David Stern left yesterday's negotiating session saying the players association is bargaining in bad faith. Today, he's backing up that claim with a lawsuit.
The NBA's lawsuit has a few goals, deputy commissioner Adam Silver told reporters:
- To verify that the lockout, as imposed by the league, is legal
- As a preemptive strike against a possible decertification by the NBPA
- And to reinforce their position that, if the NBPA does opt to decertify, the league has the right to declare all current contracts "void and unenforceable."
The league is also filing a complaint with the NLRB, charging that the union is bargaining in bad faith. The union filed a similar complaint about the league months ago.
I can only assume that the union threatened decertification at yesterday's meeting, or that the league believes the group of player agents that have been pushing that strategy is gaining traction.
If this dispute really does move to the court system, you can give up any hope that the 2011-12 season will begin on time. Federal lawsuits generally take months, if not years, to resolve; this dispute needs to be settled by mid-to-late September for the season to begin as scheduled.
There was one positive note coming out of yesterday's meetings. The two sides did indicate that they will schedule additional talks for this month. Of course, if they go as well as yesterday's... we might not have pro basketball in 2012, either.
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