With news that the NBA Players Association will reject the latest offer from owners, it seems unlikely that a deal will be reached before the 5 p.m. EDT deadline on Wednesday set by commissioner David Stern. But both sides will at least give it another try, as ESPN's Chris Broussard reports that the players and owners will meet again Wednesday.
@Chris_Broussard
Chris Broussard NBA & players finalizing details for meeting this afternoon in NYC. Most likely 1 pm, source says.
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Stern announced on Sunday that there was really no wiggle room left in negotiations and that this current offer, which features a 49-51 split of basketball related income in favor of owners, was as good as it would get. As expected, Stern said that if a deal was not reached by Wednesday's deadline, the deal would get worse for the players.
According to a Yahoo! Sports report, Stern has enough ownership support to adjust the system issues that have been one of the key talking points for players to possible get a deal done by the deadline.
On Tuesday, some players in the league began a movement to get their fellow players and their team reps to vote yes on the current deal proposed by the owners, but NBAPA director Billy Hunter and president Derek Fisher were not among those who believe the current deal is good enough. If the two sides can't agree on a new CBA before the deadline, it's likely player would follow in Boston Celtics' guard Paul Pierce's footsteps and file for decertification.
If players decertify, which would disband the Players Association, it's a likely they would file an antitrust lawsuit against the NBA, possibly extending the lockout for months and putting the 2011-12 season in serious jeopardy.
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