AJC: Labor fight heads to courtroom as season in jeopardy

[Hawksquawk]

NBA players got David Stern’s memo and dragged it to the trash bin.

Not only did the NBPA not send the owners’ latest offer to a vote of the full membership, the executive committee and the 30 player reps unanimously rejected the proposal and filed a “disclaimer of interest” that renounces the union’s interest in representing players in bargaining with the league. Billy Hunter said the next stop is a federal courtroom, where individual players will file antitrust suits against owners.

“We’ve arrived at the conclusion that the collective bargaining process has completely broken down,” Hunter said.

Since Stern already has said the owners are done negotiating, this means the season is in jeopardy as the two sides fight it out in court. Once players file the suit, we will see if owners follow through with Stern’s threat to void all existing contracts.

Gabriel A. Feldman, the director of the Tulane Sports Law Program, offered a good primer on the legal ramifications of the union’s …

View the full article