High-Profile Agents Discussing Overthrow Of Hunter, Union

Several high-profile agents, including Jeff Schwartz, Arn Tellem, Mark Bartelstein, Bill Duffy and Dan Fegan, have been on the phones with each other this week. Sources briefed on the conversations say they’re getting closer to pursuing a signed petition, with 30 percent of the NBA’s players needed to bring a formal vote on dissolving the union

Read more: http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/21 ... z1Xz5b5ykm

Saturday, September 17, 2011
by Sam Amick

Let the decertification talk commence.

One day after National Basketball Players Association president Derek Fisher pushed back against the agents who are pushing for the disbanding of the union in the ongoing NBA lockout, the very movement that Fisher was trying to stop grew significantly larger with the addition of just one agent.

Toby wrote:Negative.

The NBA punted this weekend, and the ball ain't come down yet.

Personally, I'm just sick of looking at Derek Fisher's grill.
We got Ron Artest dancing around all messed up, being the first one to get tossed from the stage.
Lamar Odom married the ugly Kardashian so he could be on TV.
Kobe broke some dude's arm in a church scuffle.
And Phil Jackson has a new Audi commercial.
If the NBA Lockout is supposed to exsist, then why do we still see Lakers 24/7 ???

Powerful agents warn NBA players not to cave
Posted on: October 3, 2011 5:47 pm, by Ben Golliver.
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Back in September, NBPA president Derek Fisher sent a letter to all players urging unity and specifically called out these agents. Here's his reward. Anarchy at the worst possible time.

The agents are saying, in effect, "Don't agree to concessions already offered by the union." To boil that down, they are telling their clients: "We know your interests better than the union does." This letter undercuts the strength of Fisher and NBPA executive director Billy Hunter by revealing a clear rift. As mentioned on Saturday night, October comes down to one word on the players' side: resolve. Just two days later, we are presented with a blatant signal that powerful factions of the NBPA are not on the same page. At all.

In joint letter, top NBA agents urge players to not back down in talks

Sam Amick >INSIDE THE NBA
SI.com
Oct. 3, 2011

With the NBA lockout stage already set for a Tuesday meeting in New York that may determine whether the regular season starts on time, a group of agents who have been pushing for decertification of the union and whose respective firms represent more than half the league ensured they would be heard before the verdict comes down.

In a letter to their clients, Arn Tellem (Wasserman Media Group), Bill Duffy (BDA Sports), Dan Fegan (Lagardère Unlimited), Jeff Schwartz (Excel Sports Management), Leon Rose and Henry Thomas (Creative Artists Agency) and Mark Bartelstein (Priority Sports and Entertainment), outlined what is deemed acceptable and unacceptable going into the biggest day of negotiating yet.

Here are some of the notable demands in the letter, which was obtained by SI.com from a player: (Click here for the full letter in PDF):

• With the National Basketball Players' Association having already offered to drop the players' portion of basketball-related income from 57 percent to 52 percent, the agents implore players to insist on "no further reduction of the BRI received by the players. A source close to the union told SI.com recently that any agreed-upon deal in which the players received 51 percent could possibly be ratified but would likely lead to the ousting of Billy Hunter as the NBPA's executive director, so this is in line with those parameters.

• A system in which the current structure of the Bird and mid-level exceptions remains the same.

• No reduction in salary from existing levels for maximum contract players.

• No changes in unrestricted free agency and improvements on restricted free agency.

• "Refuse any deal that excludes players from the explosive growth of the NBA." Owners' proposals that have started with players receiving 46 percent of the BRI have included drastic declines in their percentage of the pie in the later years of the agreement.

The agents also tell players to make a few demands outside of the proposal as well.

• "Demand that the NBPA submit any proposed agreement to a vote by all NBA players and provide every player with a reasonable amount of time to review and consider the proposed deal." As reported by ESPN.com, players were given less than a day to vote on the owners' proposal in 1998 and only 184 of the 400-plus players actually voted.

• "Demand to see the complete financial records of the owners over the past six seasons, including their related entities (such as regional sports networks and arenas)."

The letter is clearly a preemptive strike on the part of the agents, their best attempt at playing a part in the negotiations and the latest sign of their lack of faith in the NBPA. Yet while players certainly look to their agents for information, insight and advice, the reality is that the majority of them will follow their own instincts when the time comes to vote on a deal. And if a there's one that is less than ideal but lets the season to begin, a fair number of those players will likely be willing to sign off.

Such was the case when one player who attended the union meeting in Los Angeles on Aug. 16 in which Kobe Bryant stood to address the troubled masses. It was, by all accounts, a worthwhile and inspiring speech. But when Bryant spoke of waiting the owners out so that the players could force their way into a good deal, the player turned a deaf ear.

