Players heading to Minnesota in a lawsuit against NBA – NBA Lockout Update
NBA players have decided upon Minnesota as their chosen venue for the legal fight against owners and the league. Plaintiffs including Carmelo Anthony, Steve Nash and Kevin Durant filed an amended federal lawsuit against the league
in Minnesota this Monday. The players had previously filed two separate lawsuits against the league on antitrust basis and this latest attempt is the consolidation of both.
The courts in Minnesota have traditionally been favourable to player unions. The NFL players have won significant victories against their owners in Minnesota over a long period of time. Most recently a judge in Minnesota ordered
the NFL owners to lift a lockout imposed and let the season begin.
It is believed that the NBA players have chosen this venue so that they too might get some leeway, however they deny it.
"The likelihood was we'd get a faster result in Minnesota than California," players' lawyer David Boies said. "I think the result would be the same."
David Boies represented the NFL when their players filed a lawsuit against the football league. He is on the side of the players in the NBA labour dispute and has said that they have a much stronger case than their NFL counterparts
had.
The NBA on the other hand has issued a frowning statement over the new development and branded the lawsuit by players as baseless.
"This is consistent with Mr. Boies' inappropriate shopping for a forum that he can only hope will be friendlier to his baseless legal claims," Rick Buchanan, NBA executive vice president and general counsel, said in a statement.
Boises scoffed at Rick Buchanan’s comments as a response.
"In the face of somebody saying, 'I don't want to talk to you. We've got an offer -- take it or leave it. This is an ultimatum. We're going to make no more proposals,' and somebody saying, 'This is baseless; it ought to go away,"
Boies said, "that's a waste of time to make a telephone call."
The lawyer referred to the fact that it was the NBA that chose to end negotiations and force the players to file a lawsuit. The National Basketball Players Association had been committed to negotiations for over a year and a half
but NBA Commissioner issued an ultimatum and told them he would not negotiate any further.
In such circumstances, the lawsuit by players is more than justifiable according to Boies.
The NBA locked out its players on July 1st after failing to agree upon a new Collective Bargaining Agreement in time. The two sides have negotiated in earnest since then and even enlisted the services of a federal mediator,
but he gave up after just one week.
The matter now seems set to be decided in the courts.
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