The fit may hit the shan this weekend after the players and owners meet Saturday to continue labor negotiations. There's a faction of NBA players that held a couple of conference calls this week discussing decertification with a union lawyer. From Howard Beck at the New York Times,
About 50 players, including some All-Stars, are planning a drive to dissolve their union if talks again falter, or if the talks produce a labor deal that they deem unpalatable, according to a person who has spoken with the group.
The threat could throw a wrench into negotiations as league and union officials attempt to broker a deal, knowing that any compromise might trigger a legal battle that could last for months.
"It's a potential threat to all," said Gabe Feldman, the director of the sports law program at Tulane University. "It could signal the breakdown of collective bargaining talks."
For all intents and purposes, that would be the season and perhaps more. As most have pointed out, decertifying now would move everything to the courts and out of the meeting room. And you know how speedy the court system is.
This is also something that should have been done three months ago. Now they're desperate and this is a last-ditch effort to gain some leverage on the owners. I think it's more than just a threat though. The players have stated all along that they're willing to lose a season to get a fair deal in their eyes. This is pretty much their only chance at getting what they want. But can they get everyone else to vote for it? The players have stated that they're unites, but have they decided what they're united on? There are some though that would likely take 50/50 regardless of the system issues and expenses that are taken off income before BRI.
There have been plenty of "make it or break it" meetings the past month or two. This could be the one though that determines if we have a season or not.
Larry Coon goes into how decertification helps the union
Matt Moore has a great breakdown of decertification
97.5 the Zone has been going interview crazy with Jazz players:
moni has some more details on Earl Watson's interview.
NBA 2K12 announced that they will be releasing more legends available as download this month. Two of the "legends" will be Adrian Dantley and Mark Eaton. Now if I can only draft Mark Eaton in 1993 for the Jazz, we might have had a ring or two.
Going back in the archives, Michael Lewis of the Tribune called it,
4. You might see the future
Syracuse's Wes Johnson and Butler's Gordon Hayward could be top-10 picks in the NBA Draft next month. The Jazz will have a top-10 pick. See where we're going with this?
This was all I practiced as a kid, one-handed passes.