NBA cancels games till December 15 – NBA Lockout Update
The NBA on Tuesday, November 15, officially cancelled regular season games up till December 15. A notification was issued in this regard to the 30 NBA franchises. The league had already cancelled games throughout November as well
as the pre-season.
NBA took this step after the National Basketball Players Association rejected an ultimatum by Commissioner David Stern on Monday. Stern had put a take it or leave it deal on the table for NBA players to end the lockout, but the
union did not view it as favourable to their interests.
With no Collective Bargaining Agreement in place, the labour dispute took a turn for the worst as NBPA formally announced a decertification. This was followed by certain players suing the league in at least two federal courts.
NBA’s Attorney David Boies filed the charges on behalf of players who are demanding treble damages from the owners. The NBA in a statement said that they were disappointed with the players for choosing this path.
"We haven't seen Mr. Boies' complaint yet, but it's a shame that the players have chosen to litigate instead of negotiate," NBA spokesman Tim Frank said in a statement. "They warned us from the early days of these negotiations
that they would sue us if we didn't satisfy them at the bargaining table, and they appear to have followed through on their threats."
Attorney David Boies argued in response that the owners had pushed players into taking such a drastic step. The players were willing to negotiate throughout the lockout but ultimatums by the heavy handed David Stern forced their
hand.
"You can't negotiate by yourself," he said. "You can only negotiate if you've got somebody who's willing to sit down and negotiate with you."
Cancellation’s till December 15 will come as a bitter blow to NBA fans that have been starved of basketball action for over 5 months. In his last proposal to the union, Stern had said that games could begin in December if the players
agreed immediately, but now that too seems a distant possibility.
With the new cancellations, around 26 percent of the regular season has been officially wiped out. That amounts to a total of 324 games and huge financial losses on both sides. The players will miss pay checks at least up to December
15th, and likely more, while the owners are missing out on revenue.
With the labour dispute now headed for the courts, there is no telling when and if a season will begin. The last lockout gave us a shortened 50 game season, but analysts believe even that is very unlikely this time around.
Play could however begin if the two sides reach an agreement outside court, but if they wait for a verdict it’s hard to see any games being played until next season at best.
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