"That's nice, Kobe," the player said in reflecting on that day. "But you've got a little more in the bank than I do."

It is, make no mistake, the sort of sentiment the owners are hoping to bank on and these agents are hoping to eliminate.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/w ... =nba_t2_a3

A short NBA discussion about decertification -- and its consequences

Dwight Jaynes blog
October 4, 2011, 10:00 am

Since the NBA Players Association seems to be getting so much pressure about decertification from player agents, it's a good idea to talk about what the consequences of that move could be on a day of another big negotiating session in New York.

For one thing, unless union leadership goes along with the decertification, the players would have to vote to shed themselves of the union. Thirty percent of them would need to sign a petition for involuntary decertification and then, if they do, a vote would follow within about two months wherein more than half the players would have to vote in favor of the move.

Whew. And that's just to decertify. After that, the idea would be to sue the NBA for anti-trust violations, or threaten to do so. It's worked for the NFLPA, which has found a friendly courtroom in Minnesota to get its rulings.

But the NBA is a league run by lawyers and has taken a preemptive strike in keeping that from happening. The league has already filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York asking that decertification be declared illegal in that district. The league apparently has a history of getting favorable rulings from that court, by the way.

The NBAPA has filed a motion to dismiss that suit but there are no rulings yet. It was announced today that a district court will hear oral arguments on the NBAPA's dismissal motion on Nov. 2, coincidentally, the day after the regular season is supposed to start.

There has not been a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board on a complaint filed by the players back in May. Both sides await that ruling, too.

Are you getting the picture here? If the whole decertification thing runs its course, it would be very unlikely there will be an NBA season. Courts take too long to make decisions and cases take a while in preparation.

But that's part of the strategy, of course. I'm sure agents feel that by threatening decertification, or pursuing it, they are telling the owners that they are willing to burn this season -- which they're hoping will provide some leverage.

But I doubt it. I don't think the owners are all that concerned about anything the players do -- until they show a willingness to give back even more than they've already said they'd give. I think just because agents can flex their muscles, doesn't mean they should.

But we should know after today's big meeting in New York where this league is headed.

http://www.csnnw.com/pages/landingdwigh ... eedID=8351

Report: NBA Players Exploring Decertification Of NBPA

According to a series of tweets from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, a faction of locked out NBA players are frustrated with the way negotiations have gone thus far, and have begun exploring the possibilities of decertifying their union, the NBPA.

“As many as 50 NBA players were part of conference call with anti-trust attorney Thursday discussing union decertification, sources tell Y!” Wojnarowski wrote. He reports that there were two such calls, both held without NBPA knowledge, and that the players involved included “several All-Stars”.

Ultimately, Wojnarowski tweeted, “If NBPA drops below 52% on BRI, and/or remaining system issues go league’s way, then this will become movement to decertify.”

If 30% of the players sign a petition supporting decertification, the process moves to a vote; if a decertification requires just a majority of those votes.

Decertification would change the dynamic of the lockout, as the owners would then be dealing with players as individuals rather than as a union. If they so desired, the players would also be able to bring an antitrust lawsuit against the owners, which the union cannot.

First decertification step coming this week?

Posted on: November 6, 2011
Posted by Royce Young

The campaign to decertify is heating up.

While the league has set a deadline for Wednesday to accept the latest proposal or the offers get worse, the players are trying to hit back with that big nasty d-word.

The whole process is complicated. But it only starts with an initial petition that would allow a vote on decertification. In order to even be allowed to vote on it, there has to be a minimum of around 130 players -- or 30 percent -- sign it. Will they get that far along? A report from ESPN.com says yes.

Sources close to the process say leaders of the decertification movement -- with Boston Celtics star Paul Pierce most noticeably at the forefront -- can and will find the required 130-ish players needed to sign a petition to vote on decertification by Monday or Tuesday. And that's when the clock would really start in terms of saving the season … unless you believe that the league is truly prepared to take the villainous step of canceling the season if there’s no deal by Wednesday.
The report says the players aim to get around 200 signatures and not just the low number of 130. If the petition passes, only then does the actual process of decertifying happen. Then the National Labor Relations Board has to rule if the vote can even take place. That window though is for 45 days and that's the whole plan for this decertification: The players want those 45 key days of negotiating where the owners actually fear the prospect of decertification. That's where they think they can make up ground.

But understand this: The petition the players are expected to sign this week only means that potentially a decertification vote could take place. And if it ever gets that far, a majority -- some 230 players -- would have to vote to decertify. Would they really do it though? That's the question the players want the owners asking.