NBPA Executive Director Billy Hunter issues rallying call to NBA players
Billy Hunter wrote a letter to NBA players on Tuesday, November 1, and urged them to stand their ground in the NBA labour dispute. Hunter, who is the executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, exhorted members
of the union, not to show any weakness as the pressure on them grows with each passing day.
Hunter reminded the players that they are vital to the whole process of negotiations with the NBA over a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). He also re-iterated that he was just their representative and felt compelled to
secure the interests of current and future players in any deal.
"Your role is an important one," Hunter told players in the letter, obtained by ESPN.com. "The owners need to know that we will stand strong until they are ready to finish negotiating a fair deal -- not one reached with preconditions,
and not one forced down our throat with the threat of missed pay checks."
The NBA has locked out its players since July 1st, when the old CBA expired. Since then, the tensions have been high on both sides as their demands vary significantly, especially on key issues like the salary cap and
Basketball Related Income (BRI) split.
The owners and players have met consistently over the course of the last few months, but have so far failed to resolve the matter at hand. It has resulted in the cancellation of not only the NBA pre-season and training camps, but
also of a whole month worth of NBA regular season games.
After talks broke down again last Friday, NBA Commissioner David Stern also ruled out any possibility of a complete season being played even if a new deal was reached the next day. The two sides haven’t met since then, nor are
there any meeting scheduled.
Hunter criticized the owners in his letter, claiming that they have been using unfair negotiating tactics, aimed at intimidating players and robbing them of their fair share in the league’s wealth.
"We will not be intimidated by public threats, ultimatums and manufactured drop-dead dates. We will stand firm in our resolve to negotiate a fair deal for our current membership and those who will join our ranks in the future,"
Hunter said.
NBPA and the owners met a week earlier under the super vision of George Cohen, the head of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, but after 3 days of exhaustive talks he withdrew his services, citing rigidity in stances
on both sides as a main reason.
The latest round of talks were broken up after the NBPA made significant concessions in the salary cap issue under the impression that the owners would then reciprocate by moving on the BRI split.
That didn’t happen and Billy therefore walked out.
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