NBA Lockout 2011: Owners Give Players Ultimatum - Entire Season Set to be Dumped
N.B.A owners have given players until the close of business Wednesday to accept a deal proposed to them or risk being greeted with a deal less favorable afterwards.
The current deal on the table, a deal that would allow the players to receive between 49 and 51 percent of the basketball related income, was not accepted by the National Basketball President Derek Fisher and other player’s of the union.
As the N.B.A enters into month four of the lockout, N.B.A owners are playing hardball giving the players only four days to accept a final offer.
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This news comes after failed negotiations on Saturday night. It has been expected that the players will be certain to reject the current proposals.
A rejection of the offer will throw the whole N.B.A season in trouble, as the days and weeks continue to go by with no progress and both sides holding firm.
“Right now, we’ve been given the ultimatum,” said Derek Fisher. “And our answer is: that’s not acceptable to us.”
“We did not get the sense that they had the intent coming into tonight to get this deal done,” said Fisher. “There was every opportunity to do it. We were prepared to stay here until the sun came up to get this deal done.”
Days ago, owners refused to go to the bargaining table unless the players agreed to split the basketball related income 50-50. That deal was rejected by the National Players Association and was taken as an insult.
It was reported that some players would push forward to have a vote on decertifying the union. The union would only need 130 players to sign a petition in order to put it to a vote and they would have to wait 45 days until they can vote. If a majority elects to dissolve the union, it would then file an antitrust lawsuit in federal court against the NBA. The risk is that taking such a move in December could result in the loss of the season.
While fans grow tireless at both sides, for what seems like a shouting match between millionaires and billionaires, the whole 2011-12 basketball is put in jeopardy.
