night, the content and tone of the key negotiators' comments to reporters after another seven-plus hours of collective bargaining talks deserved to stand on their own. As did the fact that, as Hunter and union president Derek Fisher spoke publicly first at the end of this session, Stern was seated in the back of the room. He was smiling, he was acknowledged a couple of times by Hunter and he even answered a question for the union chief, who had been asked when the difficult moves in this labor dance would get made. (MORE>>>)
NBA owners and players have resumed talks aimed at ending the lockout, less than a week after three intense days of mediation didn't produce a new labor deal.
The sides are getting back to the table Wednesday with a small group meeting. Talks broke down last Thursday when players said owners insisted they agree to a 50-50 split of revenues as a condition to further discuss the salary cap system. (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 breakdown of NBA labor talks Thursday likely will force more games to be canceled after negotiations failed to yield a deal to end the lockout.
After 30 hours of negotiations over three days, the two sides remained divided over two main issues — the division of revenues and the structure of the salary cap system.
"Ultimately we were unable to bridge the gap that separates the two parties," NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver said. "We understand the ramifications of where we are.
"We're saddened on behalf of the game." (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>>>)
Over and over, similar words are used to describe George Cohen's role as the federal mediator in the labor dispute between the NBA and its locked-out players.
If there is any mediator in the country who can help the sides make significant progress or even reach a deal in a short time early this week, Cohen seems to be the one with the experience, knowledge, expertise and temperament, according to labor law experts who have worked with him and are familiar with his accomplishments. (MORE>>>)
NBA players and owners are meeting with a federal mediator, and Commissioner David Stern believes more games could be canceled if there isn't movement toward a new labor deal.
George Cohen tried to resolve the NFL's labor dispute. Now he's overseeing basketball's negotiations for the first time. Stern wants immediate results, saying during a round of interviews last week that proposals could get worse and more games could be lost without a deal Tuesday. (MORE>>>)
Derrick Rose says blame for the NBA's current labor impasse rests squarely with team owners, not players.
"It's very sad, but everybody knows it's not our fault," the Chicago Bulls point guard and reigning NBA most valuable player said Saturday. "If it was up to us we'd be out there playing. I think that is wrong and I know they could easily take care of it."
The 23-year-old Bulls star talked about the lockout and his training regimen during downtown appearances introducing a new adidas shoe line. (MORE>>>)
