With the NBA owners and players set to meet this weekend for labor negotiations, factions within each group may threaten any progress from being made at all this weekend, according to The New York Times.
The NBA owners are supposed to meet at 10 a.m. to discuss their stances on the ongoing collective bargaining negotiations, several hours prior to their meeting with the players, The Times reports. One group of 10-14 owners, reportedly led by Charlotte Bobcats owner and former player Michael Jordan, will vote against any more financial compromises to the players.
On the other side of the table, a group of 50 NBA players are reportedly threatening to dissolve the NBA Players Association if the union makes any more concessions on player salaries. The group of players took part in a conference call last evening with an anti-trust attorney about the possibility of decertifying, according to a report from Yahoo!’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
For the Players Association to decertify it would need to have a petition signed by thirty percent of the union to force a vote. Then, a majority of the union would have to vote to decertify.
One of the major final pieces of a collective bargaining deal is an agreement on the split of basketball related income. While some within the negotiations are reportedly ok with splitting the income 50-50, there are collectives on each side that steadfastly oppose such a deal.
BUT
After 8 hours of NBA labor meetings Saturday, the two sides took a disastrous step backward when David Stern put a Wednesday ultimatum to the Players Association. Stern’s ultimatum occurred at 2 a.m. Sunday morning, blindsiding the union and putting the 2011-12 season in more jeopardy then ever of being cancelled despite the presence of federal mediator George Cohen. Stern said if the union does not reconsider and accept this proposal by Wednesday, it will pull it off the table and submit a less-favorable offer, retreating to 47 percent for the players and a flex cap (a fancy name for a hard salary cap). The players appeared backed into a corner and admitted it is unlikely talks will resume by Wednesday’s Stern-imposed deadline. “Today is another sad day for our fans,” union president Derek Fisher said. “We’ve been given an ultimatum and our answer is that’s not acceptable to us.” The ugly turn of events prompted the union’s top negotiator, attorney Jeffrey Kessler, who rarely speaks to the press, to erupt at the NBA, saying the owners are trying to intimidate the players.
