The NBA lockout has gone from bad to worse. David Stern has to be sick to his stomach right now. Some NBA players not only are receiving offers to play overseas but now they have filed a class action lawsuit against the NBA claiming David Stern’s ultimatums left them no other choice. This has turned just plain ugly. The lawsuit is entitled Anthony v. NBA and Butler v. NBA. The two lead plaintiffs Carmelo Anthony (a star player for the New York Knicks) and Caron Butler. “The collective bargaining process and relationship have completely broken down, and the NBA players have exercised their labor right not to be in a union,” says Butler’s NBA lockout class action lawsuit. “The consequence is that any labor exemption to the antitrust laws no longer applies.” The players are demanding triple the amount of the more than $2 billion they would have made under a full 2011-2012 season! The players seem to be the ones to blame in this lockout.
You would think the NBA would have just took a page out of the NFL lockout playbook and came to some sort of agreement. The NBA has enjoyed a nice comeback over the last few years and ratings have been really good. Unlike the NFL, the players could not come to an agreement with the NBA owners.
