NBA players lose their first pay cheques - NBA Labour Dispute News
We are into the 139 day of the NBA lockout and not only have the players sued the league in a Minnesota court, they have also missed their first pay cheque.
Under the previous Collective Bargaining System, 15th November marked the day when the players received the twelfth part of their total salary for the season. However, the way things are panning out in the NBA Labour dispute; it
seems that the players might have to wait till the next year to get their pays.
After the National Basketball Players Association rejected the ‘take it or leave it’ offer by NBA Commissioner David Stern, the league decided to decertify and sue the NBA.
Both Billy Hunter and Derek Fisher announced the decision yesterday and according to them, the reason for filing a lawsuit was the fact that the NBA owners were not ready to give in on any issue. The owners had demanded a 50-50
split of the Basketball Related Income (BRI), of which, the players used to take 57 percent under the previous setup.
According to some reports, the players probably would have agree to the 50 percent split however it was other issues such as hard cap salaries and luxury-tax issue which were never addressed seriously by the owners.
Although this was a player’s union decision but according to few sources it was learnt that all the players were not taken into confidence by the union to reach the decision. Most of them didn’t have their say in the decision which
also drew David Stern’s criticism later. Warning about the consequences of decertification, Stern added
"Obviously Mr. Kessler (NBPA’s legal counsel) got his way and we are about to go into the nuclear winter of the NBA. If I were a player, I would be wondering what it is that Billy Hunter just did."
However, the fact is, that it was the stubbornness of the owners on critical issues, which has eventually led to this standstill. The move will not only ensure that the players don’t receive any money, it will also cost the owners
losses of massive proportions.
The two sides still have a 45 day window to reach a consensus, however given the strong handed ultimatum and the perseverance of the players, an out of court settlement now seems improbable.
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