US District Judge issues a stay on the antitrust lawsuits against NBA
Followed by the tentative agreement between the NBA owners and the players, US District Judge Patrick Schiltz has issued a stay on the antitrust lawsuits against the league and its’ thirty owners on Tuesday.
The stay orders were dished out on the request of the players as they plan to reform the union in order to ratify the tentative deal.
National Basketball Association locked out its players on 1st of July upon the expiration of the previous Collective Bargaining Agreement. Since then, the owners and players met a number of times to resolve the labour
dispute however it took nearly five months to make a settlement.
Earlier this month, the players disbanded the union to take the matter in the court and also filed two antitrust lawsuits. At the time, the fear of losing an entire NBA season started to become a reality. However, after 15 hours
of continuous meeting between David Stern and Billy Hunter in the company of lawyers, the two sides finally reached a consensus and a hand shake deal was struck.
The 2011-2012 season is slated to begin on 25th December and the training camps will begin on 9th December. The league has to pay the cost of 15 regular-season games as a result of the work stoppage. However
a shortened NBA season is a blessing in disguise, considering that the league will not have to pay the cost of an entire season.
Unlike the previous CBA, the new Collective Bargaining Agreement is for the next 10 years. While owners managed to get a good deal in the new CBA considering that they were only receiving 43 percent of the Basketball Related Income
in the old one, Billy Hunter believes that the settlement is fair and explained that players will still receive benefit.
"On average, under the last deal, the players received annual collective salary increases of $70 million per season. Under the new agreement, with modest BRI growth, even factoring in the collective salary decrease in 2011-12,
the players will receive collective annual increases averaging at least $85 million each year over the term of the 10-year agreement," Hunter said.
It is expected that players will re-form the union in the next few days and the tentative deal will be approved to begin with the commencement of the next season.
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