Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
New NBA players lawyer David Boies called a news conference and announced that individual players such as Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant and former Celtic Leon Powe are plaintiffs in lawsuits filed in Minnesota and Oakland, Calif., the players' first litigation move since they disbanded as a union.
Those two locales have historically favored unions in anti-trust lawsuits, but Boies told reporters that he hopes the NBA decides to settle the case and avoid litigation because the players have a legitimate case that the owners were not negotiating in good faith.
Here was the NBA's response thanks to league spokesman Tim Frank.
"We haven't seen Mr. Boies complaint yet but it's a shame that the players have chosen to litigate instead of negotiate. They warned us from the early days of these negotiations that they would sue us if we didn't satisfy them at the bargaining table and they appear to have followed through on their threats."
Meanwhile, the league has officially canceled games through Dec. 15 but that was a foregone conclusion since commissioner David Stern said it would take 30 days to begin a season when the sides came to an agreement.
Sigh.
I am a beaten blogger and fan. As if the negotiations weren't boring enough, we now have to deal "litigation" talk.
Any way we can get Judge Judy to hear this case? She'd wrap up this mess in 30 minutes.
On Page 2, why some players are not pleased with Paul Pierce.
“A lot of people in the league are panicking,” Samuels said. “You’re talking about missing paychecks. Those paychecks you’re missing are going to add up and guys have families and responsibilities and bills to pay. I’m just a guy that’s coming out of college. I’m 22 years old, I don’t have much responsibility.”
…
Some of the league’s stars, such as Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce, have led the charge in recent days to disband the union, irking some of the younger players like Samuels.
“It’s easy for Paul Pierce to say that. You’ve been in the league how long?” Samuels said. “You’ve got a decent amount of money saved up, but what about the guys just coming into the league who don’t have [anything] saved up?”
A fair point by Cavaliers rookie Samardo Samuels. Paul Pierce can afford to take a long term view of the CBA because there's little financial risk.
The rest of the links:
ESPN – Players file 2 antitrust suits | Tarnished legacies… RIP NBA | AP – Players file suit, settlement still possible | Chris Mannix: It's the owners fault |
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