November 14, 2011 8:51 pm
Cancellation looms for NBA season
The National Basketball Association is likely to cancel the entire season as its players moved to decertify their union on Monday, the most dramatic move yet in a months-long standoff between team owners and superstars such as Kobe Bryant.
A cancellation would mark the first lost season of a major US sports league since the National Hockey League scrapped its 2004-05 season. It would also put the skids on the NBA's popularity, which was soaring after a banner year that finished in June.
Negotiations had been continuing through the summer and autumn, but the league proposed a final offer last week designed to put an end to the standoff. League officials had already cancelled several weeks of games, costing the league hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenues and causing media groups to turn to contingency plans.The move by the players came in response to what they saw as an unfair final offer from the league in a dispute over a new collective bargaining agreement, which expired after the previous season.
Analysts expected the players to either ask for more concessions or accept the proposed deal with some amendments. Instead, the union surprised the league on Monday, saying it would move to decertify and file a lawsuit against the league.
"It looks like the 2011-12 season is in jeopardy now," said NBA commissioner David Stern, who has run the league for 21 years and saw it through its previous labour dispute in 1999.
Mr Stern put the blame on the players and their union leader, Billy Hunter, saying they had walked away from a fair offer, which would have seen players and owners split the league's estimated $4bn in annual revenues evenly.
"They've destroyed incredible value that would have otherwise gone to the union membership," Mr Stern said. "They've been badly misled."
Players and owners have been negotiating for more than five months on a new framework for revenue sharing, and amendments to league rules meant to create more parity among teams. But players said the proposals left them with less job security.
With the NBA Players Association decertified, players can file an antitrust lawsuit against the league, alleging unfair labour practices. "We're prepared to file this antitrust action against the NBA," Mr Hunter said. "That's the best situation where players can get their due process."
Analysts said that such cases can take months to process, leaving little hope that the season will be salvaged. "It is hard to see this advancing in any way that we're going to save even part of the season," said Andrew Brandt, ESNP business analyst. "These things take time."
But a technicality in the way the union decertified could leave the door open for a partial season if the union and owners reach an unexpectedly swift agreement through backdoor negotiations.
"The players' union is actually attempting to create a scenario in which they may still not lose the season," said ESPN analyst Ric Bucher.
Sent from my iPad
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário