Jason Terry dismisses latest proposal by the NBA owners – NBA Lockout Update
The NBA lockout has taken a turn for the worst in recent days, with David Stern issuing a second ultimatum to the players.
The NBA Commissioner wants the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) to take the deal currently on the table and has completely ruled out further negotiations.
The union on its part is likely to consult with its members regarding the matter, but the noises of dissent can already be heard from players.
The loudest of them all is from the Dallas Mavericks star guard Jason Terry.
JET revealed in a recent interview that the NBA players could walk away from the deal, which they believed was unfair. He further implied that NBA owners had not negotiated in good faith with the players union and presented them
with one bad deal after another.
"The proposals that have been proposed to us have not been good, not been good at all," Terry said, according to ESPN. "For us to take a bad deal at this point as players would be not good for the game of basketball and it won't
be good for the players going on into the future.”
Terry said he was concerned for the younger lot in the NBA, the rookies or players on rookie contracts, who do not have enough financial resources to withstand the coming storm. He didn’t elaborate but it was clear that the players
are nudging ever closer to a decertification of the union, which would be followed by suing the NBA in a federal court.
NBA players believe they can get better results if they take that route, which they have been reluctant to since the NBA lockout began on July 1st. Some NBA player agents had been agitating for the move but were earlier
rebuked by union executives and senior players.
Now however, the greed and rigidity of NBA owners could force their hand. As Jason revealed, the deal on the table just wasn’t acceptable.
"We just don't think it's fair and it's not what has been built with the prior bargaining agreements."
If the NBPA does decide to decertify, it could mean that the salvaging a season is no longer possible. The union has already collected signatures from players for such an eventuality, but what follows is a lengthy process.
The National Labour Relations Board will ratify the decertification in 45 days, after which will begin tiresome court proceedings. Only sometime next year could a ruling be expected.
A decertification though seems increasingly more unavoidable because of the ignorant and arrogant attitude of the NBA owners. Analysts across the board agree that the players have made significant concessions, but the NBA owners
appear greedier than originally thought.
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