NBPA issues letter to players; Says union went into negotiations in good faith – NBA Update
After the breakdown in negotiations between the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) and the NBA on Tuesday, October 4, 2011, the union has moved to clarify its position.
The NBPA issued a letter to NBA players, in which it explained that the union has only argued for what it believes to be a fair deal, and will not agree to something that it believes is not beneficial to the players.
“Before meeting with the group of 12 owners, we had a very spirited discussion in our own room as we reflected on the lessons learned over the past several years while preparing the players for this labour struggle. The overwhelming
feeling was that the players are prepared to sacrifice and stand for what we believe is fair. The clear message we have received from the players, and the one we will heed is not to back down. Yesterday, the owners gave us an opportunity to back down. We refused.”
said the letter, which was issued by NBPA President Derek Fisher and executive director Billy Hunter jointly.
The NBPA and the owners met on Tuesday in what was billed to be a “do or die” session for labour dispute talks. The NBA lockout had already dragged on for over 3 months and a solution to the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)
dispute was necessary, at least in principle, to save the start of the season.
That meeting did not however go as planned and ended in a deadlock, with both sides still not agreeing on a split of the Basketball Related Income or BRI. Other issues such as the salary cap and guaranteed contracts also remained
unresolved.
NBA Commissioner David Stern announced after the meeting that all of the pre-season had been called off.
Now if a solution is not reached by Monday, the first two weeks of the season will also have to be cancelled. The players union has thus made the first move to make their stance clear, and have assured its members that a decision
will only be taken that is in their best interests.
For the moment, no further meetings are planned between the NBA owners and players to discuss the labour dispute. Therefore both sides, especially the players, are under increased pressure to get things moving again. The letter
is seen by many analysts as the first step in this regard by the NBPA, which wants to take its members into confidence in anticipation of losing NBA games.
With the games, pay checks will also be lost and players could start to become disillusioned. The same though is true for the owners who will be losing a lot of revenue and arena owners have already started asking questions about
future scheduling.
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