Union: NBA Tears Up Proposal After Heated Meeting

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By BRIAN MAHONEY

DALLAS (AP) -The executive director of the NBA players' association said Friday the league tore up its proposal for a new collective bargaining agreement after a "contentious" 90-minute session.

But Billy Hunter said that doesn't mean the league is closer to a lockout when the current deal expires on July 1, 2011.

"No, I think that everybody has a different sense of things and nobody wants to see this thing that David Stern has worked and built, the NBA, the successful entity that it is, the brand, we're not out to damage it or destroy it," Hunter said after a press conference.

"So we're going to make every effort to get an agreement done, we just want an agreement that's a lot more equitable and one that doesn't have a structure that's oppressive."

Read more: http://sports.excite.com/news/02122010/v0446.html

[nyy1998]

1. Good, the owners in both the NFL and NBA

were both being a bunch of crybabys. The CBA for the NBA is a mess, but the owners absolutly took the wrong tact here.

[Blackhatjack]

2. A Parable for NBA Owners and Players Contemplating a 2011 Lockout...

There once was a man who owned a boat docked on the side of the river. Two men approached the boat owner and explained that there was a huge amount of treasure buried on the banks of the other side of the river. They offered the boat owner a 1/3 share of the treasure if he would take them to the other side and help them bring the treasure back to town,sell it, and divide the money. The boat owner agreed and they set off. Halfway across the river the boat owner decided that he should have a 1/2 share of the treasure. The two men refused and an argument broke out. While arguing the boat sprang a leak that could easily be repaired once they reached the other side. However, neither the owner nor the two men would take time from arguing over the division of the treasure to bail out the boat or to row it to the other side. As the boat had filled with water and was about to dip below the surface of the water they stopped arguing long enough to realize the boat was almost full of water. They began furiously bailing water out of the boat but it was no use, the boat sank... and with it the prospect of having any treasure to divide among themselves was gone as well. The boat owner and the two men swam back to shore and lamented that their failure to agree had resulted in the loss of such a huge amount of treasure that could have been theirs, as well as the loss of the boat.

That is precisely the situation facing the NBA owners and players. A failure to agree on the division of 'treasure' which leads to a lockout('the leak') will surely threaten the existence of the league (the 'boat').

Often greed is too expensive a commodity for any one to own.

Once the public turns on millionaires too greedy to divide such a mountain of wealth, the relationship will likely be irrevocably broken.

[awnobles]

4. We can hope

poeple figure that out.

[CBR]

3. Apparently, the owners want to retroactively change

contracts. That is garbage.

[Dave From Canada]

5. Well, apparently Obama think that players are paid too much money. Does he not realize they're

union jobs?

[420inTN]

7. Lol

Players "unions" has about as much in common with labor unions as a country club membership does.

[420inTN]

6. who gives a flying flip?

i mean, really? the players make millions for playing with a ball, while the owners make money from overpriced tickets and merchandise sold to gullible fans who could probably find better outlets for their cash.

[Bombero1956]

8. I tried to care about this but I just couldn't.

A bunch of overpaid primadonnas and another bunch of money grubby snakes are fighting over millions of dollars at a time when people are without jobs and healthcare. Just another example of the narcissistic mentality exhibited by most athletes and millionaires in general.

[fishwax]

9. lol -- "this thing that David Stern has worked and built"

I think this guy, who joined the league the same year Stern became commissioner, had a bit more to do with the success of the NBA than he did.

[Ishoutandscream2]

10. The NBA needs to remember the year 1994

and the cancellation of the rest of that season and the world series in baseball. Also, the NHL strike a few years ago also made a huge hit on the game. It took baseball several years to "get over" that strike, and the NHL (which I don't follow anymore. Funny) I believe may be having the same types of image problems. A strike will certainly hurt the sport, the owners, and the players.

[Blue_Tires]

11. in this economic climate, people are NOT in the mood to see

multi-millionaires in a whinefest against billionaires...