NBA files federal lawsuit against players

[Renew Deal]

NEW YORK -- With locked-out NBA players threatening to file an antitrust lawsuit, the league beat them to court.

The league filed two legal claims on Tuesday against the NBA Players Association, an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board and a lawsuit in federal district court in New York.

The NBA accused the players of being uncooperative in negotiations toward a new collective bargaining agreement by making "more than two dozen" threats to dissolve their union and sue the league under antitrust laws in order to secure more favorable terms in a new CBA.

NFL players decertified their union earlier this year, though they ultimately resolved a 4½- month labor dispute with owners of the pro football league.

Players' attorney Jeffrey Kessler, who also represented the NFL players, was named in the NBA's lawsuit for his use of what the league called an "impermissible pressure tactic" that has had a "direct, immediate and harmful" effect on CBA talks.
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http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/6826716/nba-takes-legal-action-locked-players