Players Reject Owners' Offer: Will Decertify

NBA lockout -- Players will not accept deal, will seek to decertify, Billy Hunter says - ESPN

NBA Players Association executive director Billy Hunter says the union will not accept the owners' proposed collective bargaining agreement and will seek to decertify. The union, whose members have been locked out since July 1st, also plans to pursue an antitrust lawsuit against the NBA.

Hope you like courtroom dramas folks. I don't.

Interesting update:

The Point Forward » Posts Season in serious jeopardy, but not lost yet «

The season is not lost, despite the doomsday rhetoric, some of which agents on Monday characterized as part of Stern’s plot to scare the players into taking the deal on the table. The union and the league could settle their lawsuit in days, and that settlement would include the guts of the next collective bargaining agreement.

"...so you're saying there's a chance..." - Dumb & Dumber

NBA lockout -- What's next for players, owners after union rejects deal - ESPN

But the real point of dissolving the union is to generate leverage. The players don't really want to go all the way to trial -- they want to settle. If the players win a major victory early in the case and the owners are forced to accept the prospect of a catastrophic result in court, then the players have gained real leverage. "Even if you could get an injunction," Boies said, "[...] it would be, obviously, a drawn-out process. And I think what the players are focusing on right now is, what is the fastest way to get this resolved?"

Also see: Players' new legal leaders speak - TrueHoop Blog - ESPN