NBA Players Reject Owners Offer, Will Disband Union and File Lawsuit

On Monday afternoon the NBA Players Association met in New York with what some categorized as the fate of the NBA season hanging in the balance. The result: the players unanimously decided to to reject the owners latest proposal and effectively end negotiations.

Executive Director Billy Hunter said that the “Collective bargaining process has completely broken down…” and added, “ It was a system under which we felt we couldn’t function.”

Union president Derek Fisher told media members, “This is where it stops for us as a union.”

The union heads went on to say that a disclaimer of interest, which effectively dissolves the NBA players union will be filed later Monday afternoon. The disbanding of the union leads the way for a lawsuit to be filed by the players for anti-trust violations.

With a lawsuit imminent and talks now completely broken down between the two sides, it appears that the chances have increased mightily that the 2011-12 NBA season may be lost completely.