What the players are asking for is closer to a “fair” deal and yet the owners are doing a fine job painting the players as the unreasonable ones.

And finally, decertification is not exclusively beneficial to the union. The second that the players decertify, the NBA can begin negotiating with individual NBA players, not just for the right to hire them to play but also for their merchandise and licensing rights. It is definitely a nuclear option; it would shake things up for sure, but it is definitively unclear which side would benefit more.

The threat of decertification is real because it would force the NBA to negotiate with the players individually, rather than collectively, and it would threaten their antitrust exemption, but the NBA could delay this with litigation for at least 2-3 years, minimum.

This levels the field. If the top tier stars decide they are being pushed too far by greedy owners, they just can decide to start their own league. They would probably lose money, but so are the owners of the profitable teams by locking the season. A 8 / 12 league team with the top stars would attract lots of attention and TV interest; and the owners would face that they are killing the golden goose. At this point, it is more about pride than about money, since all the quantities disputed are pocket cash in the hands of millionaires (billionaires).

Secondly I always thought the league were playing a dangerous game when they were pushing so hard that the agents got involved. Negotiating with sportsmen is one thing but negotiating with fellow business men is a totally different ball game, especially when they possess a nuclear option such as desertification.

latke: Billy Hunter refuses to even threaten decertification. My guess is that’s because were the union to decertify, he wouldn’t have a job anymore.

More than likely. Problem is the only critical mass you have on this front is from the agents, who aren’t exactly going to be win any PR battle themselves.

I see decertification kind of like the NBPA’s version of a doomsday device ala Dr. Strangelove. If you have it and you speak convincingly of your willingness to use it, in spite of hte fact that it will cost everyone big time, it is an excellent deterrent and would keep the owners from acting as though they could walk all over the players. Billy Hunter refuses to even threaten decertification. My guess is that’s because were the union to decertify, he wouldn’t have a job anymore.

Unfortunately, I think decertification is a legitimate option at this point. Now I haven’t read too much into what exactly qualifies as unfair labor practices in the eyes of the NRLB, but you’d have to think at least some of the league’s behavior — not releasing more detailed financials, bargaining in bad faith, etc. — might warrant action.

Obviously, although that might result in a long-term fix for the players (and arguably the league as a whole), the months-long litigation process would likely end up eliminating the entire season.