NBPA rejects NBA owners offer of 50-50 BRI split – NBA Labour Dispute Update
NBA lockout has gone chronic now.
The first complete month of NBA season is already called off by Commissioner David Stern and the possibility of whole season getting terminated is rising with every passing day and now.
The NBA owners showing little flexibility proposed a 50-50 percent BRI split last weekend and David Stern was very confident a deal would be reached between both parties. However rigid in their stance, the players union has rejected
the offer and has requested another bargaining session on Wednesday, the day on which Stern has set the deadline.
Stern already had warned Derek Fisher, this offer was the best owners had and if players don’t agree to it, this offer would be substituted with less appealing offer. But, despite being aware of it, Derek made the announcement
on player’s behalf.
"Our orders are clear," Fisher said. "The current offer that is on the table from the NBA is not one that we can accept."
Talking to ESPN, he said that the union, for the first time are also willing to accept a 50-50 split and that he is hopeful that owners will come up with such a deal before Wednesdays deadline. Stern did not go totally against
Fisher and said he will consider a re-bargaining session but said the chances of 50-50 deal are dull.
Billy Hunter like Derek Fisher is also confident owners will show more flexibility and said the current deal was not justified. He added
"The players are clearly of the mind that it's an unacceptable proposal, but because of their commitment to the game and their desire to play, they're saying to us that we want you to go back, see if you can go back, get a better
deal."
Forcing owners to re-negotiate on the issue is in a way a victory for players, but only a minute one, as owners after everything has happened in last 5 months would not accept the demands easily. They might have offered a 50-50
revenue split but for sure won’t go any further than this.
But things are not simple. This is not the fight over money alone anymore as ego factor has jumped in too now. Neither of the sides would want to accept defeat after fighting for so long and even if the BRI issue gets solved, other
issues like salary caps and tax will come into play and might hinder the progress yet again.
Being NBA fans, let us hope a deal is reached by Wednesday as the more this fight will drag, more painful would it start to get for everyone.
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