A SEASON IN PERIL
By Nicholai R. Roska
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 15 Nov 2011
Billy Hunter.
LOS ANGELES -- The NBA lockout is now on its 137th day. And it looks like the count will go on deep into the New Year.
No thanks to the NBA players, who rejected the owners' final offer on Monday afternoon. So instead of taking a 50 percent share of the basketball related income (BRI) and contemplating on an abbreviated 72-game season that would have started on Dec. 12, the players will now focus on dissolving their union.
Speaking before reporters in a New York press conference, NBA players association executive director Billy Hunter said "we're prepared to file this antitrust action against the NBA," insisting that the move is "the best situation where players can get their due process."
In an economy rocked by record foreclosures and high unemployment, turning down a 50-50 split of a revenue stream that is worth in excess of $4 billion seem preposterous and reeks of downright greed. But NBA players union president Derek Fisher views it only as a matter of fairness and principle.
"This is the best decision for the players. I want to reiterate that point, that a lot of individual players have a lot of things personally at stake in terms of their careers and where they stand. And right now they feel it's important ---- we all feel its important to all our players, not just the ones in this room, but our entire group --- that we not only try to get a deal done for today but for the body of NBA players that will come into this league over the next decade and beyond," a somber Fisher said.
The stunning turn of events mean that the upcoming NBA season is dangerously in peril. In the words of NBA Commissioner David Stern, "we are about to go into the nuclear winter of the NBA."
"It's a tragedy," Stern said of the NBA players' pursuit of an anti-trust lawsuit. "It's just a big charade. To do it now, the union is just ratcheting up I guess to see if they can scare the owners or something. That's not happening," Stern told ESPN's SportsCenter.
Stern, a lawyer who has held the NBA's top post since 1984, won't be quick to scrap the entire season just yet. But he already made it crystal clear over the past weekend that this 50-50 split was the last best offer for the players and that the next time they meet at the negotiating table the owners would demand a 53 percent slice of the BRI pie.
Either way, both the billionaire owners and millionaire owners stand to lose millions of dollars.
Meanwhile, it's the lesser mortals -- arena employees, tickets sellers, valet attendants, beer and food vendors, etc -- who will take the most damaging financial hit as the ongoing labor wars keep NBA stadiums empty. (NRR)
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Nicholai R. Roska.
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