Monday, November 14th, 2011 at 2:14 pm  |  217 responses

Breaking: NBA Players Reject Offer, to Disband Union


No good news to report here, folks. The NBA Players Association has decided it will not accept the owners’ latest offer, instead deciding to disband the union and take this one to the courts. Here are some quotes from the presser that just went down, courtesy of PBT:

“We’ve arrived at the conclusion that the collective bargaining process has completely broken down, and as a result in the last hour we have served a notice of disclaimer on (David) Stern and the NBA,” union director Billy Hunter said after the meeting. “We plan to disseminate that to all 30 teams…

“The players are not ready to accept the ultimatum, they thought it was completely unfair on the part of the NBA ownership and management….

We have negotiated in good faith for two years, but the players have felt they have given enough.”

“This is where it stops for us as a union,” said Derek Fisher, union president.

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  • http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gabriel-a-feldman/the-legal-issues-behind-t_2_b_1081107.html Allenp

    It only makes no sense if you think that making money is the most important thing.
    In the name of capitalism, the NBA owners are creating a system that ignores many of the most important tenets of capitalism. And they claim it’s about competition, but they’ve offered no proof that this is true.

  • http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/page/wilbon-111114/the-nba-labor-impasse-reached-particularly-objectionable-economy IAMORANGE4EVER

    Michael Wilbon, once again, the VOICE OF REASON…click my name to read his article. Pretty much sums up how I feel about the whole situation right about now. With that said, F the players union, F the hardline owners, F the agents, and F the lawyers. F them all. I’m just going to dive into college hoops and forget the NBA until there’s a season again.

  • http://theurbangriot.com The NUPE

    Allenp: All of the owners did receive the latest player proposal and although they did not vote on it, each owner was able (and many did) give comments on it back to Stern about what they could/not accept in the proposal. This is the process that’s taken in mostly all the proposals received, the same process the NFL and MLB owners follow. I believe (don’t know with certainty) this is also the process the union follows, but instead of going to all the players, it only goes to each team rep (which each team voted for). In the last offer by the owners, Stern sent a copy of the full proposal to each of the players and made it public, this was done in hopes that all of the players would actually read it and then ‘push’ for a vote rather than risk the entire season. My guess is that relatively few players actually read it but almost all of the agents did. Then the agents advised their players not to accept the deal – most likely to protect the interest of the agent just as much as their players. The system issues in the latest proposal do heavily favor the owners, but I’d also say that the majority of the players would not be to heavily burdened with the changes. It’s primarily the superstars, all-stars and some other key players that would be impacted but the rank and file player (which out-number the others) would be minimally impacted and the 10-12 man on the roster are the ones who really want whatever deal they can get right now because they don’t have long to play in the NBA and each draft class that comes in, means more of them lose opportunities – if this season is in fact cancelled, they lose the entire season of pay and then risk not having a job at all next season – this is an issue the stars don’t worry about, but still represents a large portion of NBA players. IF the latest proposal was voted on by the players, my guess is it would have passed. I don’t know if that would have been good for the players in the long-run, but would have been good for the fans and good for the players for at least the short term. Then it would have been interesting to see what happens with players like D12 and CP3 as they negotiate their next deals. These are the two guys that will most visibly win/lose when the new CBA is agreed to.

  • http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gabriel-a-feldman/the-legal-issues-behind-t_2_b_1081107.html Allenp

    Nupe, good comment.
    I think that the players on the lower end of the totem pole would have felt the effects immediately.
    Their salaries would be reduced to deal with the decreased BRI. Teams would spend even more money on superstars since retaining them would be key. Players at the bottom would be scrabbling for scraps, with the added bonus of facing a stint in the D-League at a quarter of the league minimum as an added bonus.
    They would not have the chance to sign lucrative MLEs, which were key bargaining chips in years past. Basically, they would gain their paychecks for this season, but would jeopardize those same paychecks for the remainder of their careers.
    How long before players, desperate for dollars, would be signing non-guaranteed deals? And how long before that was the norm for players at the bottom of the heap?
    Yes, the superstars and middle class would take hits, but their talent shields them from certain things in the long run. The superstars would lose flexibility in where they play, but might gain on salary. The middle class would lose flexibility and lose pay. The lower class would never even have a shot at flexibility and have their entire pay structure imperiled.
    It would be the NFL-lite.

  • http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gabriel-a-feldman/the-legal-issues-behind-t_2_b_1081107.html Allenp

    Well let me correct that. The lower class would move from team to team every season like vagabonds and have to earn a spot in training camp every year. And their ranks would be expanded from the 13-15th player on the roster, to probably anybody from 9 to 15.

  • http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/page/wilbon-111114/the-nba-labor-impasse-reached-particularly-objectionable-economy IAMORANGE4EVER

    If anyone should be missing paychecks, it’s Billy Hunter, but he hasn’t and he won’t – that’s right, he’s still getting paid salary despite disclaimer of interest. That turkey just led the movement to throw away the best offer the players would get, and a lot of paychecks will be missed, and they are not coming back, yet silly Billy is still collecting his salary. The only way he wouldn’t have got paid, is if the players voted to decertify, something he didn’t want to do early on when it was time to do it in the summer. Happy Thanksgiving Turkeys Union, because you just got stuffed and the oven is preheating. Keep fighting for your pride while the owners are clinking their wine glasses together.

  • http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gabriel-a-feldman/the-legal-issues-behind-t_2_b_1081107.html Allenp

    “I tighten my belt before I beg for help. Foolish pride is what held me together through the years I wasn’t felt, which is why I ain’t never played myself.”

  • http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/page/wilbon-111114/the-nba-labor-impasse-reached-particularly-objectionable-economy IAMORANGE4EVER

    NBA Players Association executive director Billy Hunter salary: $2.5 million. It’s good to be Billy Hunter. Heck it’s good to be Etan Thomas too. lol…both SU alumni. SMH

  • http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/page/wilbon-111114/the-nba-labor-impasse-reached-particularly-objectionable-economy IAMORANGE4EVER

    Etan Thomas has made $44 over million dollars in salary thus far as an NBA player. I feel so sorry for him. I hope he will lead the charge to OCCUPY the NBA. It’s such a great cause. lol

  • http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/page/wilbon-111114/the-nba-labor-impasse-reached-particularly-objectionable-economy IAMORANGE4EVER

    *over 44 million

  • LA Huey

    Jya-Z quotes are nice

  • http://www.slamonline.com UNFROZEN CAVEMAN LAWYER

    ORANGE IS GOIN AGG THESE DAYS

  • http://sportsnickel.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/silvastpierre.jpg Jukai

    How much is Stern making in salary, IAMORANGE4EVER?

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    Stern is making more then a max contract. I can tell you that.

  • http://www.offthebackboard.wordpress.com Off The Backboard

    The only reason Hunter didn’t decertify is to save his own a*s.

  • anila

    No Celtics=sad me

  • BBaller

    So upset ATM, need an NBA season badly. I want to understand where the players are coming from. How can i when the worst player on the worst team gets $1097520 a year!(Lazar Hayward)exactly WHO?. 4 times what my back surgeon made that made me able to walk again.

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